Offers an insight into the processes of document scanning, explains the main features and benefits of different types of scanners and provides guidance to evaluate scanners to user requirements.
This guide addresses the processes associated with scanning the general range of business documents that can be found in a typical business or organisation.
These documents fall broadly into two main categories:
- General administrative documents
- Technical and design drawings.
General administrative documents are taken to be items such as letters, faxes, invoices, delivery notes and other similar office paperwork. These are small format documents, with most probably being A4 size and no larger than A3.
Technical and design drawings include items such as engineering drawings, maps, plans and schematics. These are large format documents, up to A0 and beyond.
The guide concentrates on scanning as a business process, and is directed towards the issues and considerations of moderate day to day volumes of documents that can be handled in-house. However, the issues surrounding the decision either to scan in-house or to outsource are examined in section 7.
The low cost personal type scanners and the specialist high volume scanners for commercial conversion work therefore fall outside the scope of this guide.
Documents in both paper and microfilm format are considered. Whilst the scanning equipment for microfilm is specialised to the particular microfilm format, the data capture processes used and the post scanning considerations have much in common regardless of which equipment has been used.
The guide does not cover specialist scanning applications, such as pre-press scanning for printing and publishing, medical imaging applications such as X-rays, book scanning and the scanning of ancient and precious items such as manuscripts and artwork. The considerations in these specialist fields are complex, and whilst the general principles in this guide may apply to an extent they need to be supplemented by the appropriate knowledge of an expert in the particular field.
Whilst the bulk of new business documents may be originated electronically the main medium for the interchange of these documents is still in the form of printed paper. As we add together all the documents and records which need to be kept on file a picture emerges of a management issue which most organisations must face.
One of the options available is to scan these documents into an electronic format, and manage these scanned images in a computer system. The purpose of this guide is to offer an insight into the processes of document scanning, and to provide some guidance to assist readers with their own studies and implementations.
As document scanning is simply a conversion process, the starting point for end users must be the application of the scanned images to their particular business activities and processes. The guide therefore starts from this point, and whilst the main intention is to concentrate on the data capture aspects of document scanning it is worthwhile spending some time on the inter relationships between the data capture and imaging applications.
Scanning should be regarded as an investment that will deliver a return in terms of improving the efficiency and performance of business processes. Scanning is only a part of an electronic imaging system in the same way that a scanner is only a part of a hardware system. To reap the rewards of the investment the whole process needs to be checked through, and this guide sets out to assist new users by highlighting the issues to be considered in the decision making process.
The successful implementation of business processes based on scanned images can be of benefit to all types of organisation, and it is hoped that this guide will catalyse some ideas and help with their development.