I have a USB scanner attached to a PC and it’s configured (using the PC) to save scans triggered by the button on the scanner to be saved to a NAS device on my local network. It works fine as long as the PC is on when I scan
My question is: is there such a high-quality scanner that can be configured to save to the same NAS device on my network without having to be connected to a computer? Maybe it’s Wifi-capable and can see my NAS on its own, and can save scans directly to the NAS?
Yes. There is something called ScanSnap that allows you to save your scanned data directly to your designated network folder, all without the need for a PC. How good it is I can’t say because I’ve never used one.
I’m pretty sure my Brother laser printer / scanner can do this. I think it can also email the scanned files.
I have never actually set it up so I can’t say how well it works.
The copiers at my office can email you a scan rather than printing out the copy so it’s clearly doable somehow.
The flatbed scanner on my old color laser multifunction printer could save a scan to a network folder (a Windows CIFS share). Doesn’t work any more because all the computers on the network don’t work with the old version of the SMB protocol the printer uses, but a new scanner probably would do it just fine.
I don’t have any concrete suggestions because I’m not in the market myself at this moment, so haven’t done any research.
The (Kyocera) copiers in my office can also email scans, but that requires certain functionality to be configured on them. They can also scan to a network folder but need user credentials to do so. If the OP’s NAS device isn’t set up on a domain, it might be easier for them to do so.
Thank you. The Ricoh (formerly Fujitsu) ScanSnap iX1600 looks like it would work well. I’ll check it out!
I have a Ricoh copier (one of those big office copiers) with a scanner that will send the scanned images to your email or to network location, no computer necessary. Conveniently, I have a few Raspberry Pis on the network so I was able to have the scanner automatically send anything it scans to a folder on one of those Pis, and then I stuck a shortcut to that folder on the desktops of the people that need the scanner.
I have to assume just about any network scanner with an ethernet port or wifi access will be able to do the same thing. It’s a pretty trivial task.
It’s a pretty trivial task.
Finding an office scanner that can scan directly to the network may be trivial (and expensive), but the tricky part seems to be finding a network-capable scanner that will do high-quality scans of photos. This slick Ricoh ScanSnap maxed out at 600 dpi resolution. My cheap Canon flatbed USB scanner scans at 2400 dpi.
I’ve got the older ix1500 and you can program the scanner to upload docs to multiple cloud repositories based on the button you push. It’s great.
What dpi do you need?
My Brother printer/scanner is 1200 dpi, which is “high quality” compared to a standard 300 to 600 dpi scanner, but it’s crap compared to your 2400 dpi scanner.
I think you are going to be paying more for a higher dpi than you will pay for the ability to write directly to a network location. The network stuff seems to be fairly common these days, enough so that it shows up on reasonably priced scanners like mine.
I think you are going to be paying more for a higher dpi than you will pay for the ability to write directly to a network location. The network stuff seems to be fairly common these days, enough so that it shows up on reasonably priced scanners like mine.
Actually, the network connectivity is clearly commanding a price premium. My Canon LIDE 300 2400x2400 flatbed USB scanner is about $60. That slick Ricoh ScanSnap 600x600 network-capable scanner is over $400. It seems like a company like Canon could add network connectivity to their simple flatbed scanners and not increase the price exponentially. But I guess my requested feature (HQ photo scanning, Wifi connectivity) isn’t terribly popular, so they’re not likely inclined to do it.
I think I paid about $250 for my printer/scanner. I assumed most of that cost was because it was a laser printer.
I poked around on Amazon for a couple of minutes. I couldn’t find any wifi scanners with a dpi of at least 2400 with a price range below $400 (I didn’t look at higher priced ones).
I did only look for a couple of minutes though.
Hope you find something useful.
Thanks. Apparently, I’m looking for a unicorn.
I wouldn’t say that but rather that the feature you’re looking for is a premium one only available on more expensive models.
Link to one of these “more expensive” models?
I think the Ricoh (formerly Fujitsu) fi-8270 flatbed scanner will scan to a network folder, using the PaperStream software that comes with it. It costs about $1,500 but there are cheaper sheetfed models. We use one of the sheetfed models at work for specific functions, and they’re very fast, able to scan something like sixty double-sided pages per minute.
I’ve decided it’s much more efficient (and much cheaper) to just flick on my PC when I want to scan photos from my cheap Canon flatbed scanner. Once the PC is up, I press the Scan button on the scanner, it scans and saves the image(s) directly to my Wifi-available NAS device.
I was hoping there would be a tier of flatbed scanners (a bit more expensive than what I have, but not $1k more) that have a Wifi radio and the software to see/send data to the local Wifi network, allowing them to bypass a computer altogether. OK, lesson learned. Thanks for all the input.