DescentBB

I know a lot of you are in one visual arts field or another and I was hoping someone could recommend a reasonable priced flatbed scanner capable of B sized drawings (11â?

Most Canon scanners can scan to PDF. I don't know of a specific model that does 11x17, but the Canoscan line can scan to PDF.

Any scanner can pretty much send to PDF. Now for 11x17 format I cannot reccomend a specific model but I would reccomend to put HP as your second choice to Canon.

Does HP still have driver/software issues like they used to?

No. But Canon scanners typically have better resolution for the same price. And there's a button right on the front of the Canoscan I was talking about that scans directly to PDF, no clicking required.

are you just wanting to make digital files, or do you plan to outpu the files to paper, and if so, how important is color fidelity? What's your budget? Do you need to be able to scan transparencies?

No transparencies. Color is important, but not the critical constraint. We mainly need it to be able to scan B size drawings into an electronic format. Our budget is under 2K.

You're going to want something like the Canon DR-5010C scanner, which is unfortunately a bit out of your price range (retails around $3,000). The DR-3080CII can do 10.5" x 14", if that extra .5" doesn't matter. Otherwise, you're going to have to shop around a bit more.

A good idea might be to head into a local print shop and ask them if they have any recommendations.

take a look at what epson has to offer - tho your spending 2k+ for a B sized scanner.