Does the never-ending snapping and posting of inventory photos on your web shop leave you feeling like you're running a still-life photography studio? It may be time to ditch the digital camera. Last year, printer giant HP shipped the TopShot, a web-enabled laser printer that doubles as a 3-D scanner capable of capturing high-quality images of small objects. And while the tool is not perfect, our tests made it clear that the TopShot could streamline online inventory photography.
What it does: The TopShot, which costs about $400, can scan any object that fits inside the printer's 8½-by-11-inch scanning area. The image is captured with a digital camera mounted in a pivoting light-enabled stand. Prop up the stand, place your object in the scanning area, click a few buttons, and the scanner goes to work, taking photos from multiple angles. Users can print the resulting image or send it to a PC.
What works: HP deserves credit for making a fully capable 3-D web printer that scans, prints and copies. We found product images to be surprisingly clean, well-lit and professional-looking. Business-ready apps are available, including support of storage tools like Google Apps or Box.net. Setup is also easy: Just plug in the USB connection and follow the instructions. No separate software disks or drivers are needed.
What could use some work: The TopShot is far too slow to be a commercial-grade scanner or printer. It will take you about a full minute to set up, scan and capture an image; cataloguing a large inventory of photos could require a significant time investment. You will also need to tinker with the software to get the perfect exposure for some objects. (Bright spots on shiny objects are a challenge.) And remember, products must be small enough to fit inside the scanning area--even a pair of adult shoes is too big. Additionally, replacement toner cartridges are not cheap: $50 for black-and-white; $56 for color. Imaging drums run another $80.
Bottom line: For an e-tail or eBay business, the TopShot can be an intriguing way to make goods more enticing to customers.
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This article was originally published in the February 2012 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Find Your Best Angle.
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Comments:
Rather then print out the final image why not save it to a memory card or save the scans to the PC. I have an HP 6500 Plus and i can scan to any computer on my network or save scans to an on board SD card slot. Ink is about $58 for both black and all the colors. I'd be surprised if it did not have these functions.
That's an interesting piece of equipment. I hope they continue with this line of thinking and hopefully expand the scanning area (and maybe try to drive the price down for more casual users). I'll definitely have to forward this on to a few people, thanks!
Nice review but leaves things a bit short. For instance, the ability of the TopShot to scan the item and then send it to either a hard drive, a server or other storage device wasn't covered. Same for the ability to scan, by-pass it's own printer (which HP knows is going to cost a bundle to feed in print cartridges and drum's !) and print to another printer, as a stand-alone peripheral, that prints for far less than the HP does. The potential for this for the small business market, especially the Mom and Pop and Arts & Craft's market's, is awesome. I look forward to seeing how it does in the Catalog and Insurance field's.
Looks interesting, I'm just not sure how big of a market there is for something like this.
Pretty cutting edge product! Gives us an idea of what additional advancements we can expect in the digital imaging industry