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Brother Scan n Cut: How to use the ScanNCut Photo Scanning Mat

Wanda October 13, 2015 34 Comments This post may contain affiliate links.

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scanncut scanning mat tutorialI am interested in genealogy and have a number of old documents such as wedding and death certificates, plus a number of old photos that are rather fragile. So what I do is scan them and I use my ScanNCut to do this.

Now, of course, I could use a regular scanner but my scanner is limited to an A4 or US letter size. Plus I personally find the ScanNCut easier to use.

Why I Use a ScanNCut Photo Scanning Mat

I use the ScanNCut Photo Scanning Mat because I don’t have to stick the document to the mat, as I would if I was using a Standard or Low Tack Mat. Some of these documents are very fragile and I don’t want them getting stuck on a sticky mat and tearing.

Watch the video below to see how to use this mat.

(Can’t see the video? You may have an ad blocker on.)

This is what a Photo Scanning Mat looks like.

ScanNCut Photo Scanning Mat

  • You can see that it looks like a regular ScanNCut mat only it has a black trim instead of the usual blue or purple.
NOTE:
One other important difference is that it has a plastic cover. With any of the other mats (ie. Standard Mat, Medium Tack Mat, Low Tack Mat), you remove the dust cover, but the cover on the Photo Scanning Mat is there to hold the documents in place and therefore does not get removed.

bsnc-photo-scanning-mat
You can also scan in things like woven badges and thin balsa wood shapes that tend not to stick so well to a regular mat. Some of these have interesting shapes that can be used on a scrapbook page, but you don’t want to damage the back by having it stick to your regular mat.

I also just use it whenever I am scanning images printed on printer paper. Printer paper can stick like glue to a regular mat plus it’s just much easier and quicker to place it in the photo scanning mat.

NOTE:
The ScanNCut Photo Scanning Mat is also ideal when you are scanning plastic stencils or anything with a clear, pale or opaque background.

The machine will see these sorts of things a lot clearer if they are on a dark background.

So you place a dark piece of cardstock in the photo scanning mat, then your stencil on top of that. Then place the plastic cover over the top and away you go.

There are 2 Ways to Save Using this Mat

Just to clarify that the photo scanning mat can really do two different things:

  1. It can scan through documents and photos and save them to a JPG format for you to store on your computer. Great for keeping digital records of those important fragile documents.
  2. It can scan through images that you can convert to cutting files.

So the Photo Scanning Mat is great for scanning fragile documents but it can also be used to just scan in shapes that are on a delicate background.

 

 

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Filed Under: Brother ScanNCut Tutorials Tagged With: brother scan n cut, brother scan n cut scanning mat, scanning mat

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jean Hislop says

    November 29, 2015 at 5:59 pm

    many thanks for all the goodies ,love hearing from you you make every thing look so easy thamk you Jean

    Reply
    • Alanda says

      November 30, 2015 at 9:21 am

      You’re welcome Jean, and thank you for the lovely comment.

      Reply
  2. Pat says

    December 9, 2015 at 1:37 pm

    That was a great video for this beginner. I’ve watched a whole lot of videos but none of them showed what you have shared on your video. Thank you so very much for your time. Pat

    Reply
    • Wanda says

      December 10, 2015 at 8:01 am

      Thank you Pat for your great feedback.

      Reply
  3. Lee carter says

    July 28, 2016 at 11:35 am

    What is the cover sheet made of?? If you know

    Reply
    • Alanda says

      July 28, 2016 at 12:38 pm

      It’s made of thin plastic.

      Reply
  4. Sharon says

    November 26, 2016 at 11:55 am

    Hi, do I need a special photo scanning mat or can I use the normal scanning mat for photos

    Reply
    • Alanda says

      November 26, 2016 at 3:34 pm

      Yes you can use the Standard Mat Sharon, however, be aware that it is sticky so don’t use it for delicate or fragile items that you cannot replace. The Scanning mat isn’t sticky and that why you can scan fragile documents with confidence.

      Reply
  5. Veronica says

    June 9, 2018 at 8:38 am

    Hi Alanda, I want to buy one of these mats. Would the link on your site be for the Amazon Australia? I have never bought from them and was wondering as it is about half the price of buying from Spotlight.

    Reply
    • Alanda says

      June 9, 2018 at 9:22 am

      That’s a good price on Amazon Au, Veronica. Our link is to Amazon US. They don’t have an affiliate program for Australia as yet.

      Reply
  6. Vera Perkins says

    October 9, 2018 at 12:32 pm

    Hi Alanda,
    When I try to scan my scrapbook page it comes out in an awful color on my thumb drive. Have you had this problem?

    Reply
    • Alanda says

      October 9, 2018 at 1:02 pm

      I may need more clarification on this Vera. Are you scanning to save as a JPG image?

      Reply
      • Vera Perkins says

        October 11, 2018 at 12:20 pm

        Yes

        Reply
        • Alanda says

          October 11, 2018 at 5:23 pm

          We haven’t had that problem although to be honest we haven’t scanned a heap of images. Have you tried scanning other images to see if it makes a difference at all?

          Reply
    • Ann Hefner-Gravink says

      March 19, 2022 at 5:01 pm

      Make sure you remove the strip at the top of the mat (it is blue) otherwise the color balance will be off.

      Reply
      • Alanda Craft says

        March 20, 2022 at 10:07 am

        Yes, good tip Ann.

        Reply
  7. Bev Crouse says

    October 23, 2018 at 7:11 am

    Hello ladies
    I do have a question about the different types of scans. Do you have a video onthow you would use the third option?

    Reply
    • Alanda says

      October 23, 2018 at 8:41 am

      The third option “Scan to USB’ is in the video on this page. Just fast forward to about the 4 minute mark.

      Reply
  8. Edith Lambert says

    August 16, 2019 at 5:54 am

    I have the Brother Scan N Cut Machine, I recently purchased the Brother Scanning mat CADXMATS12. My machine will not recognize the Mat. I have tried all of the suggestions in
    the manual and still it will not recognize the mat. Any suggestions???????
    Thanks Edie L

    Reply
    • Alanda Craft says

      August 16, 2019 at 9:05 am

      The machine had problems with mats not being recognized very early on and apparently Brother have fixed the issue with new mats. I would contact Brother for this to see if they can replace the mat for you.

      Reply
  9. Stephanie says

    May 19, 2020 at 3:24 am

    Hi, I’d love one of these mats. Can I use it on the new Disney sdx225 scanandcut? Thanks

    Reply
    • Alanda Craft says

      May 19, 2020 at 11:12 am

      As long as you get the Scanning Mat that is made specifically for a DX machine then yes it will work.

      Reply
  10. KathyB says

    June 25, 2020 at 9:35 pm

    I am so glad you mentioned scanning plastic stencils! I have 12 applique pattern pieces that I had cut out of template plastic (actually a flexible “cutting board” from the Dollar Store). The main reason I got my DX was to make many applique pillows with my pattern. I was envisioning having to trace over my patterns onto paper in order to scan them in. Now I know that I can use the scanning mat instead. Note: There is no link to the video on this page. I had to go to YouTube to find it. 🙂

    Reply
    • Alanda Craft says

      June 26, 2020 at 9:16 am

      The video is on the page Kathy if you have an ad blocker running on your computer that will stop you from seeing it. Making your own stencils will certainly save you money.

      Reply
  11. Suzan Estrada says

    August 28, 2020 at 7:54 am

    No video shows up “below” as your instructions say. Please help.

    Reply
    • Alanda Craft says

      August 28, 2020 at 10:25 am

      The video won’t show up if you have an ad blocker turned on, Susan. The video is definitely on the post.

      Reply
  12. DIANE FRAYLING says

    November 11, 2020 at 9:31 am

    Thank you for this newsletter, I have recently purchased the sdx 900, have been to nervous to try it as yet .I really must get started soon, and I feel sure your newsletter will be very helpful, I am 81 and a bit slow these days to do as I once did, but I am sure I will get over my nervousness by looking at your newsletter. So thank you again

    Reply
    • Alanda Craft says

      November 12, 2020 at 10:53 am

      Lovely to hear from you Dianne. The more you use your ScanNcut the more you are going to love it. We have a free course that will help you be less intimidated by it, here is the link https://www.alandaonline.com/product/scanncut-dx-getting-started/.

      Reply
  13. Stephanie says

    February 8, 2021 at 10:04 am

    I’m enjoying your videos and trying to make myself try the scanncut again after a disappointing year when it was either too sticky or not enough! Unfortunately this video is missing….it’s showing you reviewing a dream machine?? I’ve been able to watch the others and they are really helpful, thanks

    Reply
    • Alanda Craft says

      February 8, 2021 at 10:45 am

      Thank you for letting us know Stephanie. I have fixed the video now so you should be good to go.

      Reply
  14. Rick says

    March 27, 2021 at 9:30 pm

    Hi Alanda, thanks for your guidance and hints.
    I am confused, have a legit 600mm scan mat for my CM350.
    Am rejected on snan function for this size mat. Is this normal?
    If so, why sell the larger mat?
    Your assistance will be appreciated.
    Keep up the good work.
    Cheers
    Rick

    Reply
    • Alanda Craft says

      March 28, 2021 at 10:03 am

      The larger mat will only allow for the full scan on certain machines. For your machine, you can only use the full area of the 12 x 24 mat for cutting and not for scanning.

      Reply
  15. Kath Cox says

    October 23, 2021 at 4:53 am

    Great video. Just brought DX1200 and I watch different video’s to try and learn different things. Love your video’s as very informative and your voice is so lovely to listen to, many other sites have people who do not explain or talk well.
    Wishing you well from New Zealand 😁

    Reply
    • Alanda Craft says

      October 24, 2021 at 11:11 am

      Thank you Kath. That was such a lovely comment. Glad the video helped.

      Reply

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Welcome to Alanda Craft - We are Wanda & Paula, two friends who love to craft. Our goal is to show you techniques on how to improve your crafting skills. Learn how to use your ScanNCut, your Dream Machine, make quilts and create quick and easy sewing projects! Learn, Create, Enjoy!

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