Mustek A3 1200S - High Speed A3 Large Format 11.7-inch x 16.5-inch Color Scanner

I'm a hobbyist illustrator who occasionally does some commission work, normally I use 11x17 paper or larger for finished pieces and this scanner is exactly what I wanted. The five stars aren't because this is the "best" scanner I've ever had but rather, because it is an over-sized scanner at a decent comparative price to the rest of the competition that doesn't have too many flaws and does exactly what it says it will do (in my own experience thus far). That said, many of the reviewers I read prior to the purchase had issues with disk drivers but less so with updated drivers from the website, I believe that most of the ones I had read were Mac users as well. I run a PC and had no issues with the disk installation during set-up. I also checked the next version of this scanner but in the end went with this one since the scanning properties that I use didn't need to be any greater than what this offered; that of course, may not apply to everyone if you're working on an insane level of detail but for me, working at a max of 1200dpi (very rare) and normally at 600dpi in conjunction with a Cintiq, this is perfect for me. For anyone working primarily with traditional media at 11x17 or smaller who want a solid image that they can just scan in and use, this may be the product for you. If you're looking for something that does more than scan, or can do higher quality scans at a faster rate you may want to take a closer look at other reviews. Either way, good luck with whatever you may get!

Hardware seems to work okay but it won't work on my XP computer. I was able to contact a customer service person who could only advise to update the driver which I did. A number of requests for tech support yielded DEAD SILENCE. I am being completely ignored. I am going to try to do some research on the internet to see if I can fix the problem myself because I really need a large format scanner but I suspect that I'll be sending this unit back to Amazon for a refund

On the Pro side: Much to my shock and amazement, the scanner actually works -- at least, so far (after 1 month). This is my second Mustek A3 scanner, the previous one lasted under moderate use for over a year and then stopped working. Software: Contrary to the many dire warnings about installing the software -- from the disk or online download -- I uninstalled the old software on my computer (Windows 7 Pro, 64-bit, 16GB RAM) and then installed the new software direct from the disk. Two re-boots later, the scanner was in operation. The software is not great, but it does work with either Acrobat X Pro or Photoshop 6, or direct from the Mustek software. My preferred method, after some experimentation, is to scan from Photoshop, which allows the most flexibility in varying the settings. If the document being scanned is of a consistent quality, Acrobat or the Mustek software utility would do the job. Scan quality: Good to very good scans, usually works just fine with 11x17 size printed images (because there is often a gutter around those images, this scanner will usually take in the entire image). Cons: I would have given this scanner 5 stars had it not been for my experience with my previous Mustek. As others have correctly noted, customer service is virtually non-existent. When my previous Mustek failed, I contacted Mustek tech support by email (no response) and phone (no response). Given that experience, I seriously hesitated in buying another Mustek (the other option, in this price range, was a Brother all-in-one 11x17. I have one which has lasted so far over two years with no problems). Perhaps this one will last longer, but Mustek will never go far with such a well-deserved reputation for lousy tech support and customer service.

I had to fiddle with the setup (details below), but after I got it connected, it's working very well for me. Setup Details - I tried several things and this worked: 1. I downloaded the latest product drivers from Mustek: http://www.mustek.com/ 2. (Note: I didn't even open the included CD, much less use anything off it!) 2. I'm running Windows 7 32 bit (running as non-admin user, but have admin user/password too) 3. I had to go into right-click properties on 'setup.exe' and set: - a. compatibility mode to Windows XP (Service Pack 3) - b. privilege level to 'Run this program as administrator' 4. I then ran setup.exe, entered admin user/password, and it installed properly - a. Note: I did NOT have the scanner plugged in while I ran install Before it installed properly, it would run for a little while, then pop up the Windows dialog "this program may have failed to install". When the install finally worked, it looked like it was failing to open the usual install dialogs (with all the Next> buttons). After completing that and rebooting the computer, I plugged the scanner in. Windows saw the device, and it spent some time searching for drivers online, but I left it alone and it finally found the local drivers that setup.exe had installed. After that I used the fantastic free Paint.NET program to start some of my scanning projects - board games and computer games box covers! The only other temporary trouble I ran into was it sometimes says "scanner in use - is another program using the scanner?", but if I try two or three times it was able to get the scanner. Later I noticed a Mustek "scanner control panel" running, not sure if that was the "other program" or not. I hope that helps someone else on Windows! The images are everything I expect and the scanner works like every other one I've ever used, once the driver is installed. It's everything I expected, though I appreciate everyone's warnings that initial driver setup could be less than smooth - I left extra time and everything worked out fine. It's nice to finally be able to scan boxes larger than 8.5" x 11"! Edited Note: The "scanner control panel" was the culprit for 'already in use', and it was running every time I opened and closed the lid of the scanner. I was able to go into the scan properties (Devices and Printers -> right click on scanner, enter admin password) and alter the Events tab from "Run this program" to "Do Nothing". Then I could use my 3rd party image program without the little helper app popping up every time.

I'm using Mac OSX (10.6.8). To get it to work in photoshop takes a little trick (read below). Preview & Image Capture wouldn't do anything for import. (Minus one star) The AC adapter plug on the back is finicky. I kept getting a "Could not find scanner" message. At first I thought it was the usb cord but after wiggling the AC adapter in the back of the scanner I found this to be the solution. Push it in tight and wiggle back and forth a bit to set it. (Minus one star) The twain in photoshop does work but the scanning software hangs on exit scan (it hangs up photoshop requiring a force quit). I can start the scan in photoshop. Everything looks like it will work. But as soon as the scan shows up in photoshop I get the spinny wheel of death as the scanning software hangs on trying to exit which in effect requires a force quit on photoshop. Tried on 32bit and 64bit modes. (Minus one star) *Found a fix for photoshop twain. When it hangs on exit I found I could hit "Command" + "Period" on the keyboard to kill the process. Which closes the scanning software in photoshop and the image and photoshop are fine. (Mustek needs to spend way more time debugging). It's definitely a driver issue for this scanner. Checked to see if there was an updated driver and no there is not. I'm scanning in 64bit photoshop and having no problems besides the command period technique. It's a cheap scanner. I'll keep it cause I don't scan that much. And for the price of an 11x17, I can't beat it. Guess time will tell. Now if my cat would stay off of it!

I don't normally write reviews because I'm a little lazy, but I feel compelled to write my thoughts because I really researched long and hard before buying this scanner and I hope I can help someone. I've had this scanner about 3 months or so. I wish I could give this product 3.5 stars to be honest. Here are my thoughts... Software Installation: Easy. I read other reviews that indicated the software was really difficult to install, and some people couldn't figure it out. I'm not sure what those people were doing?! I was really dreading the install because of those reviews, but all I did was follow the pop-up, click "yes," "agree," "okay," or whatever it asked me to do and BAM, installed, piece of cake. I am a millennial, so this would probably be easier than it would be for my parents, but I honestly think even they could have handled it just fine. It was EASY! Quality of Scans: Meh. The reason I downgraded this product is because of the quality of the scan. I am an artist and wanted an affordable scanner that would scan my 11 x 14 inch drawings without me having to scan one half at a time and assemble the images in Photoshop. The first scan I did had me so sad, I was ready to return the thing and get my $$ back. However, when I scanned the same image on my printer's scanner, it actually came out worse. I think it must have something to do with the color, which was a bright orange done in colored pencil. Since the quality was actually better than the printer's scanner, I decided to keep it. That doesn't mean I think it is a good scanner, just better than my other cheapo one. If I could afford a nicer scanner, I would definitely buy one. This is not a replacement for a really nice, high quality scanner. This is a scanner for someone with limited income, who needs a large format scanner and has knowledge of a photo editing program. I read reviews from other artists who said they were picky about color replication and that this passed the test. They must not be very picky. As an artist, I want an exact color match and this just doesn't do it. After some editing, I can usually get my drawings to look pretty close to the real version, but I feel like I shouldn't need to do that. I also want to mention that I actually use my computer's program to scan my drawings, not the one that came with the scanner. that program was garbage. I go into the Start menu and go to Devices and then open up the scanner from there and do my scan. I can get a more accurate color replication that way. There might be some way to work the other program a bit, but that part was NOT easy to figure out. Conclusion: This does what it says it will, it scans your images and can scan at a high resolution, but it doesn't do it super accurately and if I could afford a better product I would ditch this thing - hence the three-star/"Okay" rating.

I'd been looking for more than a year for an easy, cheap way to scan oversize art prints for use in a friend's art history classes. The Mustek A3 1200S worked perfectly right out of the box and does exactly what I need. I'm using the Image Acquire app from the companion CD, on my MacBook Pro running OS 10.6.8. (The software claims to work with OS 7 also but I haven't tested that.) You do need to restart your computer after doing the install and plugging in the scanner. I ordered the scanner on Feb 19, 2013 and received it on Feb 21 delivered to my door. It took about 10 minutes to install, etc. and start scanning. The colors are fine. You are able to signify the area of the page to include (there's a preview scan) and there are some basic adjustments you can make using the Image Acquire app after the final scan, i.e. "enhance" etc. JPEG, TIFF, and PNG are available on save. Speed is satisfactory. It easily scanned a page from a moderately thick oversized book ... the hinge end of the lid pops up about an inch to lie flat over a book or you can remove it entirely for something really thick. This seems to be simple, easy to use equipment. Best of all, it does the job without breaking the budget. I'll be back with an update after I've used the A3 for a while.

Very good and very awesome. Use a third party software tho. Also if you're having problems where the scanner would stall at 600dpi+, it's likely because of your USB cord or USB Hub. Try hooking it up straight to the computer. This is a common problem with all or most scanners, they can't be fed through a hub. PRO: This baby scans at 600dpi really fast... faster than my regular epson v500. Also scans at 1200dpi huge huge scan area! good for flat 2-d objects CON: It is not as "depth-photographic" as a good quality regular size scanner. Meaning if you scan a 3-dimensional object like your hand let's say. It won't scan the edges of your hand very well as the curve of your hand moves away from the scanner glass. With my epson v500 I can put my hand in and it will scan it like it was taking a picture of my hand. Very happy with the price and what I got for it. Would recommend this.

Delivers what is promised -- and surprisingly easy to set up and use! I chose this model after doing lots of online research into A3 size scanners, and this was the cheapest and most recommended. Despite some reviewers' warnings of how difficult this could be to set up, I had no problem at all installing the software on my Mac and started to scan right away. Great DPI, and the all options I would need to do hi-res scans of ink-and-wash artwork. It's true it does look a little delicate -- don't squash things down too hard on the glass! We'll see how durable it proves to be.

Incredibly easy to install and run, almost too easy...not kidding, I was scanning in under 2 minutes...to be honest after the instal I was sitting around waiting for more downloading notices to come up...when they didn't, I tried opening the program and low and behold, already fully installed. The one minor thing was that I was half expecting to get more editing tools (basic crop, mirror/flips) but luckily I have photoshop to darken/adjust the contrast. Great buy, had it for an hour and very impressed!

Simple set up. Software drivers are good, stable,basic options and settings. up to 600 dpi. Top lid lifts right off/ removes to ease large pieces to place flat. Using in graphic art capacity. Typical plastic construction, reasonable quality, the scanner is very lightweight and is low profile. The power cord is cheap plastic. I needed to experiment with TWAIN, photoshop c3 and c6, and the stock drivers, and different jpeg formats, to get good scans (ones that were not blurry, had decent resolution, detail.) First scans were blurry, low resolution, etc. but eventually improved. There seemed to be a tonal difference between TWAIN acquired images and the mustek driver software. Consistent quality scans right to the outer edges of the tray, although scans are of course out of focus along the edge if the material isn't able to sit flush to the glass. I push the material down firmly to improve the scan, and turned off the lights in the room, and nothing seemed to break although unit made some flexing/cracking sounds--and pushing too hard will stop the scanning carrier movement. When I was photoshop tiling 4 scans together one wasn't aligning correctly which suggests a tiny amount of distortion occurred. I was lining up thin pen lines, so the distortion was quite minimal really. Using 600 dpi (maximum) I was able to get good color and detail scans, but the texture of the watercolor paper was not picked up (just white / washed out). This would be really good for anyone needing inexpensive large format solution. Those needing highest quality detail and resolution i.e. photographer / artists for client work may want to further evaluate reviews & specs.

Can't give a star yet because I can't get it to work at all on Mac OS 10.10.4. It scanned an image ONCE and then my computer can't detect the scanner at all. ***Update: after spending the afternoon trying to fix it and not finding any solution to my problem anywhere, I finally tried to uninstall the driver from my previous scanner and IT WORKED! There probably was a conflict between the two drivers. So although it was a pain to install on Mac OS 10.10.4, I got it going, and the colors seem to be OK, meaning I'll have about as much Photoshop work to do on my illustrations now than I had to with my good quality, smaller Canon. But I'll have much less patching up to do. So I'm pretty happy! I'm giving it only 3 stars because of the lousy, non-existant customer service/tech support. I never got a call back from them after leaving a couple messages.

This scanner is what you pay for. It's okay, but definatly takes some work to get going. If you run Yosemite on your Mac, you'll need to download a different driver to it to work (you can do that at the mustek website). It's picky when it wants to work. Sometimes it gets stuck so I physically have to hit the underside to make it move. Again, it's okay. I can't afford a 3000 dollar flatbed scanner so this will do for now.