Scanning Devices > Flatbed Scanners

See also: Medical Scanners.

For the typical office, plan on networking at least one flatbed scanner. This would be for things like digitizing invoices, business cards, receipts, and technical articles. This scanner needs only medium resolution. If you also need to digitize photos or x-rays, then you should have a dedicated scanner cabled to a specific workstation for that purpose.

• Speed. A flatbed scanner is much faster than a portable. Why? Because designers aren't forced to make compromises to get the small size and weight of a portable.
• Quality. The resolution and color fidelity of a flatbed is generally higher than that of a portable, for the same reason the speed is better.
• Ease. For many types of scanning, a flatbed is easier to use than any other kind of scanner. You just plop the paper down on the bed and press a button. No manual dexterity required. With pens, it's minimal dexterity but still a challenge for the very young and the very old.

• Fast scanning.
• Easy setup and use.
• Some kind of software for editing or other purposes.
• Image adjustment controls.
• Very high optical resolution; even higher interpolated resolution.
• 16-bit gray, 24-bit color. (Note that it is much higher for some scanners and lower for others; for most situations, 8g/16c isample).
• Some kind of touch button operation.
• Handsome styling (not the old beige boxes of yesteryear).
• USB connectivity.

1. Letter size. The active scanning area accomodates standard-sized paper (8.5x11 or a little larger). The body of the scanner fits around that. So these vary from around 10Wx14L to 14Wx16L and the height will be a few inches.
2. Legal size. The active scanning area accomodates legal-sized paper (11x17 or a little larger). The body of the scanner fits around that. So these vary from around 12Wx18L to 18Wx22L and the height will be a few inches.

A document feeder usually won't increase the working surface contact area, known as the footprint. But it will typically require more room around the scanner plus additional height.

• Plain paper.
• Photo prints.
• Some flatbed scanners can also accomodate film and negatives. Some medical grade scanners, which we offer, can also digitize X-ray films.

1. As a scanning aid, keep a small flat object near your scanner. An old CD, for example. Where a paper starts to curl, place this object on that paper before closing the scanner cover. This prevents things from moving around or bending backwards. You can also keep an old flat ruler around for this purpose.
2. Never have the lid up when you scan. That scatters light everywhere and reduces the image sharpness.
3. When saving the scan, remember that you are saving a file. This isn't any different from saving a paper file in a folder, except you're saving it electronically. So save to a smartly named folder and give it a meaningful filename. For example, Finance/BankStatements/2012/Statement2012-01-28. Don't use spaces in folder or filenames.

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