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A copy stand is the difference between a crooked phone snapshot of Grandma’s wedding print and a file you can actually archive. The camera stays parallel to the print. The distance stays fixed. Every shot in the batch matches the last one. This is a three-way comparison of the copy stands that are actually in the kit: a photo jig, a compact desk stand, and a larger stand. Pick one. Do not buy all three.

This is not an iPhone how-to. It is the hardware that makes a phone, or a compact camera, shoot prints like a scanner would.

Why a copy stand beats handheld

Handheld scanning fails in three boring ways. The phone tilts, so the print keystones. The distance changes, so sharpness and crop jump from frame to frame. The light changes as your body blocks the window. A stand removes those variables. You set height once, square the print, and run the stack.

Use a stand when you have more than a handful of prints, when the prints are heirlooms, or when you care that the files match. For a single snapshot you might still hold the phone. Past that, the stand is the job.

ScanJig: the photo jig

ScanJig is the dedicated photo-copy jig. It is built to hold a phone over a print, keep the glass or board square, and let you swap 4×6 and similar prints without rebuilding the shot. Use this when the work is a stack of family photos and the camera is the phone you already have.

Pick ScanJig when:

• The job is prints, not documents and not film.
• You want a jig, not a general-purpose studio stand.
• You will shoot with a phone and you want the print registered the same way every time.

Skip it if you need a taller column for a larger camera, or if the prints are bigger than the jig is meant to hold. Then you want one of the Cosmo stands.

Cosmo Mini 100: the compact stand

Cosmo Mini 100 from Stand Company is the compact copy stand. Short column, small footprint, meant for a desk that is already full. A phone or a compact camera sits on top and looks straight down. Use this when space is the constraint and the prints are small enough that you do not need a tall copy stand.

Pick Mini 100 when:

• The desk is small and a full stand will not stay up.
• You are shooting 4×6 and similar prints, not posters.
• You want a real stand, not a photo-only jig, but you do not need Mini 700 height.

Skip it if the camera is heavy, the prints are large, or you keep hitting the column. That is the Mini 700’s job.

Cosmo Mini 700: the larger stand

Cosmo Mini 700 from Stand Company is the larger Cosmo stand. More column, more base, more room for the camera and the print. Use this when Mini 100 feels cramped, when you want a bit more working distance, or when the Mini 100 listing is the wrong size for the camera you actually own. This is the Mini 700 listing to use. Do not substitute a different Mini 700.

Pick Mini 700 when:

• The compact stand is too short or too small for the prints.
• You want a Stand Company Cosmo stand with more room to work.
• You may mix a compact camera with a phone on the same rig.

Skip it if you only have a phone and a stack of 4×6 prints and you want the jig that was designed for that job. That is ScanJig. Skip it if the desk cannot take the larger base. That is Mini 100.

How to choose

Three products, three jobs. Do not treat them as a ranked list.

• ScanJig — phone plus a stack of prints. Dedicated photo jig.
• Mini 100 — small desk, small prints, compact Cosmo stand.
• Mini 700 — more height and more base, larger Cosmo stand.

If you are not sure, start from the print size and the desk, not from the camera. A phone on a jig beats a phone hovering over the kitchen table. A compact stand beats a jig if you already own a small camera and need a column. A larger stand beats a compact one if you keep clipping the frame.

How to shoot the stack

Square the print to the base. Set height so the print fills the frame with a little margin. Lock exposure and white balance if the phone lets you, so frame 40 matches frame 1. Use even window light or two lights at 45 degrees. Do not use the on-camera flash. Shoot, swap the print, shoot. Keep the camera on the stand the whole time.

Handle prints by the edges. If a print is curled or dirty, flatten and clean it before it goes under the camera. The stand will not fix a fingerprint you pressed into the emulsion.

What this is not

This is not a scanner roundup. A copy stand photographs the print. A flatbed scans it. If you have thousands of prints and you want a feeder, that is a different post. If you have film or slides, that is a different post. The three products here are for photographing prints from above, square and repeatable.

It is also not lighting gear. Window light or two cheap lamps at 45 degrees will do. Do not wait on a fourth product. Get the stand on the desk and run the stack.

The Bottom Line

Buy the jig if the job is phone-plus-prints. Buy Mini 100 if the desk is small. Buy Mini 700 if you need the larger Cosmo stand. One stand. Then run the stack. The files you keep are the ones you shot square.