Epson FastFoto scanner review: The easiest and fastest way to digitize family photos

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The FastFoto looks like a shrunken-down version of a classic printer and fits easily on a desk for easy access. Make no mistake: The FastFoto only scans and has no printing functions. And, this scanner is primarily designed for digitizing printed photos with a maximum width and height of 8.5 inches by 11.7 inches.

You put the photos into the scanner like you would load paper into a printer: there’s a feeder with sliders to accommodate various picture sizes. The photos are pulled through the scanner and deposited in the landing tray. The whole unit has a cover that protects the scanner from dust when not in use.

Unlike a traditional flatbed scanner, where you lift a cover and scan each one at a time, the feeder system speeds up the process and makes photo-scanning and archiving more convenient. 

Although the FastFoto resembles Epson’s other sheet-fed document scanners, it’s not designed for multi-page document scanning. I’ve tried, but since it scans each page as an individual file, you’re forced to assemble the PDF manually.

Simple setup, controls, and connectivity

You have two options for connecting the FastFoto to your computer: use the included USB-A or connect via WiFi. Like many current laptops, my computer has no USB-A slots, so I used WiFi. The scanner is outfitted to connect to WiFi via your router’s WPS button, which simplifies the wireless pairing. If your router has no WPS button, you can manually connect your scanner to the network using Epson’s scanning software or smartphone app.

Lightning-fast, high-quality scans

Epson suggests that you organize your photos by size and orientation before scanning. This was by far the most time-consuming process. I took it a step further and also organized photos by year. The software allows you to set a date for each batch of photos you scan. While you don’t have to use this feature, this step is important if you plan on importing your scans into an app like Google Photos and want to have your scanned images accurately organized by year. Organizing my photos this way took about 4 hours for 1,800 images.

In most cases, I actually preferred the enhanced version of the image. I thought the software did a good job of color-correcting and clarifying images so more detail was visible. None of the scans had glare, blur, or pixelation, which are issues I’ve encountered with phone scanning apps. 

Lastly, the purported integration with Google Photos failed for me.  I had to upload all my images to Google Photos manually. Again, this only took a few extra steps, but is another frustrating glitch in the buggy and dated-feeling software. I’m no software engineer, but I think there could be vast improvements to user experience with just a few simple updates to the app. 

Should you buy the Epson FastFoto?

I can’t deny that this scanner quickly loses its utility after completing your project, which took only a few days for me. Since it can’t print and isn’t ideal for document scanning (my printer is more user-friendly for scanning multi-page text documents), you basically just have a bulky, pricey electronic with little use on your hands. You can sell it or loan it out to friends and family, but in this digital age, there aren’t many circumstances where you’ll accumulate a cache of analog photos that need scanning in the future. 

That said, from my research, the alternatives to the Epson FastFoto boil down to three options: hire a service (pricey), scan the photos manually (time-consuming), or use a phone app (low quality). The going rate for professional photo scanning is about $0.17 per photo, so I’d say that if you have more than 3,000 photos to scan, the cost of the FastFoto is well justified. You’ll just need to plan for what to do with it when your project has wrapped.

The bottom line

The Epson FastFoto is the easiest and fastest solution I’ve found for digitizing old photos. It’s a load off my shoulders to know that my precious family memories are preserved and backed up digitally in case anything ever happens to the originals. If you have a significant number of photos to scan, this is far and away the best value solution, and one I highly recommend for peace of mind when it comes to preserving important family mementos.