Flatbed document passport scanning ID page for credentials

[Legoman]

Bit of an odd question. Tried googling in hope of an answer but could find nothing relevant. I've just received a new passport and I want to scan the ID page for purpose of keeping on file when needed for points of ID check for bank account applications etc. The problem is the passport has some sort of built-in anti-scanning copy-protection such that when subjected to UV light, all the blue portions (visible by eye under normal ambient light) of the ID page light up bright pink when scanned under the artificial light of a flatbed scanner. Does anyone know how to document scan to get around the dramatic colour shift causing everything blue to come out bright pink on the scanned image?

Obviously I'm not going to post the evidence of my own scanning of my own passport to prove what I'm saying, but here's a generic example from a google image search.

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All the bright pink coloured sections in this generic sample image of a passport from that news article linked above are actually blue when viewed with the naked eye.

[FunkyBuddha]

Have you tried using a scanner app on your phone? It will take a photograph and convert to pdf or other image formats.

[dayvsea]

Should think you could take a good macro pic with a decent camera, and adjust the colors out in post production Photoshop, ACDSee etc..

[Legoman]

In the end I just had to scan it with my normal USB flatbed document scanner (Acer ScanPrisa 640U) using VueScan v9.7.89 obtained from in here (thank you very much), and then painted the pink bits the right shade of blue using Paint Shop Pro. Also made the window sections transparent like they should be. Took a long time and was very finicky to do, but I justified it by measuring the time taken over the 10 year lifespan of the passport. If I had to do it for a new document every single year, then I wouldn't bother, but 10 years is long enough to make it worthwhile for me.

In my research on the subject I did find out that there are in fact flatbed scanners with IR filters that claim to be able to scan documents like this correctly. I have no personal experience and no knowledge of anyone who actually owns such a thing, no idea of the cost and no idea of makes/models or even where to go looking to buy one, but the internet says they exist.

Edited July 24, 2024 by Legoman