subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 10 August 2019 51
Ataglance
●Outputresolution600ppi
●Maxprintsize21x91cm
●Colourdepth 24 bits colour/
8 bitsmono
●296(w)x 169(d)x 176(h)mm
● 3.7kg weight
DOYOUhavea boxfullof printsfrom
pre-digitaldaysthatyoureallyought
todigitise,if onlyyoucouldfacethe
tediousnessof scanningthemoneby
one,ortwoorthreeat a time,onyour
flatbedscanner?I do.Notjustonebox
butmany,containingthousandsof prints.
SowhenI heardaboutthenewEpson
FastFotoFF-680WI wasalloverit. Witha footprint
thatfits comfortablywithinthatof my13inMacBook
Proit takesuplittlespaceonthedeskbutcanbatch
scanupto 30 photosof varyingsizesin aslittleas
30 seconds.It canalsocrop,rotateandstraighten,
boostcolourandcontrast,removeredeye and
savethemascopies,alongsidethe
originals.Gothandwrittennoteson
thebacks?It canscanthosetoo.
TousetheFF-680W,simplyload
yourprintsintothetrayat theback,press
thescanbuttonandit opensthesoftwareon
yourcomputer.Thenselecta file name,selecta
destinationfolderandpress‘StartScanning’.Done.
In theSettingsmenuyoucanselectstandard,
square,instant(polaroids)orpanoramicprints,
choosebetween300dpi,600dpiorinterpolated
1200dpiscans,andJPEGorTIFFfiles.Youcan
choosewhetheryouwantauto-enhancements
appliedtothescanora duplicateof it, andit can
uploadscansdirectlytoyourDropBoxorGoogle
Driveif required.Youcanalsoview,sortandshare
yourscanswithintheFastFotobrowserwindow.
At300dpitheFastFotorattlesthrougha batchat
a printpersecond;at 600dpiit takesthreeseconds,
andat 1200dpiit’s 10 seconds.Processingand
savingtakea littlelonger,dependingonyourPC
andenhancementoptions,butwe’restillonlytalking
aboutseconds.Thisis usingtheUSB3.0cable
supplied.YoucanalsouseWi-Fi,whichmaybe
a bitslowerdepending on your connection.
Ve r d i c t
Onthewholethestraightscansarea fairlyaccurate
representationof theoriginalandtheenhanced
versionis a significantimprovement.Critical
sharpnessis notuptherewiththebestflatbeds
anda fewscanscouldbenefit fromsharpeningand
furtherfinetuning,if you’repicky.It doesn’tretouch
cracks,dustspotsandphysicaldamageeither
- you’llstillneedPhotoshopforsomethinglikethat.
Butoverall,forme,thisis a transformativepieceof
hardware.It mightnotbecheap,butthemoreprints
youhavetodigitise,andthemorevaluablethose
ALL PRICES ARE APPROXIMATE STREET PRICESprints are to you, the more of a bargain it becomes.
Epson Fa stFoto
F F- 680W
NigelAtherton tests a high-speed
printscanner
● £499● http://www.epson.co.uk
Auto-
enhancements
Canapplya varietyofglobal
auto-enhancementsand
correctionstotherawscan
ora copy,in seconds.
Recommended
ACCESSORIES Testbench
Auto-detect
Automaticallydetects
if there’sanythingonthe
backsofprints,andscans
thoseatthesametimetoo
if thereis.
Speed
Scanupto 45 pagesper
minuteat300dpi,600dpior
1200dpiandsavetoyourhard
drive,DropboxorGoogle
Drive,usingUSB3.0
orWi-Fi.
Batchscan
Batchscanupto 30 prints
ordocumentsata time,upto
21x91cm(panoramic).
Scansareautorotated
andstraightened.
Thescannercan
straightenthedistortion
from curled photos
