Have a box of old photographs, negatives, or 35mm slides? Turn your old photos into digital files. Learn how in this review of the Canon CanoScan 9000F Mark II color image scanner.
Do you have an old box of photographs and negatives hiding in a dark corner of your closet? Do you find 35 mm slides during your wanderings through the flea market? Wondering what you can do with that old photographic film in this electronic age?
Turn photos, negatives, and slides into digital files
Photography has been a hobby for me since the mid-1970s. Over the decades, my hobby has filled a box with 35 mm slides, negatives, and photos. When I decided it was time to make some money from my photos, I needed a color image scanner to turn those photographs into digital files.
After doing some shopping, I narrowed my choices to the Canon CanoScan 9000F MKII and the Epson Perfection V600 based on these requirements:
- Low price. I didn't have a lot of money to spend and couldn't afford a top-of-the-line professional scanner. Both of these scanners are priced below $200.
- High resolution. Many of the products available through the print-on-demand services such as Zazzle or CafePress are large. The Canon scans film at a maximum resolution of 9600 x 9600 dpi and the Epson at a maximum resolution of 6400 x 9600 dpi.
- Scan multiple formats. The Canon and the Epson digitize slides, negatives, photo prints, and printed documents. Files can be saved in JPG, TIFF, PNG, and PDF formats.
Digitize images with the Canon CanoScan 9000F MKII
The Canon CanoScan has more than met my expectations. The setup was simple and the software drivers installed without a problem. Here are some of the features that I really enjoy about this image scanner:
- It is simple to scan multi-page documents and convert those pages into a single PDF file.
- The film guides hold slides and negatives securely.
- The protective cover is easy to remove for slide and negative scanning.
- The included software reduces image editing with automatic image enhancement features.
Enhance photos with the My Image Garden software
The Canon CanoScan includes My Image Garden software for scanning, enhancing, and organizing photographs. I'm not usually a fan of the software that comes with many electronic devices, but the My Image Garden software has saved me a lot of time. I especially enjoy using the ScanGear utility to scan slides and to correct imperfections.
Here's an example showing the settings for a 35 mm slide and a preview of the image.
The ScanGear image scanning utility gives complete control over images. As different resolutions and different levels of image correction are selected, the utility shows the output file size. Here are other ways to use this scanning software:
- Remove dust spots. Images files from slides and negatives that are old, have been handled over the years, and are dusty can be difficult to clean up. I estimate the ScanGear utility removes 95% of the dust spots from my scanned slides and negatives.
- Fix over-exposed photos. It's heartbreaking when a well-framed shot is ruined from a bad exposure. Adjust the backlight and exposure options while watching the changes in the preview window.
- Adjust the color. Sometimes the color in the photo isn't as vibrant as the memory because slides and negatives fade over time. Increase the color saturation, brightness, or contrast and see the adjustments in the preview window.
Preserve photos and documents with the Canon CanoScan
I give this scanner 4.5 of 5 stars for ease of use, high quality scans, and image editing abilities.
If you have a large number of photos, slides, negatives, and other documents that you want to turn into digital files, I highly recommend the Canon CanoScan 9000F Mark II color image scanner.
Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”
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