23 July 2013

My First Flip-Pal Use: Scanning a Picture of a Portrait

My Flip-Pal has arrived and I must say that I do like it.

My experimentation so far has been limited to scanning photographs smaller than 4 inches by 6 inches. It is easy to scan images and scan at 300 or 600 DPI. The images save easily to an SD card. I had no trouble using imaging software to view, crop, and work with the images. The cover comes off relatively easily (follow the directions which are included) and it is easy to "flip" the  Flip-Pal over and scan something is in a book or is larger than 4 by 6, but which has a usable image within those dimensions.

Flipping the Flip-Pal over allows you to see exactly what you are scanning---the bottom is clear as well. There is not much "technical" to using it. To be perfectly honest, the only directions I read were the ones about how to get the lid off so one could flip it over to scan. Easy to turn on, easy to scan--hit that green button. Some of the pictures I had would have fit on the scanning surface, but I found I preferred using the scanner upside down. I could then see the image that was being scanned and make certain I had not accidentally cut anything off.

I still have not "stitched" together an image from several scans of a document that was larger than 4 by 6 inches. That is on my list and we'll blog about it when I've had a chance to do that.

This scan was made from a picture of the photograph that was given to me by a cousin. So this is a scan of picture of the original picture.

George A. and Ida (Sargent) Trautvetter family, about 1915.
I was pleased with how this scan (made at 600 DPI turned out). I was also impressed with how easy the Flip-Pal made the whole scanning process.

I did purchase the carrying bag that is available for the  Flip-Pal . One can do without it, but it's the right size for the scanner and there's a pouch/pocket on the side which is where I'll slip the instructions, the extra batteries, and the flash drive that has the stitching software and instructions.

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. I'll be honest, I don't buy many genealogy gadgets and technological items as it can run into money fairly quickly.

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Note: I am an affiliate of the  Flip-Pal  manufacturer. However, I am not compensated for my review other than readers who choose to make purchases through affiliate links on my site---and my  Flip-Pal  and bag were not provided to me by the company.