Kirby Research is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more

30 Best Rated Portable Scanner For Photos And Documents 2023

The ideal scanner for photos and documents is becoming popular with other users across the globe. Whether you get a host of reports to scan in, a host of receipts to digitize, or the box of images to transform, a gadget that might do very rapidly and simply is worth its weight in gold.

Of course, other printers incorporate a scanner at this moment, and if it is what you are searching for, test out our article to find the best portable scanner for photos and documents. At the same time, if you need a scanner for slides, then test out our instructions to the perfect film scanners. But if it is a scanner you are after for photographic prints, then how can you select the ideal one?

Well, initially you want to determine if you need an old flatbed scanner or the sheet-feed scanner that makes you load up some items to scan at the same time, through the auto document feeder. Next, you might select a hybrid version that displays either the flatbed or the sheet-feed scanner.

Besides, take into consideration where you will be taking the scanner. If it is specifically in one area like the home office, then the PC scanners on the list might be of most interest. However, if you want a good scanner particularly for traveling, you might need to test out the more portable scanners further down our list.


Reviews

1. Doxie Go SE - The Intuitive Portable Scanner (Standalone pick - Best standalone portable scanner for photos and documents)

We love the Doxie Go SE scanner for its ease of use and expandable memory. On the other hand, you might scan full-color pages for a while at a resolution of up to 600 DPI. The Doxie is equipped with a rechargeable battery which makes you scan up to 400 pages per charge.

Next, the Doxie app syncs might scan with your interesting applications, and utilizes state-of-the-art tech to better recognize the text in the document. What this proves is sharper, or precise scanning with clearer and readable text. The automatic customization can implement smart cropping, de-skew, and auto contrast to make each scan seem fabulous.

Doxie makes you store the scans above the SD card. You might store up to 4000 scans before wanting to sync.

Pros

- It conveys smart and easy scanning.

- It is quite easy to use.

- It is portable with a rechargeable battery.

- It offers a one-year warranty.

Cons

- This scanner should set a simple stick onto the power button.  

2. Epson DS-70 Document Scanner (Budget pick - Best cheap scanner for photos and documents)

The Epson DS-70 scanner is a bare-bones product for easy and on-the-go scan jobs. It might not get wireless or mobile assistance so that you will have to hook it up to the desktop to use it, but it is tiny and light enough to toss in the bag with the laptop and move to a meeting.

Besides, if you are caring about the portable scanner, you might get a particular task in the brain before committing. For rapidly, and precisely scanning one, or double-page documents while connected to the PC; it is based on the task. If you regularly scan various pages at the moment and want to send them directly to the mobile gadget; you might need to look somewhere else.

On top of it, adding the ADF for the simple multi page scanning; you will obtain with the ES-300W might boost the price up even further.

Pros

- It is specifically quick scanning.

- It offers precise OCR.

- It is quite lightweight and tiny

- It is simple to use

Cons

- There is no battery included.

- You have to connect to a USB on the PC.

3. Fujitsu ScanSnap iX100 Wireless Mobile Portable Scanner (Overall pick - Best overall portable scanner for photos and documents)

This portable scanner is a manual-feed handy document and photo scanner built for capturing data on the laptop or gadgets on the street. The iX100 is an update to the top version by a similar name, at the time, was one of the most unique portable scanners we had recognized.

When the hardware is mainly the same, its software bundle is specifically distinctive and is also among the most comprehensive clusters of portable document scanner utilities we have witnessed. As a single-sheet manual-feed gadget, though it is built for a tiny one, and double page scan jobs. Thanks to these confines, the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX100 is an outstanding value portable scanner.

Pros

- It is quick to use

- It has a robust software bundle.

- It is quite cheap

- It brings precise OCR.

Cons

- It lacks single-pass auto-duplexing.      

4. Epson FastFoto FF-680W Scanning System (scanner for photo print archives pick - best scanner for photo print archives)

Take a host of printer images you want to digitize, and do not need to take a lot of days, and weeks doing so? Then our selection for you is Epson FF-680W. Thanks to a capacity of 36 image sheets, it is fabulous for processing big stacks of traditional image prints, and the leading to digital pictures are wonderful.

How leading quality is based on you: you might select between some modes for simple sharing and enlarging (1200dpi). The lower the dots-per-inch, the quicker it might scan with 300 DPI pictures taken for a while – pretty good for obtaining a family archive into the internet age. The scanner is even particularly built to prevent tearing, creasing, or ruining your valued prints through the process.

You should not think about the Epson FF-680W as just for images, though. It even does an excellent job of scanning all types of documents as well. For those targets, you might load 100 typical sheets into the feeder at the same time. We even enjoy the plastic instructions for different widths of paper with marks for other images.

Pros

- It offers 36 image sheets.

- It comes with a 1200 DPI resolution.

- There are modes for various picture types to choose from.

Cons

- It is quite pricey.          

5. Plustek Photo Scanner (Photo pick - Best scanner for photos)

Keen on scanning images, but need something a little more budget-friendly than the Epson FF-680W. Then, this Plustek portable scanner is the pretty version for you.

That sheet-fed scanner is geared particularly towards transforming printed images to digital form and does a super better job of it. When the highest resolution of 600DPI can not be sufficient for professional photographers, it is perhaps great enough for the average user’s family snapshots, and the feed mechanism is fine for your prints so that you might not need to be anxious about them being damaged.

Unlike other expensive versions on the list, you do not take dual-sided printing, there is no Wifi, and you get to feed every print in one at any time. However, it is simple to use, and it is super reasonable, or it equips with other high-quality picture enhancement features, permitting you to rapidly improve and restore traditional faded pictures with a mouse’s click. You might scan more documents as well though its abilities here are limited so that you might not need to purchase that scanner for that target alone.

Pros

- It is handy to use.

- It is quite affordable to buy.

- It brings picture enhancement functions.

Cons

- It only scans a picture at once.


Purchasing guide

Criteria for buying the best portable scanner for photos and documents

As for time to purchase yourself the best portable scanner for photos and documents, it is crucial that you might care about a host of buying criteria. To assist you with the buying process, we have selected the shopping factors which we focus on to be the most essential. We particularly suggest that you glance at the main elements so as to make a good purchase.  

Usage

As with any portable scanner which you are going to purchase, the initial query you might ask yourself is what the intended use of the version is. If you want to scan more pages from the book, we highly suggest that the handheld portable scanner is the version for you. However, if you want to scan loose sheets, then you might stick with the sheet feeder.

On top of it, you can even think about whether you can scan pictures or text. As for photos, and equipment that might scan with high resolution is particularly suggested. To only make text copies or documents; the resolution is not as critical.

Design

As that version is built to be portable, you need it to be lightweight and simply transportable. A lot of current portable scanners weigh less than 2.2 pounds, but you might double and test the specs of the version you are going to purchase. The portable scanner might even be compact enough and resistant to deal with shocks, as those equipment are regularly dropped accidentally.

Type

The kind of portable scanner might be up to your usage. The sheet feeder scanner often brings a lane which sheets of paper take in to make a copy. Other handheld portable scanners might utilize a wheels’ system which permits the scanner to move better over the documents to be scanned. How you want to use the scanner might identify the system which best fits you.

Battery life

A crucial query that you might ask your own is if you enjoy a portable scanner with or without a rechargeable battery. Not all scanners bring a rechargeable battery so that it is crucial to determine if that attribute is crucial, as you might pay a little for that luxury. Rechargeable or not, the battery life and time are double fields which you can care about carefully as those might choose where and for how long you could use the equipment.

Resolution

The scanner’s resolution might have a considerable impact on the digitized picture’s quality. The portable scanner’s resolution is measured in dots per in (DPI). As usual, for fundamental documents or graphics; a resolution level from 300 to 600 DPI might be enough.

Next, when it comes to leading quality copies of documents; for instance, a resolution level that is higher than 900 DPI is requested. Moreover, it is crucial to care about the scanning speed. That metric is often referred to as pages per minute (PPM).


Compare Products

Showing  1 - 10  in  30 results
1
  • SCORE
    10.0
    AI Score

    Reviews are based on big data aggregated from sales pages and product buyer reviews. All ranking arrangements are automatically AI-driven according to product buyer reviews.

  • Brand
    Ejfete
2
  • SCORE
    10.0
    AI Score

    Reviews are based on big data aggregated from sales pages and product buyer reviews. All ranking arrangements are automatically AI-driven according to product buyer reviews.

  • Brand
    iOCHOW
3
  • SCORE
    10.0
    AI Score

    Reviews are based on big data aggregated from sales pages and product buyer reviews. All ranking arrangements are automatically AI-driven according to product buyer reviews.

  • Brand
    Epson
4
  • SCORE
    9.2
    AI Score

    Reviews are based on big data aggregated from sales pages and product buyer reviews. All ranking arrangements are automatically AI-driven according to product buyer reviews.

  • Brand
    plustek
5
  • SCORE
    9.0
    AI Score

    Reviews are based on big data aggregated from sales pages and product buyer reviews. All ranking arrangements are automatically AI-driven according to product buyer reviews.

  • Brand
    Doxie
6
  • SCORE
    9.0
    AI Score

    Reviews are based on big data aggregated from sales pages and product buyer reviews. All ranking arrangements are automatically AI-driven according to product buyer reviews.

  • Brand
    Doxie
7
  • SCORE
    9.0
    AI Score

    Reviews are based on big data aggregated from sales pages and product buyer reviews. All ranking arrangements are automatically AI-driven according to product buyer reviews.

  • Brand
    Doxie
8
  • SCORE
    9.0
    AI Score

    Reviews are based on big data aggregated from sales pages and product buyer reviews. All ranking arrangements are automatically AI-driven according to product buyer reviews.

  • Brand
    Brother
9
  • SCORE
    9.0
    AI Score

    Reviews are based on big data aggregated from sales pages and product buyer reviews. All ranking arrangements are automatically AI-driven according to product buyer reviews.

  • Brand
    Canon
10
  • SCORE
    9.0
    AI Score

    Reviews are based on big data aggregated from sales pages and product buyer reviews. All ranking arrangements are automatically AI-driven according to product buyer reviews.

  • Brand
    Brother

Last update on 2023-09-25 / Affiliate links / Images, Product Titles, and Product Highlights from Amazon Product Advertising API

3.5
4 ratings

FAQs

1. What type of media can you scan?

Understanding what and how regularly you hope to scan might let you know everything you want to know about the attributes you might want. Photos and unbound documents are the most realistic items to scan, but you may even want to scan books, receipts, and films. Somewhat less popular are items like coins or flowers.

You might even focus on details like the highest size of the originals, and whether you might want to scan both sides of pages. That might make you know the type of scanner you might be looking at such as a traditional flatbed, a version with the sheet feeder, or something else.

2. Do you want a sheet feeder?

If your key scanning demand is scanning documents on daily life – specifically these longer than double pages – you nearly need a document-centric scanner supported with the sheet feeder. Getting to open the flatbed lid and put a page in place is the chore, but getting to repeat the process many times for a 10-page document is tiresome. Other sheet-fed scanners might even tackle deep originals like ID cards.

If you will basically be scanning double pages for a while, the manual sheet feeder is perhaps all you want, or you could obtain it just fine with the scanner attribute on the all-in-one printer. If you will be scanning long documents every day, however, you will need the auto document feeder which might scan a whole stack of pages unattended. Stick with the ADF capacity up to the pages in the particular document you want to scan. If you rarely get a document that is more pages than the ADF capacity, you might add a lot of pages through the scan as the feeder processes them.

3. Do you want duplex scanning?

Duplex scanning shows scanning double sides of a page. If you hope to regularly scan documents that are printed on dual sides, you might need a duplexing scanner or the scanner with the driver which contains a manual-duplex attribute.

The swiftest duplexing scanners get double scanner components, so they might scan the sides of the page at once. A design might be quicker than the scanner with an easy duplexing ADF, but it might likely even cost more. A more ordinary duplexing ADF will scan a single side, turn the page over, and only then scan the other.

On the contrary, the scanner with a driver which assists manual duplexing might make you scan one side of the stack and prompt you to flip and re-feed the stack to scan the rest, with the scanner driver automatically interfiling the pages. Next, manual duplexing in the driver is a good substitution, and it is a great option if you can not scan double-sided documents very regularly, or you are on a tight budget.

4. What resolution do you need?

When it comes to scanning, the resolution is not a matter. On the other hand, tax documents, even a 200-pixel per-inch scan might offer you great enough quality for other targets. 300 PPI is nearly enough, and it is tough to seek a scanner at this moment that can assist less than 600 PPI. Similarly, if you do not plan to crop in the tiny part of the image, or print the image at a huge size than the original, 600 PPI is better.

Other types of originals, however, request high resolution. If you are scanning 35mm slides, for instance, you will perhaps need to print them at a larger size than the original, which proves you will scan them at a high resolution. If you need to realize the specific information in the original, such as the stamp; you will scan it at a high resolution. In other circumstances, you might need the scanner which claims an optical resolution of a minimum of 4800 PPI.

5. What software can you use?

Other scanners are equipped with fundamental scanning software. Based on what you want to scan, other attributes you might need to search for include image editing, and the capability to make searchable PDF documents. The days of scanners are over, or any state-of-the-art scanner might operate intangibly with Windows or macOS, and a lot of them could even scan to the smartphone or the cloud drive.

Focused scanners get software with unique functions. The receipt scanners are equipped with accounting software for sorting out the financial data. Scanners that tackle business cards might often extract the card data into the database.

If you want to scan images or various photos, and then adjust them in a program like Adobe Photoshop; we highly suggest that you should seek out the scanner with TWAIN drivers which might scan directly into the image customizing app.  


Wrapping It Up

That’s all about the best portable scanner for photos and documents which you need to know before making your decision. Last but not least, we hope that you can enlarge your horizon about how to obtain the ideal portable scanner for documents and photos in the near future. Do not hesitate to reply to us if needed. Thank you so much!        



Lumia Shaffer
Lumia Shaffer

I'm Lumia Shaffer! I'm a Kirby Research author, with a passion for writing, I've researched and published many in-depth product research articles!
My Twitter: https://twitter.com/KirbyLumias