Large format scanning

[tracyreed]

Hi everyone,
Does anyone offer a large format scanning service?. I have a rotary press arriving next week and would like some shirt panels scanning. Thanks in advance

[GoonerGary]

Have you tried professional photographic labs? Not the likes of Snappy Snaps. Very large items are usually photographed instead of scanned.

[tracyreed]

Thanks Gary, but managed to get a scanner.

[pisquee]

Yeah, we gave up on using commercial print houses for our large format scanning - they were too expensive, and we were never happy with the results, so bought an old Contex FSC500 (i think is the model!) for about £400 IIRC - about a metre wide large format scanner (500dpi), which needs Windows XP and a SCSI card to run, but works well, and we get better results than using photography for large artworks.
Keep your eyes on Ebay, as they do crop up.

[tracyreed]

Thanks Pisque, yep they quoted me £27 per piece.

[pisquee]

£27 per piece - how many scans are you going to be doing over time? how much can you pick up an old scanner for on Ebay?
How long before you may as well just buy one as it's cheaper and more convenient?