As a cartoonist, one of the bigger material expenses I have is a large, flat-bed scanner. I draw my original work – especially the Sundays – really large, and it’s annoying and sometimes imperfect work to “stitch” those together in Photoshop from multiple scans.
So, a few years back I plunked down $1,600 for a Microtek 9800XL scanner. It’s a ridiculous cost for a scanner, but if you amortize it over a few years, and look at what it saves you in work hours…it does come out to be a worthwhile expense.
Until it irreparably breaks.
Which is what happened this weekend.
You may be interested to know that the last few Sheldons have been “scanned” (ahem) into the computer by taking mutiple shots with a digital camera, then manipulating the heck out of them for 2 hours in Photoshop. Not the best way to do it, I can tell you that.
So tomorrow I’m buyin’ me another one. If any Sheldon readers happen to work for Epson, and see one of these babies on a discount rack at the company store, let me know. You’d be doing me a favor. 🙂
[EDITED TO NOTE: You know how the Klingons cross their arms and turn around when someone has dishonored them? You’ll be happy to know I have turned the scanner around on my desk, so that I now only have to look at the power port. Somehow, I feel better about the whole thing.]