I sell and trade Olympic Pins, and I use a scanner to attach pictures to my auctions. I am currently using a Canon Canoscan n650U, which is the best scanner I have ever used (I have had 5 since I started scanning in 1995). Anyhow, my real problem is scanning gold or silver pins. I scan maybe 50 pins a day to put them up for sale. I usually pin them onto a yellow or light blue rubber sheet, and then place them face down on the scanner. Sometimes the pins have a mirror finish, and when I scan them, the writing (usually in black ink) washes out. The mirror shows as black, and the black ink is Black, so you can see nothing. Has anyone had success scanning things with a highly reflective surface? Thanks for your help.
posted on October 30, 2001 10:03:46 AM
Sometimes too it's simply a case of the particular scanner not rendering 3D objects very well, like my piece of junk. (Artec)
Anything not absolutely flat against the glass comes out dark and blurry, even small 3D items look lousy with ill-defined edges.
Then I see sellers with images that look like they were taken with a top of the line Mavica, I'm astounded that they were done with a scanner.
posted on October 30, 2001 10:39:45 AM
Thanks, I will take a look at that site. Most pins are 2 dimentional, and most scan quite well. I just have a problem with reflective surfaces.
posted on October 31, 2001 08:51:48 AM
Thanks. I have thought about getting a camera, but my sales do not justify the expense. Most pins sell for $5 or $10, and when all things are said and done, it just is not worth it to buy a camera for several hundred dollars.
