One of the things I received for Christmas was a Flip Pal Scanner.
This is a dream for anyone who loves to scan photos and get them digitized. This is an amazing tool for a family historian who is on the move looking for data and photos and want to scan a copy on the fly. The scanner is battery operated and very small.
I got my scanner out of the packaging and had it up and running in minutes. I just followed a few steps and weeeee I was scanning.
It does some really cool things too. The gray plastic lid snaps off so you can get hard to fit items like a book page on the scanner.
Here is a quick YouTube video that gives you an overview of the scanner.
The scanner scans in either 300 dpi or 600 dpi, you choose which you want to use. I have taken one photo that I scanned with my full size flat bed scanner and rescanned it with the flip pal.
You can see the 2 scans here of my father and his 2 brothers:
Scanned at 300 dpi with flip pal scanner
Scanned at 300 dpi with full size flat scanner
Hopefully you can tell on your computer that the Flip Pal scan is excellent!
I can adjust the contrast and brightness with my computer photo editing software. You can also buy software from the Flip Pal company.
You can scan large items and there is a stitching software that helps you fit the items together into one large image. I haven't done a stitched photo yet so I will have to add a new post later to share how that works out for me.
Here is a video to demo that someone else made that shows how to stitch photos together.
The scanner comes with a small 2 gig card that at 300 dpi estimates over 1200 photos will fit.
You can take the card out and then load them on your computer through a card adapter. The scanner comes with a card to USB adapter.
I haven't bought one yet, but you can buy an Eye Fi memory card that will load your photos onto your computer over your Wi-Fi network. You don't have to take the card out, just sent the pics over the Wi-Fi.
So I have tons of photos to scan and I can now just sit in front of the TV and scan a ton of these small photos. Then load them onto the computer and work on them at a later time.
I need to copy them to disc too. I don't want to scan then more than one time.
You can also scan fabric and objects. Do you have a swatch of cloth from grandma's dress or fancy buttons? Perhaps a WWII metal from a grandparent.
Search on YouTube and you will find lots of uses for this scanner, even scrapbooking.
I apologize for not updating this blog sooner, just so many projects going on. I hope to add an update soon on my family history progress.
I love my flip-pal. Can't wait to make use of it at the Natl archives!
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Theresa (Tangled Trees)
Thank you for the kind note Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith, I am enjoying the genealogy community. I wish I had more time to read what every one has to write. I see you are on Squidoo, so am I. I will have to take a look at your lenses.
ReplyDeleteTCasteel, How nice that you are going to the National Archives! That sounds really exciting. I'm on the west coast, so maybe someday if I get to travel out that way, I will try that too. I'm glad you love your flip pal too. Did you make one of those custom cover skins for the lid? I am planning to make one with some old family photos.
Thanks for taking a look at my blog. :)
Welcome to Geneabloggers.
ReplyDeleteI've been looking for a small portable scanner which is not a flat bed. This way if I want to scan a book or something like that I don't have to press the book down into the flat bed.
Regards, Jim
Genealogy Blog at Hidden Genealogy Nuggets
The flip scanner looks interesting. I have a very expensive flatbed scanner for photos, film and slides, but it's very awkward for books or 3-dimensional objects, and of course you can't take it with you. Thanks for sharing that - I may have to look into one to stick in my "go" bag.
ReplyDeleteJim S, I really think this is the best portable scanner. I got a little wand scanner which you really have to be steady and swipe in an even direction to get a decent scan. The flip pal is so much easier.
ReplyDeleteGracey, I have seen several people say they take it with them all over. I got a nice little zipper sleeve to put it in too. It runs on batteries, so I plan to take a couple extra with me when I go, but you don't plug it in and can get quite a bit of scanning done on the batteries.
Thanks for the comments everyone :)
We really like ours! BTW, thanks for stopping by my recent post on indexing and leaving great comment. I really appreciate that! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThat scanner is definitely a remarkable Christmas present. This makes duplicating important data a lot easier and faster. Its size is truly an advantage, as it's very compact and can cater to any size of document. That Flip Pal scanner is a must-have! :)
ReplyDelete-Ruby Badcoe