Creators, how much are you...

[dreamchildnyc]

...being charged to scan your 11x17 boards?

Those of you that own your own scanners, I'm NOT talking to you. So, please, let's forego the "I scan my own boards" rhettoric. I also don't wish to discuss reducing boards and scanning them on a consumer flatbed. I'm addressing those guys that go to Kinko's or some other resource to scan their boards at full size and burn them to a CD?

I'm shopping locally and getting quotes anywhere between $10 - $20 per page. What about y'all?

[joshm]

I got eight full size comic pages scanned at 400 pixels for 20.00 at Kinko's. I'm thinking, however, this was a steal. I later found out they go for about 15 a pop. It was one of those rolling type scanners, but it didn't hurt the boards.

If you ask Kinko's if you can scan them for them, then it might be cheaper. I was lucky, because the guy at Kinko's was really busy and he just said, "okay I've hooked it up to the computer so just start scanning and let me know when you're done." Then I asked how much and said, "well, 20 for all of them since you scanned them." I don't if you could find a place like that, but you should definitely shop around.

Josh

[theflash]

well i scan my own... BUT before i got my scanner i went to Kinkos and they wanted 20 bucks a page. i about choked the guy right there and then. that's just insane. i also checked with Office Max and Office Depot, but neither of those places could scan the 11x17 boards at the dpi i wanted them scanned at, so they were pretty much useless. we are getting a Staples in this year, so they might be competitive with Kinkos, i will see and if so let you know.

[stahss]

When Philip posted the prices he's paid, I thought for sure people would tell him he's getting ripped off big-time...I can't believe he's NOT. What a racket! That's it...I'm starting a scanning business!!

[dreamchildnyc]

Originally Posted by stahss

When Philip posted the prices he's paid, I thought for sure people would tell him he's getting ripped off big-time...I can't believe he's NOT. What a racket! That's it...I'm starting a scanning business!!

Why do you think I'm asking?

I'm not paying those prices. I'm thinking about putting my 11x17 scanner to good use.

What would you think of a service that only charged approx. $100 per book for full size scans?

[theflash]

Originally Posted by stahss

When Philip posted the prices he's paid, I thought for sure people would tell him he's getting ripped off big-time...I can't believe he's NOT. What a racket! That's it...I'm starting a scanning business!!

if you could find an area fairly thick with comics creators i bet you could do just that. Kinkos is pricing themselves right out of business in this area. when i looked at how much it was going to cost me to scan my first issue, i said screw that and bought my own scanner. cost me less than the scans would have, and i have used it for many many pages since then as well.

[MrGranger]

Yeah...I'm surprised that no one has considered this before. It's ridiculous...and in Philip's area he could make a KILLING.

[Justice41]

If you add up the costs of driving to and fro, as well as the time lost hanging around kinkos, not to mention the highway robbery, buying a scanner is just too cheap not to. You are trying to run a business? This isn't for fun and games is it? If so keep schlepping back and forth, but if you are serious just buy a Mustek Scanner. Go here to check the specs. Once they resolved their online issues buy a scanner. They cost about $200 bucks including shipping.
http://www.mustek.com/ProductDetail....ess%20A3%20USB
Or here
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mustek-ScanExpre...QQcmdZViewItem
or here for you brits.
This thing scans 11"x17". You can't beat the price .

[joshm]

dreamchildnyc, I'm thinking just the fact that you would scan all those pages for only 100.00 would be pretty good. I'm buying one myself, because of a job I just got. If I had a whole book to scan, I'd most likely want to have someone else do the leg work. However, in most cases, artists do their own scanning and when the book is ready to be published they should have all the pages scanned by then. I'm just not sure how much market there is out there for this type of business. If you could get a few good clients that do by monthly or bi-monthly books you might get a few bucks out of it. I just can't imagine how much scanning you'd have to do to make it worth your while. Anyway, good luck.

Josh

[down21]

The other problem with letting Kinko's do it is they could care less about the quality. It may not resemble your pages at all. Kinkos was a nightmare!!!
I threw away so much money there.


Can I ask, do you all have an A3 size Mustek or do some of you have a small regular scanner bed and then stitch it together?

[down21]

Josh, I did find a guy who did this once, he also did the quality digital pictures of paintings for artists. It cost a bit and I don't think he was getting rich off of it but maybe as extra money?

[Cat]

Ok quick question for those how have the Mustek scanner.. it s bed of the scanner flat or is there a lip around the glass? It is hard to tell in the product picture.

[Justice41]

I have a Mustek and a small picture frame see through scanner from HP. I don't know where I would be without the Mustek. I'm looking to buy a back up one just in case this one breaks. Stitching pieces together is a nightmare and you can never get the same quality scan each time. Just doesn't happen. There are places online that you can mail your art to and they will scan and burn disks, but I would only use them for oversized paintings.
this is one place.
http://www.capiocolor.com/about.htm

[Justice41]

Originally Posted by Cat

Ok quick question for those how have the Mustek scanner.. it s bed of the scanner flat or is there a lip around the glass? It is hard to tell in the product picture.

It has a lip but a quick solution to that is to go to a glass cutter and have a sheet of clear glass cut and beveled that will fit in a fill that gap. I did that, add few small velcro straps to lift it out and voila', situation resolved.

[jrod]

Well, I had to use an 11x17 for the first time today, probably should buy one soon. But due to a weird series of events Phil Hester had to overnight me original pages so I can scan them.

Kinko's down here in DC charges $10 for the first page, $.34 for each additional. Not as bad as I thought it would be. I'm still buying a large scanner, just in case this happens again.