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Drum Scans: Worth the Price?
 scanner is a device that takes a picture of a printed page or image (transparency or print) and converts it into a graphic image on a computer system. Drum scanners are used to produce the highest level of resolution and image-quality available. Drum scans are created by taping or clamping a print or transparency onto a clear cylinder. This cylinder is referred to as a drum. The drum then spins at very fast speeds and a laser is beamed onto the drum. The laser moves down the drum one line of pixels at a time for optimum clarity and quality.

Transparencies, like slides, are scanned by a laser in the center of the drum and beam outward through the image. Reflective materials, like photographic prints, are scanned with reflective light from the outside. Drum scanners are far more precise and are significantly more expensive than flatbed scanners. They are also much bigger and require regular adjustments and calibrations. As you might guess, the scanning process is time-consuming as well.

Drum scans are what a designer should use for professionally printed materials. They cost more than flatbed scans to produce but the quality is far better and will really show in the printed piece. Drum scans typically produce greater color depth and quality than flatbed scans because of the limited precision of the scanner mechanisms.

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