Quoted from mark532011:The HP scanner is a terrific tool but it is really difficult to find. So I set about to cobble something together that would work pretty well.
I started with the Epson Perfection V39. The reason is that the top cover comes off, so it can be laid on top of the playfield. Unfortunately the resulting image is blurry. Its ok for some uses but not for precision work. Take a look at the pic below at full resolution.[quoted image]
The reason its blurry is there is a ridge of plastic around the glass holding it all together. Which means that a piece of paper lays right on the glass while the playfield is about 1/8" away from the glass due to the plastic ridge. That 1/8" of an inche might not seem like much but with the tiny focus range on scanners its enough to make it out of focus.
I took the scanner apart, pulling the plastic molding off on the sides and back. You can't pull the front (where the buttons are) plastic off or it won't work. On my V39 the side moldings had sticky tape that had to be carefully pried away.[quoted image]
Without the plastic bezel, the glass falls off so I taped it on. You have to be careful to place it exactly on the tiny supports right, but once done it works great.[quoted image]
By simply laying the scanner on the playfield I am able to get decent scans which can then be stitched together later. [quoted image]
This is a 300dpi scan and a 600dpi scan. Zoom in to 100% and you can see they are not perfect but pretty good[quoted image][quoted image]
so if you need a scanner, the modified V39 might be a good cheap alternative for you
I may look for one of these and modify as needed, been looking for an HP for a few weeks with no luck.
Anyone have any other suggestions?
