Epson Perfection 3170 Photo Scanner

by Epson

Product Details

Product Manual [355kb PDF]

• Product Dimensions: 18.1 x 10.9 x 4.6 inches ; 8.4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 15 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B0000C121R
• Item model number: B11B161011
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #13 in Electronics > Camera & Photo > Printers & Scanners > Slide & Film Scanners
• Date first available at Amazon.com: August 9, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description Epson's affordable Perfection 3170 Photo offers premium-quality scanning and the versatility to handle virtually any photography application, including image restoration. With image quality and features comparable to those of far more expensive scanners, the 3170 Photo produces sharp, high-quality prints at lightning-fast speeds: a stunning 2.8 milliseconds per line at 600 dpi. It's versatile, as well--it scans everything from negatives, photos, and slides to transparencies, graphics, and text.

Delivering fine 3,200 x 6,400 dpi resolution and 48-bit scanning, the 3170 Photo offers phenomenal clarity and detail, whatever the task at hand. It even includes Hi-Speed USB 2.0 connectivity for Windows and Macintosh systems, plus a convenient built-in 35mm slide/filmstrip and medium-format adapter. Scan a negative or slide and give new life to moments from the past.

Easy Photo Fix Technology

The powerful bundled software suite includes Epson's exclusive Easy Photo Fix as well as Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, giving you the ability to perform one-touch color restoration to restores faded photos, slides, and negatives. Easy Photo Fix even provides a dust-removal function for optimal scanning of slides and negatives.

Adapters for 35mm film, slides, and medium format

The scanner offers three levels of control (including fully automated scanning) and two advanced modes with individual setting selections. Add an automatic document feeder (not included) for quick, easy scanning of multiple-page originals. Epson provides a one-year warranty covering parts and service.

What's in the Box
Epson Perfection 3170 photo scanner, 3-by-9-inch transparency adapter (built into scanner lid), three film holders (35mm slides, 35mm filmstrips, and medium format), CD-ROM with Epson scan software, productivity software, and electronic reference guide, CD-ROM with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0, a USB 2.0/1.1 cable, an AC adapter and power cable, and a scanner setup poster

Product Description

EPSON Perfection 3170 Photo has been designed to meet all the photo and film scanning needs of the photo enthusiast and the serious scanner user. New EPSON Scan driver software sends image to TWAIN compliant apps such as Adobe Photoshop and works as a standalone application Three driver modes -- Full Auto, Home & Professional -- cater to every level of expertise Powerful color restoration features for faded or discolored prints and film Dust technologically removed from final scanned images Compact design, with attractive silver & black finish

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

176 of 178 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mostly great scanner with some minor issues ..., March 28, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Epson Perfection 3170 Photo Scanner (Office Product)

I bought this scanner mostly for restoring old photos and scanning old negatives. The scanner was a breeze to install and set up with my system running Windows XP with 512 mb of RAM. Image scanning is very quick at the default setting (300 dpi) and with excellent image quality. The photo restore works fairly well, but on some photos, it actually changes the color of the dust and scratches on the photo. Overall, this is an excellent scanner, but there are two issues that annoy me that I think I need to share.

First of all, it doesn't come with a manual. Yes, it does come with a quick setup pamphlet with a basic "get started" guide, but if you're like me and absolutely HATE sitting there at the computer reading the operating manual, you'll be just as ticked off as I am about this. I'm one of the few who actually likes to get the manual for whatever I buy and sit down and read it first before setting the thing up. You have to wait till the software is installed and the scanner is set up before you can actually see how the complete system and software work.
The other problem I've found with this scanner is that when you scan a negative in the "thumbnail" mode (which is supposed to recognize the negative and preview it in a full page format), the negatives almost always get severely cropped. I scanned a picture of my parents wedding day and both the top of their heads were chopped off. After going into the annoying help file, I found that Epson says that it's normal for some negatives to get cropped severely if the background is very light. Just this alone almost made me pack this back up and ship it back to Amazon ... but then after digging around the help files endlessly, I found that you can scan the negative in a "full preview" mode (which actually will scan the negative, template, and anything else on the glass), and draw a marquee around the negative which will give you the full image. After finally figuring this out, I've found that the scanning quality of the negative is outstanding! I can't believe the quality of the pictures I can print from a negative that was taken over 60 years ago!

If those few negatives are minor to you, I think you'll find this to be an excellent all around scanner. Picture quality is fantastic and the software that comes with it works well. I'm very happy (now that I've figured it out) that I made this purchase and would highly recommend it.

96 of 97 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good and highly capable scanner, December 10, 2003

By 

S. Sen "sens" (Carrollton, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Epson Perfection 3170 Photo Scanner (Office Product)

I bought this with a common expectation to have real good scans of my 4x6 photo prints. I was initially not fully happy with it's shadow-area performance, but after a bit of tinkering with settings I got the results I wanted.The scans are coming very good now.
My 2c advice for people who scrutinise scans deeply: decrease contrast 10-20%,increase brightness 5-15% for better shadow performance
It is very speedy and quiet.
The OCR s/w is really good.
The help system is only text-based(which is bad) and there is no toll-free # for tech support.
One of the things that I found after spending some time on net and with this scanner is, you may not need these 3200dpi etc resolution for scanning 4x6 photos.
12/18/03 - I tested Canon 5000F(2400dpi) and compared.
By default the epson scan has a higher contrast than Canon. This causes the scanner not to perform ably in dark areas,but the colors look punchy on first look.
On the other hand although the Canon captures greater detail under shadows by factory setting default, it adds a slight warm(reddish) tinge by default. The Canon build & s/w are worse(It's a much less sophisticated beast).It's much much slower & horribly Noisy.
Per my evaluation,this scanner is much more sophisticated and better value-for-money.

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent product and outstanding support, February 27, 2004

By 

Karen Fine "Author of How I Eat Without Wheat" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Epson Perfection 3170 Photo Scanner (Office Product)

I would have given this four stars because of software conflicts, but their phone technical support was so above average that they deserve at least five stars. The bottom line is the scanner is terrific and works fine with XP. I had a problem with SMART PANEL not launching. After two hours on the phone with some very patient tech support people, it was determined that the TWAIN_32 folder in my C:drive had a folder for my digital camera AND one for the new scanner. They conflict with each other. Windows recognizes them as the same thing. All we had to do was put the camera folder on my desktop instead of the TWAIN_32 folder, and the Smart Panel finally worked 4.0. Unfortunately, if I want to use my camera, I have to switch the TWAIN_32 folder contents. Which is not Epson's fault. Either way, the scanner and software is terrific and incredibly easy to use. I highly recommend this scanner.