Most of us over the age of 30 have at least a box of old photo prints in a closet somewhere, and digitizing them is a worthwhile but tedious task. The Epson FastFoto FF-680W scanner strives to get the job done quickly and easily while still producing high-quality results, and in this review we'll take a look at what you can expect from it in practice.
Over the years I have had a box of about 2,500 childhood photos that I have been meaning to digitize, especially since they will only continue to degrade over time. There's a mix of sizes, including standards like 4x6" and 5x7", as well as some more niche sizes like the 4x11" panorama from the old APS photo system.
The problem is, digitizing them used to be very tedious and I've never used mine I'm getting good results with the standard flatbed . I could buy a dedicated photo scanning flatbed, but I'm not keen on manually moving one photo at a time so being able to handle a variety of sizes and still produce high image quality is achievable. The future of paper scanners is particularly interesting. Enter the Epson FastFoto FF-680W.
Specifications
- Scanner Type: One-pass duplex color
- Color bit depth: 30 bit internal (24 bit external)
- Grayscale Bit depth: 10 bits internal (8 bits external)
- Features: Auto-enhance, color restoration, red-eye removal, deskew, crop, rotate
- Output resolution: 50 to 1,200 dpi
- Effective pixels: 5,100 x 21,600 pixels
- Connections: USB 3.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
- Automatic document feeder capacity: 36 photos or 100 pages
- Minimum document size: 2x2"
- Minimum photo size: Wallet (2.5x3.5")
- Maximum document size: 8.5x240”
- Maximum photo size: 8.5x36”
- Scan speed: One photo per second at 300 dpi
- Output formats: JPEG and TIFF Instrument, startup guide, USB 3.0 cable, power cord, carrier board, and cleaning cloth. Setup is simple: download the software, plug it in, connect the USB cable (you can also send images over Wi-Fi), and off you go.
scanner is designed to be logical and easy to use. All controls are in a column on the top right, including power, Wi-Fi connection and switching, dual-feed detection skip, slow mode, stop, and scan. The dual-feed feature is particularly nice: if the scanner grabs two photos at the same time, it detects this and alerts you so you can fix it without missing a chance to scan an image.
From there, you can load the feeder tray. You can initiate a scan via a button or software (more on that below).
software
FastFoto software is easy to understand and very to the point without any unnecessary frills, which I appreciate. Still, it offers the kind of customization options you'd expect. You can choose from the following options:
- Save location
- Image enhancements including: Auto-enhance Remove red eye Restore faded colors
- Apply enhancements to the original or create a second copy
- Upload to Google Drive or Dropbox
- Scan resolution
- Scan single or double sided (you can also set it to reject blank back)
- JPEG or TIFF
Normally I don't ask software to automatically enhance images as I prefer to do the editing myself. However, when scanning thousands of old family prints, many faded from the sun, some red-eye, some underexposed, etc., it would be nice to have the option to immediately put them on ballpark , Epson's software is great at The archival copy was done well enough that I was happy to open it.For the most important photos, I always have unedited scans that I can adjust manually.
The software also allows you to assign logical file names to your photos, such as tags and dates, making it easy to ensure proper organization.
Process
Once I had all the settings dialed in (all automatic editing options, custom filenames, and 600 dpi resolution), it was just a matter of placing the 36 prints into the input tray and telling the software to start scanning. Despite the double-feed detection feature, the scanner never experienced a jam or double-feed while scanning approximately 2,500 photos of various sizes, many of which were previously folded or curled.
takes about three minutes each at 600 dpi. I made a few movies and before I knew it, a family project I had put off for years was completed in one afternoon. The efficiency, reliability and enhanced features are all impressive.
Image quality
Keep in mind that these are mostly scans of grocery store photo counter prints of images taken on consumer point-and-shoot cameras 30 years ago. The scan is very good. While the Epson produced better-quality prints, it held up well.
As you can see, the scanner's auto-enhance feature does an excellent job of removing haze, adding some contrast and saturation, and correcting any tones, all without going overboard. If you are scanning thousands of photos and don't want to manually adjust each photo, I fully recommend trusting the software to handle it for you.
In terms of detail capture, you'll be limited by the resolution of the print, not the scanner, as it is so excellent. As you can see in the professional print above, I chose to challenge it a little more and the scanner captured all the detail the print has to offer.
If you're scanning a bunch of older family prints and don't have access to the negatives (as is my case), running everything through something like Topaz Sharpen AI can help put the finishing touches on them. I did this for some older prints and it helped bring them up to a more modern standard.
What I like- Can handle any print size imaginable
- Reliable, time-saving auto-adjustment
- Smart duplex scanning
- Extremely simple process
- Fast scanning, no clogging
- Excellent image quality
- Can also scan documents
- Wireless network and USB connection
- Optional TIFF output
What I don’t like
- Nothing to say here
Conclusion and purchase
All in all, the Epson FastFoto FF-680W is a solid and well-designed device that delivers the kind of performance that professionals have come to expect. Versatility and image quality. You can add photos digitally to your server and have it pay for itself relatively easily.
