How to Scan Your Entire Photo Collection in Half the Time
Are you someone with a large amount of photographs you would love to scan and turn into digital files? The problem is, you just haven't because you're afraid it's going to take way too long!!
If this sounds like you, I would like to introduce you to Steven Seelig, who has been scanning his photos in a way that could potentially save you a lot of time!
After reading my post “How Quickly You Could Scan Your Entire Photo Collection — What I Discovered From My First Week of Scanning,” Steven left a comment detailing his own scanning experience.
I was immediately hooked when I read not only had he already scanned almost 12,000 slides himself and hired someone to convert 150 50-foot reels of 8mm and Super 8mm “home movies” to high-definition videos, but he also had just recently started what he considered to be his most challenging project yet — scanning his old photographic prints.
What's interesting about Steven's current project is that he says his system of scanning allows him to scan 143 paper photos in 68 minutes.
Now, did that just compute with you? Let me pause in case it didn't. He didn't say in a week or even a day; he told us he had just scanned over 140 photos in just a little over an hour!
And he's not talking about using an inferior and cheaply made “sheet feeding” motorized scanner. This is a workflow for quality flatbed scanners and using adequately high DPI settings.
How to Scan 2 Photos Every Minute
Steven and I traded a couple of comments back and forth before I decided his method was something that a lot of people might be interested in knowing more about. I wanted to make a short post out of it so I emailed him to see how he felt about that idea and if he would be willing to share a couple photographs of his scanner setup so everyone could see what his workspace looked like.
Before I knew it, he had already shot, narrated, edited, and uploaded a 10-minute video showing off every detail of the process!
What I love about his video is that he doesn't just tell you that he does “x” and “y” and then wishes you good luck with your own project. No, not at all. Right in his own home office, Steven walks us through step-by-step what he does and why he decided to do it this way, from the beginning to the end of the scanning process.
If you think you're too technologically challenged, too young, too old, or your computer workspace is too small, or your scanner isn't the highest rated one, or even that you're just too busy to ever scan all of your photos hibernating in the back of your closet … then you're going to love his video!
Alright, so check this out:
(Problems playing video? Click here)
It almost seems silly to admit, but I think this was the first time I have heard of someone personally scanning photos with two scanners at the same time. Sure, I know this is common with large photo scanning services, but I'm talking about someone doing this in their own home to achieve more efficiency with their time.
I'm not sure if I hadn't come to this as a viable option because of an assumption that cost is always an issue for people — where it's unlikely someone could afford to buy more than one setup. Or maybe it's just a matter of limited desk space and assuming that, like clothes washers and dryers, no one would really consider the space and expense of having more than one set in their home. Whatever the reason, I must say I was a bit startled but impressed when I first read about what he was accomplishing.
If one of the main reasons you aren't scanning your photo collection is because of how long it might take you to do it, why not consider using two scanners at once? You could scan twice the amount of photos in almost the same amount of time.
Is This Workflow For You?
This setup certainly isn't for everyone. Whether this is a good fit for you really comes down to your finances and how you want to break up the time in your workflow.
Personally, when I'm scanning photographs, in the 2-5 minutes or so while the scanner is in the process of scanning, I usually decide to clean off the next set of prints or slides and make a few changes to the filenames of the last set of images that just finished scanning.
But, you might feel more comfortable only focusing on one type of task at a time. For example, during the period of time you are scanning, maybe you will progress better if all you are doing is scanning and nothing else.
If you want to wipe off your prints, you will batch-clean all of the prints before you start scanning. After you finish scanning, you would then focus all of your attention on making any modifications to the filenames coming out of your scanner software.
So if you prefer working in a focused single-tasked mode like this, and you are desperately trying to figure out the fastest way to scan all of your photos, then maybe you might want to consider this 2-scanner workflow Steven is using. This way, you could be maximizing your time and not just daydreaming and staring out the window while you are waiting for your scanner to do its thing.
Steven's Workstation Setup
After watching Steven's video, I hope you would agree there is a calming ease with which he describes his scanning process. Aside from an unusually large amount of external storage drives he has hooked up, he isn't using any fancy professional equipment, software, or even settings that a normal person couldn't easily reproduce in their own home. He's showing us without really saying it, that anyone can do this, you don't need years of experience.
I am not an expert in scanning methodology. I am just an average guy with some hardware and a personal project in search of a solution. Not the 100% highest resolution, quality etc. Just trying to find an acceptable solution.
I think Steven does an excellent job of proving that all it really takes is for you to be determined you want to make this “photo scanning” thing happen!
Now, if you weren't able to catch some of the specifics while watching, let me fill you in with some of the important details.
Scanner Models
Steven is scanning his paper prints using two flatbed scanners. His primary scanner is an Epson Perfection 2450 Photo Scanner that's attached to his Apple iMac desktop computer.
From the best that I can tell, Epson released this scanner around 2001 (It has since been discontinued). But, if you were looking for a comparable unit, I would look at one of their current middle models — either the Perfection V550 Photo or the Perfection V600 Photo (Amazon affiliate links – worldwide).
While his 2450 is scanning a batch, he's loading up another batch of photos in his Epson Artesian 835 Wireless All-In-One Printer, Copier, Scanner and Fax.
At least here in the United States, electronics and office supply stores no longer seem to stock photo scanners like the “Perfection” line. You will be hard-pressed to find one outside of a professional photography supply store and major online stores like Amazon. Instead, what you will find are All-In-One printer/scanner units like this “Artesian” series.
Scanner Software and Settings
Most people who haven't stepped up to a third-party professional scanning application like VueScan elect to use the scanning software that comes bundled with the scanner. For technical reasons, Steven isn't using EpsonScan but instead is working with Apple's Image Capture.
I have Epson Scan 3.7.7 and it does not recognize the Epson Perfection 2450. I am using OS 10.8.5, but it has not be recognized for a very long time. So Image Capture was my fall back software.
Image Capture uses a two-pass system. The first pass is an overview where it tries to recognize the individual pictures. If the picture segmentation is good, I just click scan, and it automatically scans each picture and dumps it into a folder that I have selected.
Occasionally, I have to manually adjust the automatic picture recognition. Generally, rotated pictures are captured properly, removing the image rotation.
Image Capture is not only able to import photos from a digital camera, it's also a lightweight scanning application that comes free with all Macs. Mac users will find it pre-installed in your “Applications” folder. It's probably similar to what Windows Fax and Scan is to Windows Users.
Within Image Capture, Steven scans his paper prints at 600 DPI and saves them as (uncompressed) TIFF files.
I put as many pictures on the scanner as will fit. Typically it is 2-3, but sometime it is one or 6.
While one scanner is scanning, I am loading and starting the second scanner. That translates to a significant reduction in time waiting for the scanner to finish.
I am not sure whether I would benefit significantly with a 3rd scanner unless I had another person manning it.
Steven's Slide Scanning Workflow
Because the Artesian 835 is unable to scan slides or negatives, he couldn't use the 2-scanner setup to scan his 11,800 slide collection. However, he could have used just his Epson 2450 with the built-in transparency unit.
Instead, he was fortunate enough to have a stepson who wanted to lend him a dedicated slide scanner that was faster than any flatbed would be.
If you're curious to know more details about his workflow with slides, check out the really nice blog post all about it on his portrait and wedding photography business website, E2Photography. It's a short read but still long enough to detail the whole process from scanning, his choice of image managers to organize his collection in, and what type of archival containers he bought to put his slides in for long-term storage.
Final Thoughts
While doing anything that seems tedious, in only half the time, sounds like a no-brainer, there are reasons you may not want to pursue such a setup. Here are a few of the pros and cons I came up with if you are considering doing this yourself.
PROS:
- Possibly doubles the amount of scans you can do in almost the same amount of time.
- Makes productive use of multiple scanners and computers you may already own or could borrow from a friend or family member.
- The faster you start seeing results, the more likely many of us will see the entire project through to the end.
CONS:
- Additional cost if you don't already own a second scanner and possibly a second computer.
- Image quality may be inconsistent across your entire collection if scanner models, software, and settings aren't identical or very similar. As a test, you could scan one photo on both setups and compare the quality of each side-by-side in a photo viewing application.
- Depending on your skills, this could possibly complicate an already complicated task.
- Using automated filenames with the help of indexes or numbers (e.g., “scan-01.tif” and “scan-02.tif”) will not be possible across two different scanning applications. You will have to use batch-renaming software afterward instead once you've moved all of your scanned images together in one folder.
So, what do you think — is your time precious enough that you would consider trying out this workflow? Or do you think it would cause more problems for you than it would benefit you?
Steven and I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. And Steven has agreed to stop by and answer any questions you might have for him. So ask away — don't be shy!
My CanoScan flatbed scanner comes with a factory default software that is supposedly able to auto crop multiple photo scans, but it’s not working well… I used this one to process my scanning process: https://autosplitter.com/
Excellent time saver, which is after all, the point. Am running 3 scanners simultaneously and while it took a while to get my mind multitasking and organized, I adjusted well and am not looking back.
Thanks for article. This is an useful article for everyone.
This is perfect. Just what I need to know and very like my own set-up. Thank you very much. I am currently transcribing my great-great aunt’s diaries and have been given The Family Photos in a shoebox. It is a huge task but your technique had solved a vast and intimidating problem.
Thank you for the detailed information, Curtis. I am planning to try your technique of using 2 scanners.
I have Epson Perfection V39. It does not give me the option of selecting ‘detect multiple photos’. Is there a s/w that I can install to detect multiple photos? Is V550 or V600 better for scanning multiple pictures?
Thank you for all the helpful advises you are providing.
Hi, Sunny! A better scanner like the V550 or V600 will likely give you better image quality in your scans, but all are equally good at detecting multiple photos. The original Epson Scan software as well as their newer Epson Scan 2 (that works with 64-bit operating systems) will give you the capabilities to autodetect items placed on the scanner bed. My Membership course covers all of the steps of scanning with Epson Scan if you would like step-by-step instructions. But yes, it’s all about the software when it comes to “auto detection”, not the hardware. 🙂
Sunny – Did you ever figure out how to get your Epson V39 to detect multiple photos?
Thanks. I am attempting to scan a bunch of photos for a family reunion.
You can place multiple photos in the tray and the software will auto detect multiples as long as you place the photos 1 inch apart. Otherwise it will put them in one file and you’d have to separate in your photos app.
I had not taken into account increasing efficiency by using two scanners. My wife is interested in scanning her photography. I’ll look into scanner options for her to see if owning two would be beneficial.
Canon lide and my photos scanned are coming out original size and not filling out the page as did before. I’m stumped it always worked perfectly.
Can someone help me please?
Hi Curtis,
First time caller. After scanning through your “archive” page, I think I can confirm that I’ve read through your entire website now. Great material and thanks so much for (b)logging this for all to benefit.
I’m about to embark on a journey to scan a 5000+ family photo, slide, negative collection and so have been doing a lot of research. First, I need to decide on a scanner…
For the average pro-sumer, you don’t recommend ever using more dpi than 4000 (in the case of negatives & slides) and of course less for prints. Also, I think I remember your review of Digital ICE to be more negative than positive. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
If the above is correct, then I wonder if the Epson V370 would have sufficed for your’s and mine’s needs? The specs seem pretty similar, with a 4800dpi optical resolution, 3.2 dmax, led light, epson software, and 4-slide transparency adapter. The one major difference that I see is that it lacks Digital ICE. But if I’m correct that you don’t really recommend me using that feature, then maybe I should just get the $100 V370 instead of the $200 V600? OR, better yet, get 2 V370’s for the price of the V600 and double my speed 🙂
Had you considered the V370 at all? Or, are there any reasons that you would suggest I stay away from it? I know that the easy answer is probably that for the extra $100, it was probably just worth getting the V600.
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Product.do?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&sku=B11B207221
Thanks in advance for your help and thanks again for the infinitely helpful website that you have put up 🙂
Daniel
from Chicago
dumb question from a newbie – i the example above with the 5 photos in a screen shot of Image Capture, the photos are crooked (OCD in me 🙂 ) how do you get them straightened? Thi si what take the most time for me when scanning!
thanks!
Hi Steve. I just saw your question — sorry I missed it before.
The trick with Image Capture and straightening is sort of ‘hidden’ in the option called “Auto Selection.” In the “Show Details” panel on the right, you want Auto Selection to be set to “Detect Separate Items.” This will detect the edges and will then save the images out straightened.
If you instead have it set to “Detect Enclosing Box,” then you have to manually draw the box around the photo AND straighten it yourself using the rotation “bar” (whatever it’s called that looks like two dots and a line in between) to click and rotate it to straighten it to the angle of your photo.
Give this a try Steve and let me know how it works out for you. :coffee:
I am scanning into jpeg and wondering if I can just put them into IPhoto instead of a file? IPhote does a good enough job for me for editing. What do you think? I loved watching you work. I just found Image Capture and have an epson 835 Artisan, so I am ready to go. Thanks for the wonderful information.
Suzanne, I assume you are writing to Steven when you said you loved watching him work. But, I will go ahead and answer your question for you if you won’t mind my advice. 😉
iPhoto DOES do a good enough job of editing, so you will be very well off using it. However, if I am understanding you correctly, you are wondering if you can just get them into iPhoto right from your scanner, and bypass the part of the process where you save it as a separate file.
Unfortunately, you can’t scan right into iPhoto because iPhoto doesn’t have the code written into it to control your scanner. So, you will need to first use a piece of scanning software like EpsonScan (comes with all Epson scanners) or Image Capture (comes with all Mac computers and is in your applications folder.) Either of these programs have to save a scan as a separate file for ever image you scan. You can save them out as JPG files if you don’t mind them being compressed, or you can save them out as TIFF (uncompressed) if you are seeking a higher image quality.
Then, you can import these photos into iPhoto and store them there where you can do all the editing you would like to them. By default, if you don’t change the setting in preferences (and I don’t advise you to), iPhoto will create and store a second copy of your images inside of your “protected” iPhoto library files (folder). So, once you import them into iPhoto, you can technically delete the originally scanned image files from your desktop or wherever you have them stored before you import them.
Hope this helps Suzanne! 🙂
I’ll clarify a little on the Epson V500: you can be in home mode or professional (but not office) to scan multiples. You must click to enable Thumbnails and as Curtis said, you need to have some separation between photos (at least 1/4 inch or slightly more in my experience).
Curtis has mentioned this but I kept forgetting: as you scan, label them as negatives or prints with a (n) or (p) so that you end up keeping both for later comparison. Sometimes the negative will give you more details and better color, and sometimes you’ll find images on negatives that weren’t printed or were lost along the way (or you know, tossed during the divorce!) I recommend using the dust removal in Epson’s software when scanning negatives. Makes a huge difference although it does slow you down.
Very well said Argie! And that’s a nice simple strategy to keep negatives and print files unique so that you can tell the difference. 🙂
Mega thanks to you, Curtis, for providing this WONDERFUL WEBSITE; to Steven for sharing his time-saving scanning methods (in video format, even!); and, to subscribers for their helpful inquiries and experiences shared.
A lifetime lover of photography, I have, nevertheless, been overwhelmed by the nuts-and-bolts side of it all, as relates to mastering a better photo-organizing process for the decades of various media I’m grappling with. (Procrastination – Ugh!)
In renewing my vows to ‘get serious,’ I recently bought my first Mac — and so, it was your piece on iPhoto – Aperture – Lr … that lured me to your site. (Getting a peek into multiple-image scanning and ‘Image Capture’ was a bonus.)
Clearly, it was to be my lucky day — soooo looking forward to many more visits. Thanks, again.
I really appreciate all of that Donna — thank you! That’s very kind of you to take the time to say. 🙂
All of this digital photo management can really be challenging. You just gotta take it all in baby steps, preferably starting with anything that excites you. For example if you have any photos that need scanning, and if scanning is a chore and you are afraid it will be months before you will see any useful results, start by scanning some of your favorite photos that you can’t wait to see and organize on your computer screen. Just getting that far may pull you through the process as you then want to see your entire life up on the screen and in a useful order.
Good luck! Don’t give up! And we would love to have you back for many more visits!
Cheers!
Curtis- great response regarding getting over the hump of procrastination, and getting some initial momentum. This is so true- I had lost motivation for my project for a while until my grandma’s passing “lit a fire” under my uncle to begin the project of digitizing his own photos (of his side of the family- I’ll be sure to give him digitals of what I have of my aunt’s side- and how awesome it is that I can no DO exactly that!?!). I had created a slide show for my grandma’s service out of photos I’d scanned, and my uncle started asking questions, which re-ignited my own motivation to keep working on this digitizing project for my extended family. I had stopped a while back having lost motivation- my husband and I have no kids to pass along such a treasured legacy and I started thinking it was a waste of my time. But with my uncle’s newly found interest, I have discovered it’s ok to do this for not just me and “my” family, but for others in my extended group. I also must make this a confession – like you with your tendency towards OCD issues when it comes to organizing and naming things – that I LOVE to organize- love to take a pile of chaos and categorize the bejeezus out of it until it is a lovely looking, well organized thing of beauty… and that is another motivation for this project for me 🙂 Soo… no matter where you start, if you can break up what seems like an overwhelming project into a small doable chunk – especially when that particular chunk is HIGHLY valued (like the few photos I have of Great GREAT Grandparents!!), then it often propels you into creating habits that eat away and eventually COMPLETE BIG GOALS!
Hi,
Thanks for the great article. I’m looking into scanning our large collection of photos.
What do you think about renting a Kodak PS50 (which scans ~ 30/minute @ 300dpi) auto-feed? Can rent it for $300/3 days or $425/7days.
http://graphics.kodak.com/DocImaging/US/en/Products/Photo_Scanning/Photo_Scanning_Systems_Family/Picture_Saver_Scanning_System_PS50_PS80/index.htm
Is the quality not as good as flatbed?
Thanks, and will be sure to read the other articles on this site.
Hi Ezra. You’re so welcome — glad you liked it! I only get some of the credit though since Steven did a lot of the work as well. 😉
I wish I could have a better opinion for you on this one. It would take a lot of money and room to buy and test out a lot of scanners for this website. Both, I have very little of right now. I would love it if my website was making a lot of money so that I could acquire more hardware to review. I’ve always wanted to be able to share that type of information with people as well.
My instincts always tell me to be very conservative when it comes to scanning photos. You only want to scan a large collection once so you want to do it right. This means a good scanner and not rushing the process. When I hear of scanners that can scan photos really fast, bells go off in my head that say a lot of compromises are being made in trade for speed. Usually this means image quality and image resolution.
I like to tell people to scan prints at 600 dpi if they really care about making a good archival collection. I scan most of mine even a little higher — and wallet sized a lot higher. 300 dpi isn’t horrible by any means. But, it’s more on the side of people that just have “basic” goals for their collection — which again is fine if that’s where you stand.
I’ve never used a Kodak PS50, but I know they aren’t cheap. So maybe they do in fact produce nice scans. I’ve just never seen the results so I can’t say for sure. I’ve used some small handheld type scanners that are fairly fast. You stick a photo in and it pulls it through to the other size. Often times, the image is skewed and doesn’t look as good as a flatbed. But again, this could be professional enough, that it produces flatbed like quality.
The worst decision would be to NEVER scan your photo collection. So I would rather someone like yourself, who might be concerned about the time and experience that it takes to operate a flatbed, to use a scanner like this to make it easier on you and actually HAVE a scanned collection.
In a perfect situation, if money weren’t an issue, I would tell you maybe you should rent it for a day, scan a few on it and scan a few on a good flatbed and compare the two and see if you notice much difference. If you’re happy with the PS50’s work, then you could just keep it for a few more days. If not, at least you tried it out.
Another option is maybe the place that rents it might be able to do a test of of a few of your photos at their place just so you can see how good the scans turn out, before you actually rent it. Just a thought.
Whatever you decide Ezra, please let me know how it turns out. I would love to know what you think of the PS50 if you ever rent it, as would others reading this website. 🙂
Ezra
My only concern with that Kodak scanner is that many of the really old photos I’ve scanned so far have been too fragile to scan on anything other than a flatbed. I use an Epson 500 which seems to be doing a great job so far (fingers crossed). I’ve scanned 1000 photos for my cousin over the last couple of months and about 2K for myself over time. She’s just given me about 1500-2000 more and I know other family members dig up old photos every so often. So for me, buying an Epson flatbed was far more cost effective–and gentler on my photos.
Robin, that’s an excellent point you just brought up. I have a large portion of my collection as well that I would be too fearful of trusting to a mechanically-feeded device.
I really agree with you. The ergonomics of my setup are terrible, but it does offer a bit of exercise to a pretty sedentary process! I am 100% confident that a better ergonomics could be developed. And albums do slow down the process considerably as you pointed out. For me, I never throw out a print because I have this worry that the old print may actually out survive my digital file.
I use music as well and I try to get into a zen.
Having lived the reality of scanning large quantities of photos, I really enjoyed watching Steven work. And work it is! Even with a swivel chair, the twisting, turning, bending and reaching is pretty good exercise for core muscles. Great job Steven! Thanks! Your video is evidence of a select group that is willing to work hard to preserve old photos.
In my situation, the photos are not loose like Steven’s, but rather in albums. Two scanners would be of no use. While one batch is being scanned, I’m busy removing the next batch from the album, and returning the previous batch to the album. Even then, I sometimes get the feeling I’m pushing myself to move quickly. Music helps! Oh, I suppose I could just throw out the already-scanned photos. That would save some time, but I guess I’m just not ready to do that yet. Still, the albums do take up space in my basement and now that they are digitized, I don’t know if I’ll ever want to look at the prints again.
Steven is really grinding them out! Hard work, but what a great result! Here’s to you Steven!
As always Curtis, thanks for encouraging us and offering useful ideas!
Thanks Tom! I appreciate that. :thumbsup:
I’m glad that you aren’t throwing away all of your prints just yet. It sounds to me that you aren’t 100% sure, and there’s no going back of course. So I think it’s better you spend the time now putting them back into your albums and storing them in your basement, just in case in a year from now or whatever, you or someone else in your family decides they still hold some value.
Thanks Steve, and Curtis too for hosting the instructions. The thing that interested me most was the way your scanners pick up the photos as individual scans. When I scan in batches i have to cut and paste later. I don’t know how you did that, but I will need to check to see if my scanner has that functionality – it is a an Epson 600, though I also have an older Epson Perfection V200.
I always scan one and one, so I can properly adjust the levels on each photo, because im not sure if I lose quality when doing batches. If its possible to scan lots at once and adjust levels later that would immensely increase the speed. Can anyone enlight me? (Epson perfection 700 and epson scan)
The output I use when I scan are tiff files. Once I have done a large batch of scans, I import them into Aperture (Lightroom will work as well) and I can make as many non-destructive adjustments as I want to bring the old picture back to life.
Fredrik, I personally don’t do adjustments during the scanning phase. I like to have a “raw” version of my photo in my Non-Destructive Image Manager (Aperture) so that I always have that point to return to if future image correction gets better some day. Additionally, I just like to do the scanning part at one time, and image correction at another time.
That being said, in Epson Scan, it appears that in both the Normal and Thumbnail Preview mode, where you are looking at the preview of your one or more photos before you hit the Scan button, you can make adjustment to each photo independently. If for example, you are in the “Normal” preview mode (button at top of window), and the “dancing ants” are around each photo, if you click on one photo and apply the color restoration adjustment, and then click on another photo with the dashed line around it, you will see the color restoration adjustment wasn’t applied to that image. So they are independent of each other. It’s tricky though, because it seems you have to use the “reset” buttons a lot to get menus to return to a default setting.
But if you want to scan lots now, and adjust later, then I would suggest you scan without adjustments, and then plan on time doing that later in a program like Picasa, iPhoto, Aperture or Lightroom etc.
You’re welcome Carol!
So the way Steve was able to do it in “Image Capture,” the free software on Macs for scanning and importing images off digital cameras/smart phones is with a setting on the right hand panel called “Auto Selection.” There is an option for “Detect Separate Items” that atomically will draw the little dotted line around all of the photos you placed on the scanner bed.
If you don’t have a Mac, then another way to do this is in Epson Scan that came with your Epson V600. After you run a Preview scan, in the preview window, click on the “Thumbnail” button at the top to take you out of the “Normal” mode. If the prints are placed far enough apart, or are contrasty enough for the software to detect it as two or more separate items, your photos will come up as two or more separate images already cropped out. I believe you have to be in the Professional mode to have access to the “Thumbnail” option. It’s listed in the Office mode for example, but I think it’s grayed out.
In order to add extra padding around the image, go into the Configuration settings, then the Preview tab, and then put a check next to “Auto Photo Orientation.” There you can drag the slider and change the cropping area from Small up to Large. I like a lot of padding around the edges so I can do rotates easily in Aperture, so I set mine on Large.
carolglover4
I use an Epson 500. I was not aware until I started reading this site that I could do more than one at a time. Now that i know, I can do more scanning in less time. You have to place the photos on the flatbed, and they have to be more than about 1/4 inch apart–maybe 1/2. Then you MUST use preview. You’ll see all the prints come up or you’ll see if they are too close.