You have to evaluate the features of scanners available in the market and determine which one of these meets your specific requirements.
Scanners are typically compared on the basis of features such as:
- Page size such as 8.5x14 inches for most desktop scanners and 12x18 for production level scanners
- Feeder capacity such as 25 or 50 sheets common among desktops and 500 to 1,000 among production levels
- Interfaces to the computer such as USB 2.0, SCSI, Firewire, or Ethernet
- Speed such as one-sided speeds of 10 to 30 pages per minute for desktops and 75 to 200 pages for production levels
- Daily scans that are recommended, such as 500 or 1,000 pages for desktops, 5,000 or 10,000 pages for departmentals, and 60,000 or 200,000 pages for production levels
- Resolution such as 200, 300, or 600 dpi (dots per inch)
- Simplex (one-sided scanning) or duplex (dual-sided scanning)
- Features such as Rescan (for better image quality), Multi-feed detection (are two pages being fed?), Color or B&W, Mac Compatibility, etc.
Depending on available features, desktop prices can range from $300 to $3,000, departmental scanners from $1,500 to $7,000 and production scanners from $15,000 to $75,000.
Significance of Certain Features
Features such as paper size and scanning speed are self-evident. The significance of some other features might not be so clear. Here are some examples:
VIRTUAL RESCAN is a software or hardware feature that improves image quality.
MULTIFEED DETECTION solves a common problem of missing pages owing to the scanner feeding double sheets, etc.
AUTOCROP detects the size of a page and automatically adjusts the output. Without this feature, all images would be the same size whatever be the size of the original.
IMAGE ENDORSING means the facility for stamping text or numeric sequences on images.
Value-Adding Software
One common value addition is the ability to process the scanned documents for keyword searching. This is done using barcodes and OCR (optical character recognition).
Forms-processing software can recognize handprint, and work with variable forms such as supplier invoices. Manual data entry is minimized with the help of forms-processing software.
OCR software converts scanned images of Word Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, etc. into editable text documents.
Image-processing software can improve legibility and OCR accuracy in cases when scanned documents are difficult-to-scan documents owing twholesale pearlwholesale necklaceo such factors as poor contrast.
Some Relevant Issues
Specialty scanners might not work with Windows scanning software, and you would need to install special software. In general, scanners use TWAIN or ISIS drivers.
You should check into the continued availability of supplies and spares for the document-imaging scanner you decide to buy.
Conclusion
Document imaging scanners are the primary equipment for most document-imaging projects. Scanners come in a wide range of capabilities and prices. You must determine your specific requirements before you make the decision to buy a particular scanner.
The value of the document-imaging scanner can be enhanced with value-adding software such as forms processors and OCR.
