Paper Scanning

Scanning converts paper documents into digital image format. The most widely used digital file format for image storage is the Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), which can store black and white, grayscale, and color images. Typically, office documents are scanned at a resolution of 200 or 300 dpi (dots per inch). At 200 dpi, a letter-size page requires about 500K of memory or disk space, but only about 20-30K when compressed using CCITT G4, which is standard in the document management industry. Optix always compresses scanned images and passes only the compressed versions between the workstation and the server – this keeps network traffic lower.

Many people confuse “scanning” with OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and text search. Scanning simply converts paper into image form, after which it can be stored and indexed “as is” (which is the majority of the time). The image can be OCR’d immediately or at a later time, converting the image to text. The text may then be used directly by pasting it into word processing documents, or it may be indexed into a text search database. Often, a system is designed so that users can perform text searches, but they will actually view the original scanned document, since the image retrains things like pencil marks, signatures, and graphics that OCR does not pick up.

Don’t confuse document scanners with the cheap desktop models used to input photos and the occassional letter. Typically, cheap desktop scanners input at a rate of minutes per page, while document scanners are specially engineered to scan at high resolutions and at rates of many pages per minute. Additionally, they are built to stand up to long, intensive use.

Download a list of our supported and recommended scanners.