The Canon CanoScan LiDE 120 Color Image Scanner ($69.99) is the latest incarnation of Canon's lowest-cost flatbed photo scanner. The LiDE 120 ($199.00 at Amazon) is aimed at those who need to scan photographic prints, don't need to scan film or slides, and don't want to pay extra for a film-scan feature they don't need. More important, it scans well enough to make it our Editors' Choice for low-cost photo scanners.

The LiDE 120 measures 1.6 by 9.9 by 14.6 inches (HWD) and weighs 3.4 pounds. It's best described as a refresh of, rather than a significant upgrade from, the Canon CanoScan LiDE 110 Color Image Scanner . Most of the LiDE 120's hardware-based features, including its 2,400 pixel-per-inch (ppi) resolution, are unchanged from the LiDE 110. The software is different, but has similar capabilities and limitations. There's no real photo editor, for example, but Canon's My Image Garden works as a photo album and includes some photo enhancement commands. In addition, the scan utility includes built-in optical character recognition (OCR), so you can scan directly to searchable PDF format, as well as to image PDF format. You can even scan to editable text format.

Unlike many recent scanners, the LiDE 120 doesn't come with any connectors to online systems for direct scanning to the cloud. However, if you have an app from, say, Evernote, running on your computer, you can set the scan utility to save files to the directory that the cloud app is monitoring, so the app can send the scan to the cloud for you.

Scanning

Scanning is easy, with the choice of using one of four buttons on the front panel or giving the command at the computer using Canon's scan utility. In addition, the setup program installs Twain and WIA drivers, which will let you scan from most Windows software that includes a scan command.

By default, the buttons on the front panel let you copy, email, scan to PDF, or run the AutoScan feature, which analyzes the image and saves the file in either JPG image format or searchable PDF format. I tried AutoScan with both photos and text pages, and it picked the right format each time, recognizing the text as appropriate. You can also change settings for all four scan buttons, and their equivalent commands in the scan utility, to modify how each choice works.

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Scan Quality

The AutoScan feature handled most scans well enough in my tests that it can easily be all you need for most scans. If you're not happy with the results, however, you can adjust scan settings in the Twain driver to tweak the image quality. As with most scanners, the LiDE 120's driver offers an Advanced mode that gives you lots of control, but might be overwhelming for less knowledgeable users, and a Basic mode with fewer choices.

In addition to letting you adjust basics like resolution, contrast, and brightness, the driver also offers some digital enhancement capabilities, including a color-restore feature that did an excellent job in my tests of bringing faded photos back to life. Similarly, the dust-and-scratch-removal option did a good job removing dust specks. It did almost nothing for fixing scratches, but that's typical for software-based scratch removal.

The image quality for photos was excellent in my tests, with the LiDE 120 capturing details based on color quality—like the sheen on a satin bridal gown—that many scanners miss. Comparing the scanned photos with the originals, I saw little to no difference.

Document Scanning and Other Notable Features

As a strictly flatbed scanner, the LiDE 120 isn't meant for office tasks. The lack of an automatic document feeder makes it a poor choice for anything involving multipage documents. It can handle occasional light-duty chores like turning hardcopy documents into editable pages or searchable PDFs, however. In my tests, it read our Times New Roman text page at 10 points and Arial test page at 8 points without any errors However, when it converts scans to editable text, it uses a generic ASCII format, which means it loses all formatting.

One other strong point for the LiDE 120 is that it qualifies for the PCMag GreenTech Approved seal. It's both RoHS and Energy Star 2.0 Qualified, it uses little enough energy so it's fully powered by a USB connection, and its mercury-free LED light source offers an instant-on feature to save energy. In addition, it has built in a manufacturing facility designed for energy efficiency (ISO 14001 certified), and Canon has a recycling program in place for the scanner.

If you need an inexpensive photo scanner that can scan prints and film, including slides, you should be looking at a model like the HP Scanjet G4050 Photo Scanner ($345.00 at Amazon) or the Epson Perfection V550 Photo Color Scanner ($349.00 at Amazon) , our Editors' Choice for all-purpose flatbeds with film scanning capability. If you're looking to scan photographic prints only, however, the Canon CanoScan LiDE 120 Color Image Scanner delivers easy scanning and excellent scan quality at a low price. The combination makes it a compelling pick as our Editors' Choice for a low-cost photo scanner.

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Further Reading

• How We Test Scanners
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• Get Organized: Choose the Right Scanner for Going Paperless