Working from home, everyone is looking for the best scanner for documents and photos. Whether you need to convert reports, receipts, or photos, you need a scanner that can do the job quickly and easily. How do you choose the right scanner?
Choose between a traditional flatbed scanner, where you lay down one page at a time, and a sheet-feed scanner, which allows you to scan multiple pages via an automatic document feeder (ADF). Alternatively, you could choose a hybrid scanner, or combo scanner, which includes a flatbed and a sheet-feed scanner.
Top 5 Bestseller Scanner
Consider where you will use your scanner as well. Our list of desktop scanners will be of most interest if it is primarily used in one place, such as your home office. However, if you travel a lot, you may prefer one of the more portable scanners further down our list.
In addition to connectivity, you need to consider whether you want double-sided scanning (aka duplex), how fast you want your scanner to work, how many items you want at one time, and what level of resolution is required.
Top 10 Best Scanner Reviews
Epson Wireless Color Duplex Desktop Document Scanner
- Easy wireless scanning — scan to smartphones, tablets, computers and online cloud storage accounts (1) from your desktop, smartphone or tablet using the Epson Smart Panel mobile app (3)
- Get organized in a snap — scan up to 35 ppm/70 ipm (1); Single-Step Technology captures both sides in one pass
- Quickly scan stacks of paper — robust 50-sheet Auto Document Feeder easily accommodates multiple paper types and sizes in one batch
- Powerful software included — easy scanning with intuitive Epson ScanSmart Software (2); preview, email, upload to the cloud and more; automatic file naming saves time
- Seamless integration with most software solutions — the included TWAIN driver allows you to easily incorporate your data into most document management software
Documents that are long or contain other large items shouldn’t be scanned one page at a time, especially if you have to digitize them frequently. With an automatic document feeder (ADF), you can load a bunch of pages at once and leave the scanner to handle the rest. In this case, we recommend the Epson WorkForce ES-500.
Especially since you can scan both sides of a page if you wish, the 50-sheet capacity is going to save you a lot of time. With its high resolution of 1200dpi (dots per inch), it is also capable of scanning text accurately, and reproducing all kinds of media accurately, from business cards to photos. Additionally, it works fast, zipping through 35 pages per minute.
Other scanners on the market can match some or all of these specifications. However, they tend to be much more expensive and overkill for most people. Alternatively, if you don’t need Wi-Fi, you might prefer the otherwise identical (and less expensive) Epson WorkForce ES-400.
Pros
- High resolution
- 50-sheet capacity
- Fast scan speed
Epson Perfection V850 Pro scanner
- Pro quality color & detail - get unparalleled scans W/ 6400 dpi resolution & Adv
- Remarkable tonal range - 4.0 Dmax for smooth gradations & fine Shadow detail
- Exclusive dual lens system - selects from 2 lenses for optimum results
- Operating systems: Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows XP professional x64 Edition and Mac OS X 10.6.X, 10.7.X, 10.8.X, 10.10.X
Epsom’s V850 Pro does not come cheap, but it’s a good choice for photographers looking for a serious scanner for their slides, film, and prints.
The dual-lens scanner selects the best lens for the job every time and scans at up to 4800dpi for photos and 6400dpi for film and slides. The scanner requires virtually no warm-up time and comes with two sets of professional-quality film holders.
To reproduce tonality and gradation accurately, the V850 Pro features a high dynamic range. It also automatically removes dust and scratches from photos and film scans. It also comes with its own software for optimizing results. It’s probably overkill for most, but if you’re serious about film photography, you won’t find anything better.
Pros
- Dual lens system
- High-resolution scans
- Quick warmup time
Cons
- Large and heavy
Epson Wireless High-Speed Photo and Document Scanner
- World’s Fastest Personal Photo Scanner (1) — scan thousands of photos as fast as 1 photo per second at 300 dpi (2); batch-scan up to 36 photos at a time
- Preserve Your Priceless Photos — restore, organize, protect and share photos; scan Polaroid photos, panoramas, postcards and photos up to 8" x 10"
- Share Stories for Future Generations — use the Epson FastFoto app (3) to add voice and text over your photos or create slideshows, right from your smartphone
- Perfect Picture Imaging System — bring new life to old photos with auto enhancement, color restoration, red-eye reduction, de-skew, crop and rotate
- Single-step Technology — capture both the image and any handwritten notes on the back of a photo in a single scan
Got tons of printed photos you need to digitize, but don’t want to spend days and weeks doing it? We recommend the Epson FastFoto FF-680W for you. The 36-sheet capacity allows it to process large stacks of old photo prints, and the resulting digital images are of excellent quality.
There are options for sharing (300dpi), archiving (600dpi) and enlarging (1200dpi). The lower the dot-per-inch, the faster it scans. 300dpi images take just a second to scan; great for getting a family archive online. This scanner is also intelligently designed to avoid tearing, creasing, or otherwise damaging your prints.
Even so, Epson’s FastFoto FF-680W isn’t just for taking photos. In addition, it can scan all kinds of documents, and you can load up to 100 standard sheets at once into the feeder. Furthermore, we love the plastic guides for different widths of paper, which have marks for 4x6in and 5x7in photos.
Pros
- 36 photo sheets capacity
- 1200dpi resolution
- Modes for different image types
Cons
- Expensive
Plustek Auto Crop and Deskew with CCD Sensor Scanner
- The easiest way to scan photos and documents. Supports 3x5, 4x6, 5x7, and 8x10 in sizes photo scanning but also letter and A4 size paper. Optical Resolution is up to 600 dpi ( PS: two setting: 300dpi/ 600dpi).
- Fast and easy, 2 seconds for one 4x6 photo and 5 seconds for one 8x10 size photo@300dpi. You can easily convert about 1000 photos to digitize files in one afternoon and share with your family or friends.
- More efficient than a flatbed scanner. Just insert the photos one by one and then scan. This makes ePhoto much more efficient than a flatbed scanner.
- Powerful Image Enhancement functions included. Quickly enhance and restore old faded images with a click of the mouse.
- ePhoto Z300 works with both Mac and PC : Supports Windows 7/8/10/11 , Mac OS X 10.10 to 13.x , User can download the latest version on Plustek website.
Want to scan photos but want something a little more affordable than the Epson FastFoto FF-680W? If you do, then the Plustek ePhoto Z300 is the model for you.
The sheet-fed scanner is primarily used for converting printed photos into digital form, and it does that very well. This printer’s maximum resolution of 600dpi might not be enough for professional photographers, but it’s good enough for most people’s family snapshots, and the feed mechanism is gentle on prints, so you won’t need to worry about them being damaged.
There’s no Wi-Fi, you can’t print double-sided, and you have to feed each print one at a time. However, it is very easy to use, it is very affordable, and it comes with some decent image enhancement features, which allow you to quickly enhance and restore old faded images with a single click of the mouse. Although you can scan documents, its capabilities here are limited, so you wouldn’t want to buy this scanner solely for that purpose.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Affordable price
- Image enhancement functions
Cons
- Only scans 1 photo at a time
Epson Perfection V600 Color Photo Scanner
- Create extraordinary enlargements from film: 6400 x 9600 dpi for enlargements up to 17 Inches x 22 Inches. Maximum Scan Area 8.5 x 11.7 inches. TPU 2.7 x 9.5 inches
- Remove the appearance of dust and scratches from film: Digital ICE for Film
- Remove the appearance of tears and creases from photos: Digital ICE for prints
- Restore faded color photos with one touch: Epson easy photo fix included
- Scan slides, negatives and medium format panoramic film: Built in transparency unit
The scanning of film negatives and slides requires specialized equipment, which is usually very expensive. Check out our roundup of the best film scanners of 2021 if you’ve got a lot of money to spend.
The Epson Perfection V600 is a great choice if you haven’t tried it yet. This flatbed scanner lets you scan various types of film at a quite affordable price. Despite its lower resolution than top-end scanners, its maximum resolution of 6400dpi is quite impressive.
It works with a wide variety of sizes and formats, including 35mm filmstrips, mounted slides and full panoramic medium-format film, and comes with two film holders to make positioning everything easy.
Additionally, the software features ICE (digital image correction and enhancement) technology, which lets you remove dust and scratches from scanned images, as well as a resizable preview window for checking everything in detail.
Pros
- 6400dpi resolution
- Supports a range of film formats
- Remove dust and scratches from images
Cons
- Not very portable
Canon DR-F120 Office Document Scanner
- Stay organized: Easily covert your paper documents into digital formats (searchable PDF, JPG, and more) or scan directly to the cloud (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, QuickBooks Online, Evernote, SharePoint, and more)
- Handles many different document types in batches or individually: Scan receipts, photos, business cards, long documents, and more in the automatic feeder; Scan books, magazines, plastic or embossed cards, fragile materials, and more on the flatbed
- Fast and efficient: Scans both sides of a document at the same time through the feeder, in color, at up to 20 pages-per-minute, with a 50 sheet feeder
- Windows support: Via included TWAIN driver
- Bundled software: Powerful, yet easy-to-use scanning software
When you need to scan a stack of papers, a sheet-feeder device is a great option. However, this method is not suitable for every type of document. Consider, for example, scanning the spread-out pages of a book or magazine page, or scanning a plastic-coated card, or scanning any valuable or delicate material you cannot trust to a feeder mechanism.
It’s good to know that the Canon DR-F120 combines both options in one neat device. The document feeder comes in handy when you want to scan several pages at once, while the flatbed is there when you need to scan items that do not fit through a feeder, or you simply prefer to use it that way.
The product isn’t the only combination sheet-feeder and flatbed scanner on the market. The 50-sheet capacity, 20 pages per minute, 600dpi resolution, and duplex printing make it the best in town. So long as you’re using Windows, because it’s not available for Mac OS at the moment.
Pros
- Includes flatbed scanner
- Includes document feeder
- 50 sheet capacity
Cons
- Windows only
Xerox XD-COMBO Duplex Combo Scanner
- FAST SCANNING Duplex scanner with 35-page automatic document feeder scans in color grayscale and black/white Scans up to 25 ppm/50 ipm at 300 dpi Duty Cycle 1500 pages/day
- QUICK ORGANIZATION Get organized fast by quickly converting paper documents into searchable PDF files
- FLEXIBLE MEDIA HANDLING Scan ID cards passports photos documents receipts checks and more in color and black/white
- IMAGE ENHANCEMENT TECHNOLOGY Visioneer Acuity technology enables the scanner to instantly improve the visual clarity of every scanned image get perfect scans from imperfect originals
- ONE TOUCH SCANNING Users can quickly scan to the “destination” of their choice by pressing a single button eliminating the multiple steps usually required to save scanned documents in popular file formats
We recommend the Xerox XD-COMBO if you’re an Apple user looking for a flatbed/sheet-feeder combination scanner. It’s compatible with both Mac and Windows. The device is reasonably priced with a 20-sheet capacity, two-sided printing, an impressive scanning speed of 20 pages per minute (at 200dpi), and a maximum resolution of 600dpi.
To improve the visual clarity of scanned images, the Xerox XD-COMBO uses Visioneer Acuity technology. With an easy-to-use control panel, you can also scan to any of nine presets with one click. The bundled software allows you to scan and upload documents directly to cloud services such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and Microsoft OneDrive.
Pros
- Flatbed & sheet-feed options
- 20 sheet capacity
- Mac-friendly
Cons
- Expensive
Canon DR-C225W II Office Document Scanner
- Stay organized: Easily convert your paper documents into digital formats (searchable PDF, JPG, and more) or scan directly to the cloud (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, QuickBooks Online, Evernote, SharePoint, and more)
- Space saving design: Upright, with top feed and top eject, and a built-in cable organization system
- Reliably handles many different document types: Receipts, photos, business cards, plastic or embossed cards, reports, contracts, long documents, thick or thin documents, and more
- Fast and efficient: Scans both sides of a document at the same time, in color, at up to 25 pages per minute, with a 30 sheet automatic feeder, and one touch operation
- Broad compatibility: Supports Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android; TWAIN driver also included
Are you looking for a compact and fast scanner that will not take up a lot of space? Our recommendation is the Canon DR-C225W II. Its slim profile allows it to fit on even cramped office desks or customer retail points.
There is minimal clutter from wires, thanks to its Wi-Fi connectivity. In addition, there is no compromise on features, with a capacity of 30 sheets, scanning speeds of up to 25 pages per minute, and duplex printing included.
Pros
- Slimline profile
- Built-in Wi-Fi
- One-touch operation
Cons
- Expensive
Canon P-208II Personal Document Scanner
- Stay organized: Easily convert your paper documents into digital formats (searchable PDF, JPG, and more) or scan directly to the cloud (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box, QuickBooks Online, Evernote, SharePoint, and more)
- Convenient and portable: Slim, lightweight and sleek, to fit easily into a briefcase or bag, for use at home or on the road
- Handles many different document types: Receipts, photos, business cards, long documents, and more
- Fast and efficient: Scans both sides of a document at the same time, in color, at up to 8 pages-per-minute
- Broad compatibility: Supports Windows and Mac; TWAIN driver also included
The Canon P-208II is another small and portable scanner that is a great option for the business traveler looking to scan photos, documents, and more on the go. Smaller than a standard ruler, this small and lightweight device slips easily into any bag or briefcase, yet still offers the capacity of 10 sheets and duplex printing.
There is also an optional Wi-Fi unit if you wish to wirelessly scan documents directly to your smartphone, tablet, or PC, or if you wish to share the scanner among a group of users.
Pros
- Small and portable
- 10-sheet capacity
- Fast
Cons
- Expensive
Epson WorkForce ES-50 Portable Scanner
- Fastest and lightest mobile single sheet fed document scanner in its class(1) small, portable scanner ideal for easy, on the go scanning
- Fast scans a single page in as fast as 5.5 seconds(2) Windows and Mac compatible, the scanner also includes a TWAIN driver.
- Versatile paper handling scans documents upto 8.5 x 72 inches, as well as ID cards and receipts
- Smart tools to easily scan and organize documents Epson ScanSmart Software(3) makes it easy to scan, review and save
- USB powered connect to your computer; No batteries or external power supply required
Do you need a document scanner that’s ultra-small and light? There isn’t anything more diminutive than the Epson WorkForce ES-50. With a weight of just half a pound, it can be taken almost anywhere.
There are some compromises: it’s not suitable for photos, and you can only feed one sheet at a time. However, it is fast and accurate for what it does, and its 600dpi resolution should be more than sufficient for most needs.
If you want to scan on the go, it is certainly the most portable scanner you will find. There is no external power supply required since it’s USB-powered.
Pros
- Very small
- Very light
Cons
- Not suitable for photos
- Feed 1 sheet at a time
What to Consider When Select Scanner
Load Capacity
No matter what type of scanner you choose, you’ll want to check how many pages it can hold at one time. These scanners can hold up to 100 pages at a time, allowing for the quick scanning of large documents or multiple documents without having to wait for the machine to finish scanning before changing out the sheets of paper.
Scanning Speed
An online store description or box in a brick-and-mortar store should state how many pages or images a scanner can scan per minute. As a result, you will have an idea of how quickly you can digitize your photos and documents.
Color vs B&W
In your office or home, a black and white scanner will suffice if you primarily work with text documents. However, if you need to scan images or documents with charts and tables, a color scanner will capture a more accurate facsimile.
[wp-faq-schema title=”Scanner FAQs” accordion=1]
Final Verdict
Many all-in-one printers have built-in scanners, and nearly all come with flatbeds and automatic document feeders. For light scanning requirements, that may be enough. In order to get the most out of your scanning, however, you’ll probably want a single-function scanner. There are a number of options to choose from, and the 10 below are some of the best we have tried. Visit our roundup of the top scanners for photos, as well as our list of the best all-in-one printers if you prefer to have a scanner attached to your printer. (And finally, once you’ve digitized all that paper, see our top picks for paper shredders.)