Knowing the right kind of scanner to meet your needs is always challenging. Randy and Bob has selected a few of our favorites which we discuss in our lectures and presentations.  As you may note, we are very pleased with the overall performance and quality of Fujitsu products, which should not be a surprise.

Fijitsu ScanSnap S300	The Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 For under $300, this is perhaps the smallest, fastest, most versatile portable scanner on the market. The newest addition to the Fijitsu scanner line, the Fujitsu ScanSnap S300 is a powerful portable option. The product scans directly to PDF and the Automatic Document Feeder holds up to 10 sheets. The unit may be powered off a USB 2.0 powered port or using the included AC power adaptor and scans anything from a thick business car or postcard size document to legal size sheets. This unit comes with ScanSnap Organizer and CardMinder software and generates a PDF directly to the attached computer. Performance: 8ppm in simplex color, 16ipm in duplex color. Automatic color, paper size, and blank page detection. Compact and easy to use. See detail specifications and system requirements for the Fijitsu ScanSnap S300
	Fujitsu fi-6130 and fi-6230 Sheet-Fed Scanners The Fujitsu fi-6130 sheet-fed scanner boosts your organization’s document handling productivity without taking up too much space—or breaking the budget. This compact sheet-fed document scanner offers outstanding value for the money. With duplex scanning performance of up to 80 images per minute in monochrome and grayscale, the fi-6130 scanner handles up to 60 images per minute in color at 300 dpi, offering unparalleled image detail as well as speed. The Fijitsu fi-6130 pricing is from $900, and the fi-6230 from $1,399 (pricing based on web search) Fast, 40ppm / 80ipm scanning in monochrome and grayscale Exceptional 300 dpi color scanning at 30ppm / 60ipm Advanced paper handling technology for the ultimate in feeding reliability Robust 50-page Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) with enhanced hard embossed card scanning Comes with Kofax® VRS® Professional, Adobe® Acrobat® 8 Standard, and ScandAll Pro One-year Limited Warranty with available Advance Exchange program
	Fujitsu fi-6140 and fi-6240 High Performance Color Duplex Scanners The latest in the Fujitsu line of scanners, at 60ppm Grayscale 200 DPI and 40ppm Color 300DPI this combination vertical feeder and flatbed scanner incorporates the latest technology such as automatic taper correction and ultrasonic double-fee detection.  With the flatbed attachment (th Fi-6140 unit will run around $1600, or $2000 with the flatbed attachment (fi-6240.) Pricing based on web search. Fast, 60 ppm/120 ipm scanning in monochrome and grayscale Best in class 300 dpi color scanning at 40 ppm/80 ipm First scanner in its class to offer Intelligent MultiFeed Function (iMFF) as well as advanced Paper Protection technology Robust 50-page Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) with enhanced hard and embossed card scanning (including credit or healthcare cards) Comes bundled with Kofax® VRS® Professional, Adobe® Acrobat® 8 Standard, and ScandAll Pro imaging software One-year Limited Warranty with available Advance Exchange program
	Model Fujitsu ScanSnap S510 A personal workhorse. With the 50ppm vertical gravity sheet feeder and 18ppm scanning this model is easy to install and use for the non-technical person. The package includes ABBYY FineReader and Adobe Acrobat Standard. Increase productivity in a snap with the Fujitsu ScanSnap S510 Sheet-Fed Scanner. The S510 digitizes both sides of a document in a single pass at up to 18 pages per minute in color, making it ideal for a small office or home office environment.  Pricing on this model begins around $375 (based on web search.) Features include; One button scanning to searchable PDF Scan directly to Microsoft® applications New multifunction Quick Menu feature Easily protect, preserve, & share documents Business card scanning Color Duplex 18 pages per minute Adobe® Acrobat® 8.0 Standard
	Model HP Scanjet N9120 HPs latest Document Flatbed Scanner, The latest in the HP scanner family line is a powerful office or firm solution, priced at $4000. Office or Group Level Scanner Scanning for a more productive office • Quick, precise document scans in black-and-white, grayscale and color at up to 50 ppm/100 ipm[1] • Scan documents up to 11 x 17 inches unattended, using the 200-page automatic document feeder • Confidently scan every page of large jobs thanks to ultrasonic double-feed detection • Capture high-quality, readable images with enhanced accuracy using Kofax Virtual ReScan Pro Vertical paper Feed and Flatbed Scanning Scan big, bulky items up to 11 x 17 • Scan and save documents up to 11 x 17 inches with professional-quality • Scan thick, bound materials up to 11 x 17 that can't go through the document feeder on the flatbed • Improve image quality as scanner straightens images before scanning with hardware deskew • Easy access to almost the entire the paper path through three doors Heavy Duty Scanning with reliable Daily Duty Cycle Dependable scanning you can rely on • Includes HP support with a one-year warranty and on-site repair • Reliably scan up to 5,000 pages a day • Get up and running fast with convenient on-site installation by an HP expert • Be more energy efficient with this low-consumption, Energy Star Qualified scanner
	Canon DR-2050C The Canon Color Scanner suits both tight budgets and tight spaces.Don't let the small footprint of the DR-2050C fool you. It offers high-quality image output, with resolution of up to 600 dpi for all your 24-bit color, grayscale, and black-and-white scanning needs. With scanning speeds of up to 20 pages or 40 images per minute, the DR-2050C was built to provide incredible throughput for high-performance duplex scanning. Superior speed and exceptional value are just the beginning of what makes Canon's DR-2050C scanner a leader in its class.Productivity enhancement features truly set the DR-2050C apart from other workgroup scanners. Up to 100 user preference profiles can be programmed and stored for fast, easy access to frequently used settings. A variety of user-friendly image processing functions, such as front and back Color Dropout, Text Enhancement, and Pre-Scan, help you to consistently capture document data with accuracy and simplicity. Pricing begins at $620, but can be purchased for as low as $375 (based on web searches.) Automatic Document Feeder: 50 x Sheet Standard, Bit Depth: 24 bit Color / 8 bit Grayscale, Bit Depth Color: 24bit, Bit Depth Grayscale: 8bit, Color: Gray, Controls: Duplex Mode, Controls: Scan, Controls: E-mail, Controls: PDF, Dimensions: 7.8" Height x 11.7" Width x 3.9" Depth, Maximum Scan Speed: 10ppm (Color) / 20ppm (Grayscale) / 20ppm (Monochrome), Media Size: Folio 11" x 17", Media Size: 2.1" x 2.8", Media Size: Legal 8.5" x 14", Media Type: Plain Paper Optical Resolution: 600dpi, Platform Support: PC, Ports: 1 x USB 2.0 USB, Power Consumption: 4W Standby , Power Consumption: 13W Operating - Maximum, Product Model: DR-2050C, Product Series: DR, Scan Resolution: 600 dpi Optical, Scan Speed: 10 ppm Color 150 dpi Simplex Portrait, Scan Speed: 12 ipm Color 200 dpi Full-duplex Portrait, Scan Speed: 20 ppm Monochrome 200 dpi Simplex Portrait, Scan Speed: 40 ipm Monochrome 200 dpi Full-duplex Portrait, Scanning Modes: Simplex/Duplex Scan Speed: 20 ppm Grayscale 200 dpi Simplex Portrait, Scan Speed: 40 ipm Grayscale 200 dpi Full-duplex Portrait, Scan Speed: 7 ppm Color 200 dpi Simplex Portrait, Scan Speed: 20 ipm Color 150 dpi Full-duplex Portrait, Scanning Modes: Single Pass
	Model Planon Personal Scanner R800, www.planon.com, is not for everyone, but if the ScanSnap S300 is still too large to lug around, you might want to consider this unit, beginning around $199.

The Following Will Help You Select the Right Scanner For You

Selecting the Right Scanner for Your Needs

1.         25-50 Page Automated Document Feeder

2.         Flat Bed Scanning

3.         Support for either TWAIN and/or ISIS interface drivers

4.         USB 2.0 or SCSI Interface

5.         Capture Preparation Software for image resolution

6.         Support for legal size as well as non-conforming (receipts) documents

7.         Duplex (Automatic) scanning (two sides at one pass)

8.         25PPM B/W and Color scan speed

9.         Sufficient daily or monthly duty cycle

10.       Optical 200 x 200 - 600 x 600 Dots Per Inch (DPI)

The Scan Process

There are basically three scanner options:

·    Heavy duty office-grade Multi-Purpose devices that Print, Copy, Fax and Scan. These are usually on a multi-year lease and are centrally located or placed in a records room for large volume processing. These devices work well for these purposes, but do not always serve best for intermediate scanning needs.

·   Department or Group scanners are stand-alone devices, usually attached to a Scan station, which is simply a powerful workstation with dual monitors and high-speed network connection to process the images as they are scanned. These scanners are best for centralized and managed volume scanning.

·   Personal scanners include a family of Multi-function Print, Copy, Fax and Scan solutions for vendors such as Hewlett Packard, Canon, Panasonic and others. These are relatively good individual or small group (two to three persons) solutions. These are best used for light scanning where it is not cost effective to take the documents to central processing for scanning. There are also individual mobile scanners, such as the Fujitsu ScanSnap and the Planon Personal Scanner, www.planon.com.   

The “Scan Area” where the stand-alone workstation and dedicated scanner are stationed should be an area with ample space to support the process. A table at least eight to ten feet long provides a good work area. Avoid U-shaped or L-shaped work areas that require excessive movement and twisting as this may lead to injuries on the job.

From the left, the operator will disassemble the documents to be scanned, remove clips and staples, organize non-conforming documents such as receipts and post-it notes, then scan the document, verify the scan, index and file the digital documents, and then reassemble the physical documents for bulk storage, distribution, or destruction. Scanning, while considered a low level function, requires patience and adaptation to repetitive processes. There is more to scanning that loading pages into a feeder, visit www.scantips.com for more information on scanning than you ever wanted to know.

One important aspect of scanning is the hardware interface drivers. Today, there are generally two well-defined standards. We recommend that your scanner utilize at least one of these. Anything else is proprietary, and for many, “proprietary” is a dirty word.  The following standards are in the public domain and well established. TWAIN is a Windows Apple open standard, the most current and most likely the interface solution of choice. The TWAIN interface works with scanners connected via the USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, while ISIS is typically found to work with older model scanners using a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) port. Either is fine, if you like the scanner and it meets your needs. Here is a little history on each.

TWAIN (Technology Without An Interesting Name) is a standard for getting input from digital image devices, such as scanners and digital cameras. The standard was first released in 1992, from a collaborative effort of Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft. TWAIN is typically used as an interface between image processing software and a scanner or digital camera.  TWAIN is a graphics and imaging standard that allows companies to make drivers for scanners and digital cameras. Nearly all scanners on the market today are TWAIN-compliant; meaning the way they interact with your computer is based on the TWAIN standard. Having both a scanner and a digital camera installed on your computer, these devices each may install TWAIN implementations which may conflict with each other. Reread the install instructions or call the manufacturers of your hardware to resolve the conflict.

ISIS (Image and Scanner Interface Specification) is an industry standard interface for image scanning technologies. It was developed by Pixel Translations in 1990, and they retain control over development and licensing. ISIS can be considered as a "big brother" to the TWAIN standard, which tends to be used on small scanner hardware for home use. ISIS-compatible scanners typically use a SCSI-2 interface, while TWAIN hardware now mostly uses USB. However, today SCSI-2 has fallen away, and USB 2.0 is the standard hardware interface to buy.

ISIS has a wider feature set than TWAIN, can handle greater speeds, and also handles some aspects of image display and manipulation for the client application. Most major scanner manufacturers, including Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, Canon, and Fujitsu use the ISIS interface for their departmental and high-capacity scanner hardware. The ISIS architecture is a mutable architecture based on modules—software components that perform specific imaging functions (e.g., image acquisition, file conversion, data extraction, and file read/write commands). ISIS architecture allows for new modules to be added without making system-wide changes; you simply add what you need where it’s needed. ISIS modules interact with each other through a system of tags (data storage areas) and choices (value sets). A combination of two or more ISIS modules put together to perform a specific imaging function is called an ISIS pipe. ISIS pipes can be constructed according to each developer’s specific imaging needs.

ISIS-compatible drivers are available for more than 250 scanner models, most of them certified by Pixel Translations to be compatible with any properly written ISIS application. ISIS's compatibility is further evidenced by its being the basis for the AIIM (Association for Information and Image Management) MS61 standard since 1996, which is in the public domain.

Capture Preparation Software

One of the first questions we get is, “What is Capture Preparation Software, and why do I need it?”  Capture Preparation Software is used to clean the image scanned. It removes stains, highlighter, and darkens light pixels for better readability. Kofax VirtualReScan, http://www.kofax.com/products/virtualrescan/index.asp,  is an electronic checkpoint for scanned images. As quickly as images pass through the scanner, VRS performs a multi-point inspection of each document. VRS instantly checks and adjusts for alignment (skew), brightness, contrast, and image clarity. Any inconsistencies are immediately corrected by VRS so that only the straightest, most readable images are moved into your application.

Distributed Capture Issues

The chosen scanner should permit unlimited incremental growth at any site and in overall solution capacity. The largest distributed applications in production have up to one thousand remote sites and capture over 1 million pages per day. Prior investment should be preserved, and installation of additional scan and index stations should be straightforward. Scaling the system should not complicate administration. Ideally, the central administrator should be able to view and control each multi-station site as a single network node, regardless of the number of workstations in the node.

Accommodating Departmental Requirements

As a distributed capture application grows to enterprise proportions, more sophisticated requirements than scalability arise. The system may –and probably will – need to accommodate different business processes in each department. On the other hand, the administrator probably wants to limit user access to only processes developed for the specific department. This situation calls for a method of filtering the types of documents and workflows available to any individual and/or department.  Filtering permits the administrator to limit end-user access to batches for which they have permission. This eliminates confusion and errors among end users and makes distributed capture a viable option on an enterprise scale or for multi-customer service bureaus.

Efficient Central Administration

A distributed capture application shouldn’t create new expenses in an effort to reduce old ones. For example, if the solution introduces deployment, training, and administration costs which offset reduced document shipping and speedier document processing, perhaps it isn’t the best match for the organization.

Whatever solution is implemented should allow the administrator at the central site to keep tight control of access and configuration settings. When configuration changes are made centrally, remote sites should automatically be updated, ensuring that they are always synchronized with the central site. This also prevents configuration errors by workers at the remote sites who do not have the expertise (or desire) to manage a document capture system.

Flexible Workflow

The central administrator should also be able to control how much of the capture workflow occurs locally and how much occurs elsewhere on the network. In some cases, it may make sense for the local subject experts to index and validate documents. In others, the origination site may scan, the central site may handle an automated indexing process, and validation by live operators may occur at a low-cost offshore location. A browser-based validation module facilitates this home worker or offshore validation scenario by eliminating the need for purchase and installation of a full capture client for each validation station. The key to accommodate any organization’s chosen workflow is flexibility.

Extending the Capture Architecture to Every Desktop

As previously mentioned, some business processes work most efficiently when the document creators and contributors — the knowledge workers — scan and index their own work. For example, loan officers could initiate their own approval workflow faster by capturing documents they and/or their customer created rather than by sending the approval package to a scanning department, even if the scanning department is onsite. Instead, they initiate the workflow right from their desktop.