A good scanner will be flexible and produce a range of high quality digital images from all sorts of source materials.

The technical details can be confusing, so it is important to understand what you should look for.

If what you want to do is scan in some old negatives to produce new high quality prints, for example, not all scanners will work - so let Bruce guide you through the maze.

They blinded me with science

Choosing any new piece of technology can be confusing.

Sometimes it seems that manufacturers try to blind us with science so we end up impressed for no good reason.

And then there is the syndrome that no two makes of a particular technology have exactly the same mix of qualities. So how do we choose what is best for us?

Choosing the right scanner can seem particularly hard for the average home computer user, as there are lots of complicated-looking specifications to digest.

But with a little knowledge it becomes easy to sort out what is important, and make a choice to suit your budget and needs.

Why do I need a scanner?

The first key to choosing a scanner is to get it clear in your mind what purpose or range of purposes you will need it for.

Here are some questions to ask yourself, and jot down the answers for later reference:

• Will you want to scan in photos so you can email them to friends or put them onto a website?
• Have you considered other solutions like buying a digital camera or having your photographs developed onto CD-Roms, and compared the relative costs?
• Will you want to scan other kinds of images like artwork or drawings?
• Will you want to scan in paper documents and then convert the text into word processor formats?
• What will be the sizes of the materials you would like to scan?
• Remember that it is best to build in a little extra power as well, if you can afford it, so you don't get left behind as technology moves on.