CST, Screen, and Colortrac: large format flatbed scanners for reprographics, art, giclee and institutional use

At a time when virtually all companies are ceasing making high quality flatbed scanners it is noteworthy that three large format flatbed scanners still exist. These are the

CST scanner (we can't find any model number on their site). Reportely its precision X, Y movement comes from Zund (Switzerland). This means you can trust the quality but have to pay the price.

ACTion has their Colortrac FB24120, a 24 x 36 inch flatbed.

At DRUPA 2004 we saw the Screen GenaScan A1, circa 24 x 36 inches.

CST large format scanner

We will check around and try to figure out who is the manufacturer and who are rebranding, but that is what you get with Contex (sheet-fed) wide format scanners. They are rebranded by Hewlett-Packard and also sold by Ideal. The Colortrac, CST, and Screen scanners are true flatbeds.

The "flatbed scanner" we know the best is the Cruse. We have a 36 x 48 inch model! The Cruse is a copy-stand scanner. The difference is that with the Cruse you scan from above. With the Colortrac, CST, and Screen you scan from below, through glass.

So with the Cruse you get a clean scan: no glass.

The Cruse also offers you a host of different lighting possibilities, including polarized light. None of these options are available from a flatbed scanner.

Since FLAAR photographs drawings, art, maps, plans, fabrics (indigenous Maya textiles especially), tropical hardwoods and a variety of 3D objects, we are a good testing facility for any large format scanner. But so far the only one we have in-house for sustained testing is the Cruse. Since we use the Cruse every day we can report how well it works. Many people have read our reports and then gone out and purchased their own Cruse scanner. But probably the CST, ACTion or Screen scanner also have capabilities. As we learn more about these scanners we will update this page. The Screen Gena Scan A1 is not listed on their USA web site. And we do not know the people who sell any of these scanners; but we do know the folks who sell the Cruse; we see them at many trade shows both in the US and in Germany. Their web site is CruseDigital.com.

• First posted June 1, 2004, after seeing the CST and Screen scanners at DRUPA. We also visited the Cruse booth practically every day during 10 days of gathering information in Dusseldorf. ACTion did not exhibit at DRUPA and rarely exhibits at trade shows we attend in the US.