It’s important to select the right scanner for your office. Many offices just look at price without understanding their own requirements. They end up with a scanner that doesn’t meet their needs. So, what are the different types of scanners?
In this guide, we’ll review the different types of scanners to choose from for your office. We’ll identify the differences, so you can easily find the right scanner. When finished, you’ll know what to look for in scanners. You can be sure you’re purchasing the right one for your office – saving you time and money.
What Are the Different Types of Scanners to Choose From?
Scanners are a critical piece of office equipment. As a recent Wall Street Journal article explains, more and more offices are looking at paperless functionality that relies on a scanner. We’ve categorized the different types of scanners on the market into four categories.
1. Flatbed Scanners
These are the most common scanners for the home and office. Documents are placed on glass and a scanning mechanism moves beneath to capture the image. For businesses with basic needs, or who require high-processing capability, the flatbed scanner is an excellent choice.
The flatbed scanner can also work with 3D objects that may need to be scanned, or for documents that require protection or can easily be damaged. A plastic sleeve can be used to protect the document during the scanning process. Keep in mind, the sleeve may negatively impact the results, resulting in a lower quality scan.
2. Sheetfed Scanners
Sheetfed scanners are similar to flatbed scanners, except the document moves through the scanning beam on a roller, rather than the scanning beam moving around the document. Many scanners will feed the pages automatically and are an efficient solution for scanning multiple pages. Some sheetfed scanners can manage duplex scans (scanning both sides of a document). This will increase the cost of the scanner but can save time and resources for your office.
For scanning longer documents like packets or stacks of pages, look at purchasing a scanner with an automatic document feeder (ADF). An ADF will scan an entire stack of documents without supervision or manual labor. Keep in mind, most ADF have a capacity limit and so you should select the scanner that aligns with your needs.
3. Handheld Scanners
Portable scanners are normally handheld devices that can capture text or images while you are out of the office. Most use batteries and will store the image until it can be transferred to a computer.
There are multiple types of portable scanners on the market. Some are slightly larger, and work like a sheetfed scanner for capturing documents. Card scanners are designed for capturing business cards. Still others, like handheld scanners, will manually capture pages or documents without damaging the original.
- Optical Scanners
There are several other types of scanners designed for specific functionality. These include integrated scanners that capture images as part of another device. ATMs often use these scanners for processing checks. Drum scanners are used to capture extremely high-resolution images. They are large and expensive, and only used when resolution is critical in the project.
Optical scanners include character recognition software for capturing not just an image, but text as well. These can be used to scan documents into files that can be searched for keywords and phrases.
Selecting the Right Scanner for your Office
Now that you understand the types of scanners on the market, it’s time to look at your requirements.
- What size documents are you scanning? Are you scanning all letter-size documents, or will you need legal-size as well? Consider a large-format scanner for your project. Make sure the scanner can manage the work.
- What resolution do you require? For most projects and documents, 200 pixel-per-inch (ppi) will work, but for photos you may need 600 ppi or more. Consider resolution before selecting a solution.
- Do we have any software requirements? Not all scanners will work with every software program. If you have a photo editing or optical character recognition (OCR) for searching documents, look for a scanner that will integrate, like an optical scanner.
Want to learn more? Are you ready to discover how a scanner can add productivity and efficiency to your office? Visit Advantage Imaging Supply to discover the best scanners on the market for office professionals.
