If you want to know which photo scanners are most compatible with Macs, we’ve looked at the best photo scanners for Mac of 2023.
Although some all-in-one printers and document scanners can also scan photos, they often can’t scan in high resolution or support scanning of negatives and photographic film.
Using a photo scanner produces much better results and they also usually include software to remove imperfections from old photos and images.
Digitizing your precious photo memories is a great way to preserve them forever and also to share older photos that were taken before digital cameras and phones came along.
It’s also a great way to backup your photo collection by saving them to an external hard drive or printing them out to send to others.
Unlike document scanners, the photo scanners reviewed here have been selected because they’re specifically designed for producing high resolution quality scans of photos and work seamlessly with Macs including MacBooks, Mac Studio, Mac Mini and iMacs.
All of the photo scanners reviewed here work with the latest Apple Silicon M1 and M2 Macs as well as the latest versions of macOS including macOS Ventura and Monterey.
Quick Navigation
- What We Looked For In The Best Mac Photo Scanners
- 1. EPSON FastFoto FF-680W (Best Photo Feeder)
- 2. Plustek Photo Scanner (Best For Multiple Photos)
- 3. Canon CanoScan Lide 300 Scanner (Best For PDFs)
- 4. Epson Perfection V850 Pro (Highest Quality Scanner)
- 5. Doxie Go SE Wi-Fi (Best Portable Scanner)
- Best Photo Scanners For Mac Compared
- What About The Epson V600?
What We Looked For In The Best Mac Photo Scanners
- Ability to scan not just photos but also negatives and films. All of the photo scanners reviewed here can be used to scan old negatives and photographic film.
- Photo enhancement technology. The best photo scanners include photo enhancement tools to remove blemishes such as scratches and dust from old photos.
- TWAIN driver support to allow them to work with any document management or OCR scanning software. This is especially important for offices or companies that want to integrate their own scan software with a photo scanner. It also means that they will work with Preview and Image Capture which are free in macOS so if the manufacturer scanning software is useless and bloated, you’ve always got something to fall back on.
- Support for Apple AirPrint so that your photo scanner is ready to go out of the box without the need to download or install the manufacturer software. Although AirPrint is designed for connecting printers wirelessly to a Mac, it also works for connecting photo scanners quickly and easily via USB.
- Support for the latest versions of macOS including Ventura and the newest Apple Silicon M1/M2 Macs.
You May Also Like:
- Best All-In-One Printer For Mac
- Best OCR Software For Mac
- How To Scan On A Mac Without A Scanner
- How To Scan Documents & Photos On A Mac
With this in mind, here are the best Mac compatible photo scanners in order of ranking.
1. EPSON FastFoto FF-680W (Best Photo Feeder)
The Epson FastFoto FF-680W is the best photo scanner for Mac thanks to a combination of incredible speed, useful photo feeder and scan quality.
If you’re looking for a non-flatbed image scanner for your Mac that has a convenient photo feeder, then the Epson FastFoto FF-680W is the best value photo scanner with photo feeder on the market.
The EPSON FastFoto FF-680W is incredibly fast allowing you to scan thousands of photos as fast as one photo per second at 300 dpi.
The convenient photo feeder allows you to batch-scan up to 36 photos at a time which is much quicker than a flatbed scanner.
The EPSON FastFoto FF-680W supports photos in sizes 4″x6″, 5″x7, 8″x10″ as well as panoramic prints.
It also includes its own Epson FastFoto software and app that allows you to add voice and text over your photos or create slideshows, right from your smartphone.
The Epson FastFoto software for Mac isn’t great and may crash sometimes on the latest versions of macOS but it’s fine for setting-up and configuring scans if needed.
The EPSON FastFoto FF-680W includes an image improvement tool with auto enhancement, color restoration, red-eye reduction, de-skew, crop and rotate tools.
It can also scan both sides of a photo at once so if there’s anything handwritten on the back of a photo such as a signature or date, the EPSON FastFoto FF-680W will copy it.
You can choose to scan in a variety of resolutions on the FastFoto FF-680W including 300 dpi, archiving (600 dpi TIFF) and enlarging (1200) dpi. It can even handle multiple sizes in one batch.
The scanner includes Epson ScanSmart software which has optical character recognition (OCR) technology so that you can convert scanned images into readable text.
The EPSON FastFoto FF-680W also comes with an accessory to scan film negatives as well.
You can also connect the EPSON FastFoto FF-680W to cloud storage solutions such as Dropbox and Google Drive so that you can share them with family and friends immediately.
You can also choose to connect the EPSON FastFoto FF-680W via USB or WiFi.
Pros:
- Incredibly fast at scanning photos
- Non flatbed photo feeder alternative
- Software allows to add voice and text to slideshows
- Double sided scanning
- Lots of image enhancement tools
- Scan film negatives
Cons:
- Lower resolution than flatbed scanners
- FastFoto Software not great on Mac
2. Plustek Photo Scanner (Best For Multiple Photos)
The Plustek Photo Scanner is a versatile scanner supporting 3×5, 4×6, 5×7, and 8×10 photo dimensions but also letter and A4 size paper.
If you need to digitize thousands of photos, then the Plustek Photo Scanner allows you to do so very quickly compared to other photos scanners.
Unlike flatbed scanners, the Plustek Photo Scanner allows you to insert photos into a feeder one-by-one which is more efficient than having to manually open and close a flatbed scanner.
Be careful however that you don’t have any sellotape or glue attached to the photos as they will get stuck on the feeder and jam the scanner.
The optical resolution is only up to 600 dpi but scanning is extremely fast with 4×6 photos taking 2 seconds with the maximum 8×10 taking 5 seconds.
The Plustek Photo Scanner can also improve the quality of faded images and photos thanks to the ePhoto Z300 software that works on both Mac and Windows.
Unfortunately however, the Plustek Photo Scanner does not support TWAIN which means it won’t work with other scanning software.
If you want to use it with Image Capture or other scanning software, you can get the Plustek SmartOffice PS286 instead.
The driver software provided with the Plustek Photo scanner is also a poor translation of the Windows version. It can also be unstable on macOS when scanning large numbers of photos.
Pros:
- Great for scanning big batches of photos
- Supports multiple photo sizes
- Photo feeder for automatic scanning
- Photo enhancement software
Cons:
- No TWAIN support
- Mac software is poor and can be unstable
- Low resolution scans
- No WiFi connectivity
3. Canon CanoScan Lide 300 Scanner (Best For PDFs)
Canon is one of the leading brands when it comes to digital cameras and the Canon CanoScan Lide 300 produces typically large high quality scans of up to 2400 x 2400 dpi resolution.
Scanning is a little slower than most taking up to 10 seconds depending on the size of the image. The CanoScan Lide 300 scanner is also a duplex photo scanner which means it can scan both sides of a photo or image.
There are also some useful tools for enhancing images such as fade correction and dust reduction for older photos.
The Canon CanoScan Lide 300 Scanner has 4 ‘EZ’ buttons to make scanning easier and faster.
There’s an Auto Scan button which automatically detects what you’re scanning and a built in PDF button that can scan and saves PDFs to make them editable and searchable.
Note that to make sure the Canon CanoScan Lide 300 Scanner works with your Mac, you need to unlock the travel lock setting on the bottom of the scanner which is activated by default out of the box.
Unfortunately Canon stopped making drivers for the Lide series after macOS Monterey but you can still use it with Ventura and Sonoma using Apple AirPrint via USB.
You can use Image Capture on your Mac with the Canon CanoScan Lide 300 Scanner which supports TWAIN connections to other software including VueScan.
Pros:
- High quality scans
- Supports TWAIN for other scanning software
- Works with Apple Image Capture and VueScan
- Built in PDF scanning button
- Duplex scanning
Cons:
- Slow scanning
- No WiFi connectivity
- No official Canon drivers from macOS Monterey onwards
4. Epson Perfection V850 Pro (Highest Quality Scanner)
The Epson Perfection V850 Pro is the best photo scanner for Mac in terms of resolution with an incredible 6400 dpi resolution.
For those that need high control over the tone, the Epson Perfection V850 Pro features 4.0 Dmax for smooth gradations and fine shadow detail.
The Epson Perfection V850 Pro has an unusual dual lens system which allows you to select two lenses to achieve the high 6400 dpi resolution it’s capable of.
The Epson Perfection V850 Pro also scans slides and negatives and features a useful slide holder to help keep them flat in the scanner.
It comes with its own Silverfast software which works on both Mac and Windows although takes some learning since this is a high end scanner with a lot of settings to customize.
Silverfast includes an incredibly powerful scratch removal tool which also works with Kodachrome slides.
Since the Epson Perfection V850 Pro supports TWAIN, it works with Image Capture on a Mac but also OCR software such as Vuescan.
Pros:
- Incredibly high 6400 dpi scans
- Slide holder to help scan slides
- Powerful Silverfast software
- Supports TWAIN connections to other software
Cons:
- Silverfast scanning software takes some learning
- Price
5. Doxie Go SE Wi-Fi (Best Portable Scanner)
If you want a wireless and portable photo scanner for your Mac, then look no further than the Doxie Go SE Wi-Fi.
The Doxie Go SE Wi-Fi is one of the smallest photo scanners out there and not much bigger than a rolled-up magazine.
The Doxie Go SE Wi-Fi photo scanner conveniently connects via WiFi and thanks to a recharable battery, can be taken anywhere making it ideal for scanning photos on the move or at a friends/relatives house.
The Doxie Go SE Wi-Fi photo scanner can scan up to 400 photos from one charge and has an internal memory to store your scans.
You can also expand the Doxie Go SE Wi-Fi photo scanner memory with an SD card.
You don’t even need your Mac connected to the Doxie Go SE Wi-Fi photo scanner to use it. You can scan a batch of photos and then download them onto your Mac later with the Doxie desktop software.
You can also send photo scans made with Doxie to the Cloud such as Dropbox, Google Drive and even to note taking apps such as OneNote and Evernote.
On the downside, as you would expect from a photo scanner of this size, the Doxie Go SE WiFi can only scan to a maximum of 600dpi and it does not scan photo negatives.
Pros:
- Small enough to take anyway or store away
- Connects wirelessly
- Doesn’t need to be connected to a Mac to work
- Very easy to use
- Rechargeable battery
Cons:
- Maximum 600dpi
- No photo feeder
- No negatives scanning
Best Photo Scanners For Mac Compared
Below is a side-by-side comparison to see how these photo scanners compare in terms of price and specifications.
| EPSON FastFoto FF-680W | Plustek Photo Scanner | Canon CanoScan Lide 300 Scanner | Epson Perfection V850 Pro | Doxie Go SE Wi-Fi | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auto Photo Feeder Capacity | |||||
| Double Sided Duplex Scanning | |||||
| Scans Negatives & Photographic Film | |||||
| Max Scan Resolution dpi (optical) | 600 | 600 | 2400 | 6400 | 600 |
| Easy To Use | |||||
| WiFi For Mobile Scanning | |||||
Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now | Buy Now |
What About The Epson V600?
Previously we recommended the Epson Perfection V600 as one of the best flatbed photo scanners for Macs but we can no longer do so due to compatibility problems with the latest versions of macOS.
Many users have found that the Epson V600 and the Epson Scan 2 software simply does not work consistently with macOS Ventura and the latest Apple Silicon M1 and M2 Macs.
Epson seem unable to provide a solution for this so we can’t recommend the Epson V600 until these issues have been resolved.
Are you sure the LIDE 300 works in Ventura? In the Apple Community forum I find a report that the LIDE 400 (almost identical, only a bit faster and higher resolution) does not work in 13.1. Of course, now we’re at 13.5 and people won’t be posting that their scanner just works, so perhaps this problem is fixed? I’d like a confirmation before I spend time and money on a new device. Yes, it will work with VueScan, but I don’t want to multiply the cost of the scanner itself by a considerable factor to make it work.
Canon doesn’t provide drivers from Monterey onwards for the Lide series but it still works with Apple Image Capture in Ventura using AirPrint via USB. It also works with VueScan as you say.
Reviews from Mac users said the Plustek has poor software compatibility with Mac. Did you find that?
The macOS software for the Plustek isn’t great and can be unstable. It’s still one of the best photo scanners for scanning large batches of photos though.
Hello,
Can you explain how the Epson FastFoto FF-680W scans slides or negatives? That has been the only thing holding me back from buying it.
Thanks
No the FF-680W only scans photos and documents. You’d need the Epson V600.
We have the Epson v600. Once we got a new M1 Mac it no longer works consistently with Epson scan 2 software. We got Silverfast to work with Epsonscan 2 but it freezes frequently or can’t see the scanner. We have hundreds of photos to scan so this is very frustrating.