Canon LiDE 300 Colour Flatbed Scanner - Black

I bought this exclusively for scanning in old photos and for £65, I am very happy with it. It took me about 2 hours to scan 250 photos. I scanned two at a time at 600 dpi and the quality is fine for me. The software for this scanner will automatically separate and crop the photos, so by scanning two at a time, as long as you leave a gap between them, the scanner will create two separate images on your computer and they will be perfectly cropped and aligned - so you don't need to keep them straight when putting them into the scanner. It takes about 30 seconds for the scanner to scan 2 photos at 600 dpi. Once you play around with it to make sure you know what you're doing and that you're happy with the quality, it doesn't take long to work through the photos and scan them all in. The software (which can be downloaded) is pretty straightforward and easy to use. If you are on macOS, you don't even need any drivers (not sure about Windows but they are all on the Canon website anyway). The only thing I will say is that this scanner has a lock switch on the bottom - I've no idea what this is for (maybe to stop your kids from scanning stuff?) but it is important to put it to the unlocked position or the scanner won't work. And if you unlock it whilst it's already plugged into the computer, you will need to disconnect and reconnect it to the computer (i.e. unplug / plug in the USB cable) after you put the switch to unlock, otherwise your computer might not detect it. This scanner also does not need any power source / plug socket, which is handy. It gets power from your computer (the USB cable is supplied). Overall I am very happy with this scanner - it did exactly what I wanted it to do and it was pretty cheap.

For the sub £50 price tag (Jan 2021) this scanner is an absolute first choice option. It runs on the power supplied from the USB cable, so there's no need to find an extra plug socket (indeed, it has no power cord or socket to fit it into). The specs are clearly listed, so there's no real need to go over them again here, so I'll just clear a few things up... Firstly, I'll address the issue that so many seem to be having; the connection error message. Unfortunately, this is just the same old problem of people simply not reading the manual. The manual supplied with the scanner, is basically just a quick connection sheet. It's really quick and simple to read through it, so please do so. You see, the scanner comes with a physical locking button on the underside, that locks /unlocks the scanning arm inside the scanner. This lock physically holds the internal scanning arm down to prevent damage during transit. By default it comes in the locked position, and if not slid into the unlocked position BEFORE plugging in the USB cable to your computer (which powers up the scanner), then you will get the connection error window. If the lock button is not pushed into the unlock position at all, you will also get a connection error message. Follow the setup procedure in the quick connection guide, and everything will work fine. Basically it goes as follows: 1. Install driver/utils to your PC from the included CD 2. Slide the lock button to the unlock position. 3. Plug in the USB and connect it to your PC. It really is that simple... All you have to remember, is that before you power up the scanner by plugging in the USB, you MUST have switched the locking button to the unlocked position... It won't work if you power it up and then unlock it; you must unlock it first! I know, I'm repeating myself, but it's important to do it in that order. Once you have it up and running, the utilities that come with it, will take 10 minutes to go through and configure, but they are straight forward enough that you can do it without having to trawl through pages of instructions... Which are available through a Web page interface if you feel the need to use them. The output is first rate, and the scanning is very fast indeed. The scanning options are simple, but also complete if you want to seriously configure the device to your specific requirements, rather than go with the out-of-the-box settings. Don't be put off by those claiming that it doesn't work, the problem does not exist with the scanner - the problem lies closer to the user than the scanner. Excellent product... 5 Stars.

Absolutely brilliant, scans photos in 10 seconds, install was simple however it comes with the scan lock on by default, this is situated on the bottom at the front so before use unlock it first, nice and slim makes it storable without taking up to much space, well worth the money

Amazing bit of kit that gives a very good result. Many options and settings that make this a great purchase for the money. The build is sturdy and professional to feel, and fits in well to an office setup. I have not used the software as this is mainly for windows - I use Linux and this scanner was plug and play with no issues at all.

This produces remarkably better results than the old LiDE 220 which I used to use. I couldn't get some of the Canon software to work on a 2024 iMac running Mac OS 26.1 Tahoe, but it's very simple to scan using the Mac Image Capture app.

I'm a traditional artist. Bought as I needed a scanner and was on a budget. For a budget scanner it's great! Max size is A4 and scans up to 600 dpi which is good enough for what I needed it for. However I played around with scan settings and image formats, but whatever I did, the colours are very washed out in the scans. It's nothing a bit of saturation/hue adjustment can't fix, and my work uses a lot of bright colours so most people likely won't need to worry, and its fine for what I need. It picks up textures really well, however if you're using it to scan a lot of photographs/flat drawings etc consistently I'd bite the bullet and spend a little more. Very easy to use however does need a DVD drive to install.

A little tricky to set up right but now it's scanning my photos perfectly and gives me the right image quality and file size

Very good and small size that makes it easy to place or replace it. am happy for buying this ietem

I just received this today and have put it through its paces. The first scan was a 5x8 photo with a resulting jpeg nearly identical to the original. Easily handles documents and books. Scans to pdf format as well. A really good value for the money. The fact that it’s small, portable, and USB powered is a huge plus.

Recibí el escáner hace unos días. Es fácil bajar los controladores. Apenas lo estoy empezando a probar, editaré esta opinión cuando haya terminado con eso. Sólo les quiero advertir que el aparato no tiene botón de encendido/apagado, lo cual a mi me resulta muy incómodo porque se enciende cuando lo conectas a la PC por USB y lo tienes que estar conectando y desconectando cada vez que lo usas. Tardé un buen rato en poder escanear un documento por 1a. vez porque te pide mover una palanca para desbloquear el aparato y nomás no la encuentras: LA PALANCA PARA DESBLOQUEARLO ESTÁ EN LA SUPERFICIE DE ABAJO. Ahí verás los iconitos de un candado abierto y otro cerrado. Días después ya lo he empezado a usar. Es muy rápido, escanea con una gran nitidez y tiene funciones muy cómodas, como enviar de inmediato por correo lo que acabas de escanear o poder imprimirlo sin necesidad de guardarlo primero. Sí lo recomiendo.

Testé après réception. Installation très facile. Fais très bien le travail. Je recommande.

Works well for scanning documents, photos, any everything. The software needed has to downloaded from net and it’s simple and easy to use, its speed and easy to connect. Works very well for the money, the image quality is good too.