Review on Epson Expression 12000XL-PH Flatbed Scanner - Unparalleled High Definition Scanning Superiority by Pete Norris

I bought this scanner to scan a variety of things: photos, documents, books and 3D objects. Image quality is excellent and depth of field is amazing; With adjustable focus, he can handle almost anything I can throw at him. The text next to the spine, which is peeling off the glass, doesn't bother him at all. The included SilverFast software that influenced my purchase decision for this scanner was a big disappointment. It worked fine at first, but then it started producing soft-focus scans even though the preview was clear. I downloaded and installed the latest version but no luck. He seemed to have lost the ability to control the scanner's focus. I've switched to Epson's proprietary software, EpsonScan2, and it works well, if not as elegantly as SilverFast. EpsonScan2 easily adjusts focus both automatically and manually. I was concerned that if I switched to Epson's homebrew software I would take away many of the image customization options, but this didn't happen. While you'll have to dig through the menus a bit to find them, there are plenty of manual controls for tweaking your scanned image. I'd say it's comparable to Microtek's ScanWizard software in terms of manual control, it's just a little harder to get to. Given the size, resolution, and dynamic range this scanner is capable of, it badly needs a USB3. Large scans are unbearably slow as the scan speed is limited by the USB2 interface. In addition, the fan is quite loud. If the scanner is next to your desk, how do you get the job done when it's not there? - the squeaking of this fan gets boring very quickly; it is at a particularly exasperating altitude. I had no real problems other than the scanner and software sometimes crashing when trying to focus on a small area of the scan. After turning the scanner off and on and restarting the software, the exact same autofocus usually works. It takes a little bit of my time but finally I get a scan. In summary, it's far from perfect, but it works 98% of the time, and when it does, it does it very well.