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Selecting A Scanner

Page 1 --Keep in mind that speed and price are not the only factors you need to consider. While raw speed is important, the metric that really counts in a production imaging operation is throughput — the volume of data collected and images released to the back-end management system. Thus, factors such as image quality and paper handling can make a dramatic difference in productivity. Use the chart below to help you in comparing scanner features.
Scanning and Document Management Booklet

Paperless Archiving files ready for document management If you encounter mixed document sizes and paper weights that your scanner can't handle well, your operators will end up spending more time clearing the paper path than productively scanning.

In another example, if you use automated recognition (OCR, ICR, etc.), image quality will make a huge difference in accuracy and labor required to validate and correct results. Thus, auto thresholding, auto deskew and auto crop image processing features are in high demand.

See Minimizing Scanned Images

Page 2 -- Will simplex scanning do, or are you likely to encounter two-sided documents? A duplex scanner can save a lot of time. If you want to scan from books, magazines or delicate documents, a flatbed is a must. Consider, too, the largest documents you're likely to encounter in any appreciable volume and buy accordingly.

Finally, be sure you're not underestimating your likely scanning volumes. Once organizations embrace imaging, they invariably want more documents to be captured and made quickly accessible as images. Once you've identified the models that would be the best fit for your needs, be sure to investigate warranty, service support and scanner Daily Duty Cycle. (DDC)

There has been a growing demand for smaller departmental scanners and multifunction devices to support such applications, as well as software that allows users to drive the capture process. Scanners rated at a higher speed include Workgroup and Production scanners.

Page 3 -- Print Chart

Feature Definition Scanner 1 Scanner 2 Scanner 3

Daily Duty Cycle (DDC) Pages per day the scanner can handle without stress. Estimate your number of processed pages per day and multiply by 1.50 or 1.75 to determine the DDC needed.

ADF Auto Document Feeder - Automatically feeds pages into the scanner versus one page at a time.

Speed Speed (the number of pages per minute PPM) is measured at 200 DPI (dots per inch) with the paper fed into the scanner sideways (Landscape).

Simplex Scans one side of the page at a time.

Duplex Scans both sides of the page at the same time.

Resolution The DPI (dots per inch) used in scanning. 200 dpi is minimum for OCR.
See Minimizing Scanned Images

Color Yes / No and bit depth

Grayscale / B&W Yes / No and bit depth

Document Size What is the largest and smallest size the scanner can handle?

Max

Min

Paper Weight The weight of the paper to be scanned? 20 - 28 lbs. card stock, etc.

Flatbed Needed for odd size papers and books

Interface USB, SCSI, FireWire, other

Software Included software

Hardware Needed Cables and cards included?

Warranty Yes / No -- Length of Warranty

Options Extended Warranties, consumables, add-ons.

In many cases, in-depth reviews of scanners are available through a variety of publications or call ARCHIVE-CD. The good news for everyone is that the latest scanners are more affordable and productive than ever.

Scanning and Document Management Booklet