If you are looking for an A3 book scanner, you have quite some options on the market. We will now show you why the Klip Snap is a really good choice if you want to scan books and bound documents up to A3.
In this article, we explain what to lock for when buying such a book scanner and how the Klip Snap fares compared to other devices of this sort.
What to look for in an A3 book scanner
First thing you will need to find out what is the maximum scanning size. A3 is a standard and it means an overall area of 300mm by 420mm. But A3 book scanners should fit sizes that are a bit above this. For example, having a 320mm by 450mm scanning area will let you adjust the book cradle for different thicknesses of the books.
What does this mean? Even though the book might be 2xA4, which means a single page is A4, if the gutter of the book is thicker, the actual spread of the book will be over A3. So having a couple of centimeters over the A3 standard will help you when scanning such books. Plus, we have non-standard books, which are maybe wider or a bit taller, you want to respond to those also.
The second thing is resolution. We always say that in 99% of cases, 300 dpi is more than enough, and in 95% of cases, 200 dpi will do just fine. What does this mean? Well, the lower the resolution, the smaller the file, and if the characters are not small, if you can go for 200, I suggest you do it. It will be faster scanning, faster transfer, and lower storage resources.
Then we come to the last two things, an adjustable book cradle and a flattening glass. Both are critical to achieving high-quality scanning results. The first one will let you adjust for the different thicknesses of the books. So moving one elevator up and the other down, or the other way around, when needed.
Then we have the glass, which comes over the pages and flattens them, which in turn achieves really good quality of the images. The flatter the scanned area, the better the final results are. On the Klip Snap, we supply a low iron glass which besides flattening the pages, will also provide better scanning quality when compared to a standard glass.
How the Klip Snap handles the technical aspects
In terms of resolution, the Klip Snap achieves nearly 300 dpi for sizes up to A3+. The more precise size is 430 by 310mm, which is slightly larger than A3. So a big plus in terms of scanning size. We have tested an SRA3 document on it, and it captured nearly everything, only missing around 2-3mm on each side.
We have seen that sometimes for books that spread to nearly A3, depending on the thickness of the gutter, you will probably move slightly over the the 430mm listed. The simple trick that we use is to raise the SV600 by 2cm, placing a think book underneath. The drop in resolution won’t be significant.
Now, the book cradle and book support. The elevators move freely up and down, allowing you to scan books that are up to cm thick. This will cover most books that fit the A3 size, and the best thing about it is that being mechanical, the cradle will support just about any weight the book has. The scanner is very versatile in this sense, and will not let you down for most of the scanning jobs.
We have fitted the cradle with a 4cm thick glass with low iron. This means better transparency and less green tint in the scans. Normal glass has a greenish tint because of increased iron in its formulation. The ultra-clear glass nearly cancels this effect, the images will have much better sharpness and better colors.
How much an A3 book scanner costs
The price for A3 book scanners ranges from 600 USD to over 10.000 USD. And it all depends on what you are looking for in this scanner. For example, the SV600 standalone will cost you nearly 600 USD. While this is a very good scanner, it has some inherent flaws, which for example the KLIP Snap support will correct. Together, these will set you back 1500 USD. But this is still a long way cheaper than other devices that cost around 5K, and will not deliver better overall quality.
You will be amazed to find out that some of them don’t even feature an adjustable book cradle. And they cost 3 times more. On the other hand, you will get devices that cost 8000 USD, but they will offer you better resolution than the Klip Snap. So, for example, if you need only 300 dpi, then the KLIP will be the perfect book scanner for you. If you need more, then you will have to pay more, sometimes for a different scanning technology, while at times, for a better camera, in the case of scanners that use DSLR or mirrorless cameras.
Which A3 book scanner should I buy?
Well, as you can expect, we will always recommend our Klip Snap as the perfect A3 book scanner. While we might be subjective, we can tell you that within the market, our product offers extremely good value for money. You are getting professional book support on which you can fit an A3 Scansnap SV600, or just about any other A3 document camera. Our support costs around 900 USD, which means that when you also add the SV600, you will be paying around 1500 USD for the entire package.
If you need to go higher in DPI, I guess you will be paying a lot more. But make sure you are analyzing exactly which one to get. We don’t think that a camera-based system will bring you much more, so at least get a linear book scanner. That will cost around 4-5 times more, but at least you are getting the appropriate higher scanning resolution and really good capturing technology.
All in all, just make sure you are getting value for the money you spent, and if you need any more information, we would love to help you decide on the best a3 book scanner.