Converting printed material into digital form is one of the key functions most people ask of their PCs. One of the most common types of device for doing this is the flatbed scanner. Scanners, which can scan paper, photographic prints, and often transparencies and negatives, are the key tools for transferring all kinds of printed information into its electronic counterpart.

Flatbed scanners used to be the preserve of the professional graphics artist and the terminally wealthy, but recent advances in design and production have reduced prices to the point where most people using home computers can afford to add them to their systems.

The most obvious recent addition to these cheaper scanners is the transparency adapter. With more and more interest in digital photography, the ability to scan images from conventional photographic transparencies is seen as a growth market. There are two approaches to transparency scanning; through an integrated backlight in the lid of the scanner and using a separate, puck-like device which you lay on the flatbed. The integrated approach is definitely more convenient.

The other notable trend in these entry-level devices is the number of extra controls provided by rows of buttons on their surfaces. With a single button press you can now start a scan or a copy, or scan directly as an attachment to an e-mail or to FTP to your Web site. Although you can still do this from within the software supplied with these scanners, it's often easier, particularly at the start, to just press the button.

Here we've reviewed six of the best all-purpose flatbed scanners. Click the 'NEXT' link below to find out more.