Delusional sellers

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by Jaybird

when I was scanning multiple items, I'd make a couple of marks on the glass with a grease pencil to mark where the corners should go and then just place one card after another onto that same spot with great results. Just preview scan one time, adjust the scanning to only scan inside of the marks. No need to readjust for every card, just place inside of the white corner marks and press scan. Helped me cut down a bit of time. Then when finished, just wipe the marks away with a clean tissue.

Similar idea: I used white-out to put a couple of tick-marks at the near corner of the scanner bed so that, if I line a card, photo, or other rectangular item up with those ticks, I get a 1/2" margin on those sides from the scan. That way, whenever I'm scanning anything rectangular, I just have to measure the dimensions (using a tape I have adhered to the edge of my desk) and add 1" to each, so that when I scan I get the full item with a 1/2" margin all the way around. Adding the margin also accounts for any slight misalignment of the item being scanned without unintentionally cropping off the corners.

That said though, I too would love to see an affordable flatbed duplex scanner (one that doesn't suck the item into its jaws for inevitable destruction with a sickening wrinkling/wadding/crunching sound as it snags on some internal wheel or gear). No matter how quick you are with combining separate front-back scans or doing any other adjustments, the first time you work with several thousand of anything that needs to be scanned, you will be looking for anything you can do to cut out unnecessary steps, even ones as simple as raising the lid and flipping the piece over.