Epson Perfection 3200 Photo

WHAT'S NOT: Our judges expected to see more-dramatic differences between this model and lower-resolution competitors on high-resolution scans, particularly our page of line art and type. But except for displaying a few slightly thicker straight lines, the Perfection 3200 Photo didn't generate significantly sharper edges or better detail. Tiny 4-point type and fine cross-hatching patterns looked little different whether they were reproduced by the Epson's 3200-dpi scan or rivals' 2400-dpi scans.

The Perfection 3200 Photo does not include a FireWire card or cable in the box, so Windows users with PCs that lack an available FireWire port will have to supply their own (both can be purchased for $60 or less). Microtek's ScanMaker 6800 includes a FireWire card and cable for the same $399 price as the Epson scanner alone. And no optional document feeder is available for the Epson unit, which is a drawback for users who want to scan legal-size documents or do large amounts of optical character recognition.

WHAT ELSE: The 3200's case has a single push button, which activates the scanning process. By default the button launches Epson's Smart Panel utility, an interface to several common functions--including scanning, copying, e-mail, and scanning to Web (via Epson PhotoCenter, a free photo-sharing site). You can also configure the button to launch a specific task, such as OCR (via Epson's built-in OCR engine from NewSoft).

The software bundle includes two image editing applications: Adobe Photoshop Elements 2, which provides most of the editing tools that nonprofessionals will ever need, and LaserSoft Imaging's SilverFast SE 6, a Photoshop-compatible plug-in that provides advanced tools such as quick scratch and dust removal and adaptive color restoration. Unless you are producing work destined for printing on a four-color press, these two applications should meet all your needs.

The 3200 comes with an updated version of the EpsonScan driver, which has a more tightly organized interface than earlier versions, incorporating a scrollable option area that changes according to the scan mode you select. You get three user modes: Automatic, which is great for beginners; Home, which displays a streamlined version of the basic manual controls; and Professional, which provides full access to all scanner controls, including color adjustment and gamma correction. The driver also lets you save color-rich 48-bit images, but since the bundled image editors don't support 48-bit image editing, you can edit only 24-bit images--unless you have a 48-bit-compatible image editor, such as the full version of Adobe Photoshop.

UPSHOT: The Epson Perfection 3200 Photo is aimed at serious photographers who have the inclination and skill to hone their images using scanner settings and software.