VIISAN VF3240 Large Format Flatbed Scanner, A3 Size, 2400 DPI, CIS Sensor, Scan 297 × 420 mm / 11.7" x 16.7" in 4 sec, Frameless, Auto-Scan, Document & Photo & Book Scanner, Supports Windows & Mac

I am very satisfied with my Viisan 3240 large-format scanner. I have been using it with ABBYY FineReader 12.1.14 for Macintosh, on a 2015 MacBook Air / 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD running macOS Monterey 12.5 Beta.As advertised, this device is about twice as fast at scanning its entire 11 x 17 / A3-sized area, in 4 seconds, as my other one (a CanoScan LiDE 700F) is at scanning its 8.5 x 11 / A4-sized area (which is 30% shorter), both at 200 dpi. 300 dpi scanning is quite fast too — I assume 6 seconds to scan the whole area.As some other users have noted in their reviews, the Viisan VF3240 is a bit noisy, a little more so than my CanoScan. But the noise does not bother me much and it is sort of what I expect, from the scanning mechanism moving rapidly beneath the glass of the whole 17" / 42 cm length of an A3 page. Scans of pages that take up less than the entire area are correspondingly faster. The brightness of the scanner’s lamp seems good, and so far it does not appear to result in dark, blurred text near the central spine of book pages.I have not run into any problems in the short time I have owned this scanner, which I received on May 31st, 2022, so I cannot comment on any technical support issues. I have been using it to scan mostly text and not graphics, and currently have no real need to be concerned about color issues, so I cannot comment on those or other matters related to scanning photos or art. I also have only used the device with FineReader, not any bundled software or other applications. At least in FineReader, one can start a scan from the software side, without needing to press any physical buttons on the device, which seems to be an inconvenience of at least one other large-format scanner I was considering before opting for this one.At the time of purchase I had not seen the Viisan VF3240 ($450) up close, and I was considering whether to buy the VF3120 ($370) instead. But the doubled speed of the VF3240 definitely makes it worth the higher price.Overall, the VF3240 is a very impressive, fast, easy-to-use device, capable of handling large page sizes. It works well with FineReader for macOS, and I would highly recommend it to anyone with a similar setup.

**NOTE TO MAC USERS**You don't have to use Viisan's scanning software, which I read was awful. You do need to download the driver, but after that you can just use Apple's built-in "Image Capture" app.*****************************I do a lot of scanning, and have gone through five Epson scanners in the past decade. I can't vouch for the longevity of Viisan's unit yet, but in initial quality Viisan is superior to Epson in every way.This is despite the fact that the first time I used the lid-lift feature on the Viisan to allow scanning thicker materials (like books), the thin plastic joint snapped. Yeah, it's a low bar Epson has set. The lid still works fine, it's just a bit wobbly without the stabilizing joint.This is also despite the fact that the unit is noisy, as every review mentions. Not just noisy when it's trucking the interior parts back and forth, it hums loudly while scanning. I really don't care about the noise, personally. I deducted a star for the snapped joint only.The Good aspects are the price, the size, the speed, and the quality of the scans. When I was scanning identical material with an Epson, I always had to Auto-Tone the image in Photoshop because it'd look washed out. And even with Auto-Tone, I couldn't get the black black enough from an Epson scanner. The Viisan produces gorgeous, PERFECT scans. No post-processing needed. Even the black is perfect. I've been scanning at 1200 DPI (it allows up to 2400) color photos in half the time the Epson scanner took.In what's important to me, Viisan is heads and shoulders above Epson. If this unit lasts more than a couple years, I don't see how Epson can compete in the long run.

EDIT: Since I bought and use this scanner, I'm now getting questions. People ask questions that are not really related to the SCANNER but more to the SOFTWARE that you use. Things such as file formats, OCR, etc. If you are on a Macintosh you use either the native Image Capture App, or a 3rd party one that I don't know about. (VueScan does not support the Viisan). This scanner is tabloid size so that's the size it takes up on your desk. It's NOT any noisier or quieter than any other scanner I've used, but I will say the "overview" pre-scan is a bit noisier than the actual scanning which is fairly quiet. There's negative commentary about LINES or missing pixels; these are not inherent to the scanner itself (design flaw) but to the specific unit YOU received. Got lines? Return it for an exchange. Mine's fine. I've attached four scans here. All done with Mac Image Capture. First is a brochure with "descreening" box ticked. Second is old deteriorating paper art from 1977; those grooves are the paper not the scanner. Third is an old photo from 1949, original. Fourth is the same photo after a few clicks in Photoshop. I will say that every photo I've ever scanned--on this scanner or with my now gone Epson Perfection V500 Photo--has been "dark" and needed work in Photoshop. That's without exception. This Viisan scanner is on par with my old Epson, good enough for most work. If you are a photo retouching professional, and need something this big, you probably would spring for an Epson at 4x the cost. Now onto the original review: There's a limited market for tabloid or "B" sized scanners; mostly graphic designers with perhaps scrapbookers. Most scanners of this sized are significantly more costly, such as the Epson 12000XL which is well over $3,000; this unit is under $500, thus a fraction of the price of the competition. Well, it stands up quite well. I tested it against my V500 Photo, and results were exceedingly close, and I cannot say one was better than the other. It's fast in scanning, easy to connect by USB. Would be nice if there were an Ethernet port instead as I seem to be maxing out my USB ports in number or power. (USB hubs don't work well.) I only used it with the Macintosh Image Capture application, and it's fine. I was hoping that Viisan would have made their Viiscan software for the Macintosh (majority of graphic designers use Macs of course) but they have not--a strategic error since it appears as if the Viiscan offers features that the Image Capture does not. I have not tried any 3rd party software. Overall exceeded my expectations. If you need tabloid size scanning and don't have thousand$ to spend you will not be disappointed.