John Kaiser Channel Sales Manager Imaging 411 8 Ways to Choose the Proper Scanner for your Needs
Scoping your project Volume of Documents Time Frame Type of Documents Features to look for Speed Feeder Resolution Ability to Sort Documents Image Enhancement Imprinter and Imprint Checking Color and Color Drop Out Consumables and Maintenance Find the Proper Reseller Partner Summary
Take a snapshot of your project Determine how many documents you have Are you planning to do light scanning such as at each individuals desk or are you looking to scan high volumes? How much do I have to spend now and for the life of the scanner? What is the time frame you are looking to complete the project?
What type of documents are they? Are they stapled or require a lot of prep time (this too must factor into your time frame)? Are they delicate and cannot be fed into a feeder? Small documents such as checks or receipts? Larger than 11 x 17? Double Sided? Color or Black and White?
SPEED
The best way to determine how many documents can be scanned is to take the scanner rated speed, using the resolution you plan to use, times 6.5 hours (8 hour shift) to provide a maximum daily throughput. h t Then reduce that number by 40% to get your net throughput per day. This takes into account paper handling, jams, breaks and other activities that reduce the effective throughput. Example: 100 letter size pages per minute at 200 dpi, portrait x 60 minutes per hour x 6.5 hours = 39,000 pages per day. At 60% net effective throughput, that is 23,400 pages per day. By scanning landscape you can get roughly 28,000 pages per day out of the same scanner. TIPS: *Don t forget to take into account document prep time when determining the project timeframe.* *Don t trip over a dollar to pick up a dime. Don t buy a slower scanner because it is cheaper. You will pay more in maintenance later*
SPEED FLATBED OR ADF
If you have delicate, abnormal size documents or books you will want to use a flatbed scanner. Many production environments have a low cost flatbed scanner to handle these types of documents. If you are doing large batches that consist of documents anywhere from 2 x 2 up to 11x17, you will want to use an ADF. Make sure the ADF holds enough documents to process the batches you are looking to scan. Typical ADF s range from 100-550 pages. Make sure the ADF scans mix documents with ease..
SPEED FLATBED OR ADF RESOLUTION
Resolution and Contrast are the key to getting the best image quality. The higher the resolution the better the image (but also higher the file size and the slower the scanner will run) Most scanners have the option to run at 200DPI, 300DPI and 600DPI in bi-tonal (black and white/ grayscale) For color, most prefer 150 DPI (Color file sizes are also quite large) Most Scanner Manufacturers give the rated speed at 200DPI.
SPEED FLATBED OR ADF RESOLUTION ABILITY TO SORT DOCUMENTS
If you are scanning batches that contain exceptions such as patchcode, separator or barcode sheets or items that you will want to remove from the batch such as checks or abnormal size documents, make sure the scanner has more than one exit tray to do so. The unit should have one tray that handles the normal batch export and is the same size as the ADF and the exceptions tray/s should be able to hold at least 100 pages
SPEED FLATBED OR ADF RESOLUTION ABILITY TO SORT DOCUMENTS IMAGE ENHANCEMENT
Make sure the scanner has built in or software driven image enhancement. De-Speckle De-Skew Auto Rotation and Crop Auto Rotation and Crop Image Enhancement actually helps to decrease file size
SPEED FLATBED OR ADF RESOLUTION ABILITY TO SORT DOCUMENTS IMAGE ENHANCEMENT IMPRINTER AND IMPRINT CHECKING
If you require verification that a document was scanned, the best way is to use an imprinter. The imprinter will print characters on the document such as time and date or other pertinent information that proves that the document has been scanned. Some scanners have imprint i verification that t will check to see if a document has already been scanned and will either alert you, cross it out and create a new set of characters or will put an additional set of characters on the document.
SPEED FLATBED OR ADF RESOLUTION ABILITY TO SORT DOCUMENTS IMAGE ENHANCEMENT IMPRINTER OR IMPRINT CHECKING COLOR AND COLOR DROPOUT
Color - If you are scanning color documents and want to keep a color image, you will need a scanner that will scan in color. Most scanners have color scanning. Color Dropout If you have documents that you would like to dropout specific colors, you will want to verify the scanner has color dropout capabilities. Most scanners will drop out only red, blue or green. There are some models that will drop out any color.
SPEED FLATBED OR ADF RESOLUTION ABILITY TO SORT DOCUMENTS IMAGE ENHANCEMENT IMPRINTER OR IMPRINT CHECKING COLOR OR BI-TONAL CONSUMABLES AND MAINTENANCE
When determining your budget, always remember you will have costs associated with consumables and annual maintenance. Consumable kits can range from fifty dollars all the way up to several thousand Scanners are just like cars, they need preventative maintenance, consumables replaced just like oil, filters and windshield wipers and more than likely will eventually break down. Consumables are typically rollers/feed tires or bulbs. (Some manufactures include bulbs as maintenance or warranty items.)
Ask important qualifying questions as you are interviewing them. How long have you been in business? How many installations do you have? Ask for reference accounts and look for case studies on their web site. Who are the vendors you represent, both software and hardware? You want someone who has multiple solutions to find the right one for your needs.
How many people are in your organization? How many technical/support people? Average tenure? How many sales people? Average tenure? What is your support structure? Do they take first call?
What is your escalation process? Who do you use for maintaining the equipment? Are they trained and certified by the manufacture? What are their response times? Do they have reference accounts I can contact? How many technicians do they have and are they local to me? Do they have a Risk Free Guarantee?
Remember, you can always find a great price on the internet but you will never find a great price and support!
There are many things to look out for when determining the right scanner for your project. Always analyze your need first and then use this analysis to determine the type of scanner Keep in mind that preparation of documents needs to be factored in when determining the project time frame. Factor in consumables and maintenance into your budget. Find the right reseller partner.
Register to win a Hitachi 320GB Portable External Drive this afternoon. Register for The 411 On How To Get a Free IPad promotion. More details at the booth. See the HT-4139 with a lot of the features we spoke about Speak to us about our Risk Free Guarantee maintenance for Canon, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Kodak and Panasonic Scanners I ll be glad to answer any questions you may have.
John Kaiser Phone: 866.411.4624 Ext 218 Email: john.kaiser@imaging411.com 8 Ways to Choose the Proper Scanner for your Needs