👉 Document Scanning Guide — Things You Need to Know in 2022
Do you know that the document scanning guide can help you in document management & increase your business productivity if your organization is ready to take complete advantage of the e-revolution. Document scanning and conversion are of utmost importance for an organization to continue doing its business on the online platform. Paperless industries reduce the time and cost spent on maintaining official documents.
When you are aware of document digitization & its benefits, it simply means that you are in the process of eliminating paper clutter from your office by choosing a local document scanning service.
These are the questions people have Googled to know why it is essential for them to have their business documents scanned & stored online?
- How do I scan thousands of documents?
- How much does scanning documents cost?
- Where can you go to scan and email a document?
- What is the purpose & process of scanning a document?
- How do I scan a document & upload it to my computer or phone?
In this post, I’ll answer all your questions about document scanning services & help you in fulfilling your queries about document scanning.
let’s dive in to know more about it –
How the Document Scanning Process Works
Depending on your business objectives, you’ll require to capture the image of the document and/or extract the relevant data from the document.
Document capture software converts a paper document into a digital file such as PDF, JPEG, or TIFF. The same software can also import and convert electronic files (Word, spreadsheets) as well.
As far as the process is concerned, it requires data capture & scanning both. So the steps are -
Step 1: Preparing the Documents — The first step is to prepare the paper documents for scanning. Prepare in the order in which the documents are to be scanned. Ensure that no paper clip or any such item is attached with papers
Step 2: Data Capture — Then data capture software turns the analog document into digital Documents that can be scanned via a Camera phone, Copier/Multi function Printer Scanner or even with the microfilm.
Note: We are considering a scanning method here.
Step 4: Document Imaging — The digital images can be stored in file formats like JPEG, PDF, PDF/A, or GIF which are convertible and editable.
Step 5: Forms Processing — For forms, the data and/or the entire form can be captured, depending on what your business needs. Data captured from a form can be moved into the correct database.
Step 6: Image Cleanup — When documents are old or of poor quality, the quality of the documents can be improved with software cleanup functionality. Common features include
Deskew — straightens images scanned in crooked
Despeckle — removes dots from the document
Rotate — turns documents fed in incorrectly to the right orientation
Blank and double-page detection — blank pages can be deleted and a double-feed alert allows you to rescan the document
Step 7: Quality Control — No software or data entry is perfect. In key-from-image operations, data can be validated by a second operator or via automated processes like database lookups. Poor quality images are flagged and scanned again.
Step 8: Recognition — Recognition software is the heart of capture. The software reads the data so that it can be indexed, for example.
OCR (optical character recognition) — Recognizes machine-printed characters.
Zonal — Used where only specific fields on a form are required.
Full-text — Free form document conversion allowing search on all words in the document.
ICR (intelligent character recognition) — For hand-printed characters.
OMR (optical mark recognition) — Recognizes checkboxes, filled-in bubbles, etc.
Barcodes — Read and extract information from a pre-printed barcode.
Step 9: Index — If you don’t index your documents, you’ll never find them again! The index can be full text or key fields; though a combination of both is best. There are several ways to index. A data entry person manually indexes large volumes of documents.
Auto-indexing with bar codes — By storing form information on a barcode before scanning a batch of documents, certain index values can be automatically populated.
Zone OCR — Also automatic Ingest from other applications — Email, word processing, etc.; metadata from the document (subject line, sender, etc.) become the index fields.
Step 10: Use Your Documents — Now that your documents are digital, they’ll be easily accessible to anyone in your organization. Use them to automatically launch workflows, make customer service faster, or simply eliminate the need for filing cabinets. You can also dispose of the paper documents according to your business records management policy.
Different Types of Document Scanners & Its Use
A document scanner is a device that electronically scan the documents & then scanned documents are converted into digital copies that can be stored on your PC or any other electronic device. Businesses use scanners to digitize legal documents, correspondence, business papers, and other types of printed material, saving many hours of laborious manual data entry.
Scanning technology has two main parts: hardware that turns a page into an image, and software to extract text from the image. Document scanners come in different types. Choosing the right scanner solves quality-related issues. Let’s take an overview that how we choose the right scanner.
There are main types of scanners being used to scan and convert the documents
Flatbed: Similar in looks like a photocopier machine, most extensively used for digitizing office documents, scan the printed papers on a glass plate while the scanning head moves underneath it.
Sheetfed: With a fax machine-like, these scanners move the page being scanned past the scanning head. They can be used for photo or large picture scanning as the sheet does not move to print precise pixels.
Slide: Available in small size, they scan documents with high resolution. Special attention in the scanning process is required as they need a scanner that passes light through the image rather than reflecting light off it.
Drum: Drum scanners are the most effective and versatile type of scanner, but they are expensive and harder to operate. They use photo-multiplier tubes to produce better-quality images with more accuracy.
Choosing the right scanner can make a big difference, you can potentially save time and money by scanning documents on a daily basis.
Recommendation: When you are starting to convert your documents into a digital form, you must be having large volumes of data. So, it is recommended that you must consult a professional document scanning service provider for the first time to adopt document management software that can automate digital conversion and storage in a handy form.
As part of the scanning process, you must install driver and application software required.
Find the Top Rated Document Scanning Services Near You
If you plan to outsource the scanning job, finding an experienced document scanning service provider nearby you, can cut down on shipping costs and turnaround time. However, you have to ensure that the company you choose is experienced and renowned.
Also, maintaining information security, high-quality work must be considered as major criteria when negotiating with a professional document scanning company. In the long run, you need to have an electronic file management system in place.
In the initial phase, you may just want a scanning partner to take your documents, scan and index them, and return the digital images. This is where document scanning companies differ in providing their services.
Based on document accessibility & frequency, you can hire the best document scanning company near you that provides document management services with technical support.
