Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB 2400 Pro Scanner

I'd grown frustrated by the fact that I tend to create artwork larger than our standard-sized scanner. I'd thought a large-format scanner was out of my financial reach until I discovered this baby, and I am more than pleased. The quality is excellent and it works quickly. I am thrilled with this scanner and highly recommend it.

I needed an A3 Scanner for art and picked this up in 2011 for a good price, I had my doubts being there is next to no other cheap A3 scanners, it was this or pay $1000+. Well Mustek, thank you - it is still running great after 10 years and 100's of images, that's some good value, it isn't streamlined like a car and can be 'clunky' but who cares?, it's small enough to be practical and is very useful to me. The software is annoying, but I use Photoshop for the scan anyway.

I'm an illustrator, now drawing a comic book. I have to scan large inked drawings to manipulate them in a Snow Leopard iMac, using Photoshop CS5. I have to scan them at a high resolution (800ppi). With a standard 8.5 x 11" scanner, I have to scan drawings in parts and then assemble the parts in Photoshop -a time consuming technique. That's why I looked for this 11 x 17" scanner, in the hopes of scanning my drawings in one single step. But it didn't work. I carefully read several previous customer reviews and that allowed me to install the scanner software without problems. I checked the "Open in 32-bit mode" box in the Photoshop Get Info Box, and everything, as advised by ComixJoint in one of the reviews (very helpful) . I actually installed the software for Mac directly from the CD that comes with the scanner, as I couldn't find the downloadable version for Mac in the Mustek website. But, as I said, I could install it from the CD without major problems. Through Photoshop I usually use TWAIN to capture my scanned drawings, and TWAIN indeed recognized the scanner and opened the scanning window. I could preview the drawing and start scanning it, but that was it: the software didn't seem to be able to go any further. The scanner could never end the scanning process and a spinning icon showed up, meaning the task was not finished yet and you had to wait. So, I waited, and waited, and waited. I waited for several minutes the first time, and I thought the delay was related to the high resolution. So, I had to close Photoshop and attempted the whole process again at a lower (72 ppi) resolution, but it didn't work either. I have tried several times changing all manners of settings and resolutions, and it could never complete the task of scanning the image. Once I just left it there running and returned three hours later, just to find it was still spinning. So I gave up and returned it to Amazon. And started writing this review. Fortunately I had bought it through Amazon, so returning was easy, just a matter of clicking some buttons and printing the return tag. I'd read the stories of several customers who had bought this scanner through retailers who gave them a real hard time to release the return. Summarizing: I do not (DO NOT) advice this scanner at all. In my opinion it's a hoax: the manufacturer is trying to sell an imperfect, unpredictable, very bad quality product. Actually whoever he is, he's -in my opinion- a swindler. Don't buy it and you'll save time, patience, anger and finally money (as working time is, at least for me, money). Something else: the scanner area is smaller than 11 x 17. And the scanning lid is black, so you won't be able to scan any drawing made on tracing paper.

This scanner is an excellent value for this size of a scanner. The software that comes with the scanner load two tools. The stand alone portion of the software is not very good. It can be used to perform basic functions such as creating a copy of a document. The real value in the software is the twain compliant driver. This enables the scanner to be used as an import device into picture editing tools such as Photoshop. The twain driver provides quite good control of the scanner including the ability to select the dpi settings by number. The dpi setting in the stand alone tool is very coarse as stated in another review. Another good feature of the twain driver is the ability to batch scan. This enables multiple scan regions to be setup and scanned in sequence. The downside of the scanner is speed. I use this scanner to scan large documents and pages of photos out of albums. When scanning pages of photos, I setup a batch scan that creates a separate scan for each photo. I use the scanner on my all-in-one printer for small documents because it is faster. If you need a large format scanner, this is a good value for the money. If you need to scan thousands of large documents you may want to look a for a faster scanner.

I bought the Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB 2400 Pro for use with a Mac OS X 10.6 system. I've been using it for a few months now, and while the scanner itself is decent for the price (not great, just decent), I must say that I am extremely disappointed with Mustek's proprietary ImageAcquire software. It is a ridiculously limited and short-sighted application to provide with a scanner that, because of its flatbed size, is obviously geared toward semi-professional or prosumer use, rather than casual home use. I bought it for the purpose of scanning large archival images for use in documentary video production. The scan quality is decent -- if your photos are completely flat, that is. If there is any wrinkle/warp/curl to your photos, the scans will come out with a ton of glare! Now, as for the software: For starters, the application GUI is very awkward. First it opens a blank window and makes you choose a scanning device from a drop-down menu. Then it opens a laughably tiny interface for choosing settings and scan area. You can barely see what you're doing! How is this barely-visible interface supposed to be in any way practical for users to perform a task that relies solely on vision?! It's madness. Then, after it scans, it opens a third window to ask you where to save the scan. This is very sloppy software design that does not provide a cohesive user experience whatsoever. Next up, you've got the buggy scan size selection tool. If you drag the marquee edges faster than at a snail's pace -- or in a direction that ImageAcquire doesn't seem to like -- the marquee resizes randomly, making it next to impossible to select the scan area that you actually want. I've resigned myself to selecting "A3" from the pull-down menu for every scan, even if I'm just scanning a small photograph, because it's so frustrating to perform even a simple operation like resizing the marquee. No matter what resolution you choose for your scans, ImageAcquire automatically converts the saved image to 72 dpi. So, for example, if you can an 8.5" x 11" image at 300 dpi, ImageAcquire actually spits out a 72 dpi image at 35" x 45". This may be of little consequence to some users, but it's very annoying if you need your image saved at a specific resolution. You then have to open it in another application like Photoshop and first resize your image before doing any editing. ImageAcquire also keeps a running list of devices in its startup list, even when those devices are no longer attached to the computer. I recently replaced my old Epson printer/scanner with a new model, yet ImageAcquire still claims that my old printer is available. I deleted all of the old Epson software and removed it from my list of printers in System Preferences, yet ImageAcquire won't "release" this printer/scanner from its list, and I certainly don't see any way to remove it from ImageAcquire's list of devices manually. Most importantly -- and most frustrating of all -- is the fact that ImageAcquire doesn't even acquire the entire image from the flatbed! I bought this scanner to do what Mustek says it can do -- scan A3 tabloid sized images. However, if you put a piece of A3 sized artwork on the scanner, select the A3 scan size from the pull-down menu, and scan, ImageAcquire cuts off the outer edges of the image from the flatbed! I honestly don't know who was more careless -- the software designers who limited the scan size to an area that's more narrow than the flatbed and image sensors are capable of scanning, or the product designers who made the flatbed larger than the allowed scanning area. The ScanExpress most definitely does not scan at the sizes advertised! All of these complaints would be moot if the user were allowed to use this scanner with third-party software, but once again, Mustek has cheated the customer by preventing the scanner from working with any software other than ImageAcquire. Whether this was an intentional act of software monopolization, or -- more likely -- poor programming that was overlooked and ignored at every level, I can't honestly say. But when I tried to use the ScanExpress with VueScan -- arguably the most popular and device-supportive third-party scanning software available -- the software could not even recognize the Mustek scanner. The developer of VueScan himself told me that my Mustek scanner will never work with third-party software -- especially on the Mac OS -- because the software developers created a flimsy driver that is incompatible with the Mac's most basic image acquisition utility, Image Capture. Because of this, no software will ever recognize the Mustek scanner besides the lackluster, proprietary ImageAcquire. Add in the fact that there's almost zero documentation or support available, and you've got a losing combination. My wish is that Mustek would re-evaluate their current drivers and ImageAcquire application and either completely overhaul the application or, better yet, open up the software architecture so it can be used with reliable third-party scanning software that has been designed thoughtfully, not hastily.

CONS: -There is no on/off switch. Absurd cost-cutting. -There is no on/off light. Absurd cost-cutting. -For Mac users: the enclosed CD holds installers for 4 applications, only ONE of which is Mac compatible: the drivers. There is NO scanner interface application included on the CD to install for Macs. Meaning: there is no way to scan. No app on the Mac sees the scanner. Photoshop doesn't see it. Apple's Image Capture doesn't either. Moreover you are told in SMALL PRINT to leave the scanner off to install the software. -After bumbling about for a while, you'll think to check their site for the scanne'rs FAQ page. No surprise the FAQ page is blank. -For Mac users: eventually you'll figure out that of the two Mac installers available on their site, one was not included in the CD: "Scanner Access." Install this so your Mac can actually see and interface with the scanner. Why it's not included in the CD is beyond my comprehension. -Scanner Acces software is a warmed over hack from 1995, letting you save your scans in jpg, tif and png. PNG? -Not true 11x17, but 11.6 x 16.something. -No sw for stitching, or OCR or any other modern conveniences like Canon's and HP's scanners -No buttons on scanner for scanning directly to PDF or your email app. PROS: -Lightweight. At 16lbs, it weighs as much as a box of cereal. Lightweight is good for sneakers, but for a scanner, I'm thinking cheap plastic parts that will snap or wear out for no good reason. -I do fine-line, cross-hatched ballpoint pen sketches that copier-scanners can't pick up and over-compress into PDFs. This, like any other flatbed scanner, does with acceptable quality with minimal visible compression/scanning artifacts. RECOMMENDATION Well it's the only game in town. You'll get this only because you have to. It will scan. But the experience is like fixing a flat on the roadside, rather than using a well crafted tool. If you've been spoiled by Apple's thoroughness you may find yourself grumpy about this like I am.

I've been searching, tediously for a wide format scanner for over a year and the cheapest I could find that worked with Windows 7 was and an Epson for $1,047. And Honestly I couldn't afford that. I'm a freelance cartoonist who works on large sized Bristol. I gave up hope and desided to save some money to purchase that Epson in a few months. Then out of nowhere Mustek comes out with an upgrade to their old wide format scanner. For only [...] bucks, I was in awe to see its specs and price. I ordered it right away, almost not thinking twice. The Software is a bit confusing, but if you worked with any kind of scanner in the past it isn't impossible to grow accustom to. It looks nice and isn't an eye sore as a lot of others were. But more importantly was the quality of scanning. I took out an old comic page and scanned it as soon as I had it connected and the software was installed. The only thing I am a little disappointed in was that you can't select the DPI specifically. It has 3 settings, "Normal" "Fine" and "Very Fine. I'm assuming very fine is the 2400 DPI that was listed on its specs. Honestly that's my only complaint as of now... I had it for going on one week and I'm very pleased with it. Once you have the software completely installed, you don't even need to open up the program when you want to scan. You simply have to open the scanners lid and PRESTO! The program automatically loads on screen. It scans pretty quickly as well, my pages are highly detailed with hatching and values, it takes roughly 30 seconds per page and all I have to do it load it into Photoshop and touch it up a little as I always to with any scan and the image is perfect. It also has some sound effects that remind me of a lot about Samsung Products, You know it has a retro sounding NES feel to it, which I personally like and think it an interesting touch. I give this a 4/5 because... The DPI settings is a little confusing, the physical frame is a little delicate frame and because I rarely give out 5's. But I'd rather save the 700 - 1500 bucks and get this then a 5 star Epson. I haven't heard much of Mustek and this is my first product of theirs, but as far as I can see it's a very promising company which made a promising product that saved me a butt load of cash. And this Artist recommends it, especially for you comic artist out there looking for a cheap but good big boy scanner.

This scanner is a great value for the money. I've read other reviews, which spoke of difficulty with the software, but I experience none of that. On the other hand, you should not expect this unit to perform like similar products costing hundreds or even thousands of dollars more. I don't have complicated needs, nor expect this scanner to wash my car and mow my lawn. Without any tech knowledge or effort, this unit sends the scanned images to Photoshop for editing...perfect. This is a fairly basic unit, which easily performs as well as I expected. It does what it is advertised to do, and does it well. For the money, you can't beat this large format scanner. A+