How to Use Your Digital Camera as a Scanner or Copier

Pocket Digital Camera

Instead of lugging along a scanner or feeding coins into a copy machine at the local library, try using your digital camera as a scanner or copier. Even an inexpensive pocket camera can do an excellent job of making document copies.

You can use the photos as email attachments, in documents or saved as images files like output from a scanner. Print the pictures to use them like copier output. One pocket sized digital camera can replace both machines.

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Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Digital camera
• Table top tripod or copy stand recommended

1. Step 1

   For best results, choose the right digital camera for copy work. It should have a macro setting that will allow you to focus closely. Ideally, it should be able to focus to under two inches.
   
   A good copy camera will allow you to turn off the automatic exposure and set it manually. That way, you can take a photo and look at it on the camera screen. If it is too bright or too dark, adjust the exposure setting to get the image you want. Good exposure control is especially important when you are using the macro feature.
   
   You must be able to turn the automatic flash off. Most digital cameras will allow you to do that.
   
   Finally, look for a camera with image stabilization. It will be a tremendous help in situations where you can not use a tripod.

2. Step 2

   You can use your camera to make copies of book pages, documents, sale receipts - whatever you would use a scanner or copier for. In almost every case, you should turn off the flash before taking the photo. Besides being an annoyance to people around you, the bright light will just wash out detail in the picture. If you are photographing old documents, you should never use flash since it can be harmful to the paper you are photographing. With the flash off, take the photo and then inspect at it on the camera's screen. If the it is too dark or too light, manually adjust the exposure setting and try again. Keep experimenting until you get a good image. That setting should work for the rest of the pages in a document.

3. Step 3
   
   Table top tripod

   If the room you are working in as too dimly lit to give you a sharp hand held image without flash, there are a couple options available to you. If at all possible, carry a small tabletop tripod or portable copy stand and use it to steady the camera. That will allow longer exposures without the blurring from camera movement. If you don't have a tripod or if you can't use it where you are, try steadying the camera by resting it on a chair back, table edge or stack of books. If you can, move to a brighter area of the room to shorten exposure time.

4. Step 4

   Taking dim lighting to the extreme, I have even gotten decent results using a pocket digital camera to copy images off microfilm viewers. When possible, I use a flexible tripod that I can wrap around a chair back. If I don't have the tripod I steady the camera by bracing my arms against the sides of the viewer. With the image stabilization turned on, that works surprisingly well.

5. Step 5

   Improve your digital scans and copies by editing them in your photo editing software. Generally, adjusting the brightness, adding contrast and some mild sharpening will make your digital camera copies look clearer. Try converting to grayscale for black and white images. If you are printing the document you have some control over the darkness of the printer output too.
   
   With a little care and effort, the results you get by using a digital camera can be just as good as from a scanner or copier and the camera will be much more convenient.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are shopping for a new digital camera, keep scanning and copying in mind as one more use you can put it to. Choose a camera that has the desired features listed in step 1.