Wide Format Scanners in Ontario - MES Hybrid

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Wide Format Scanners in Ontario

• How to Evaluate Options and Features

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Wide Format Scanners in Ontario

• Increasingly, wide format scanners in Ontario
  play an important role in document management for
  a variety of organizations. Government agencies,
  production facilities, hospitals, property
  management firms and more need an efficient way
  to manage wide format documents. Examples
  include maps, blueprints, schematics and other
  documents typically 18 inches and larger.

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Wide Format Scanners in Ontario

• These documents must be easy to handle during
  normal work functions, especially if theyre used
  in conjunction with smaller documents. And, they
  must be incorporated into the organizations
  document management system.
• The logical answer is to use a wide format
  scanner to digitize your wide format documents
  and incorporate them into your companys document
  management system. So, how do you evaluate wide
  format scanners in Ontario to make sure you get
  the best solution?

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Wide Format Scanners in Ontario

• The first step is to analyze how you will be
  using the scanner. What document types do you
  expect to digitize? Once you have a good idea of
  your application, you can start your analysis of
  features, options, pricing and more.
•  
• Important Features for Wide Format Scanners in
  Ontario
•  
• As you can expect, a variety of wide format
  scanners exist. Therefore, its important to
  take the time to evaluate what exactly youll
  need and wont need in your solution. Things
  like image quality, speed and price are premier
  decision-making points.

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Wide Format Scanners in Ontario

• Image Quality. Dots per inch, or DPI, is used
  to define image resolution and quality. The
  higher the DPI, the more detailed the scanned
  image will be. Wide format scanners in Ontario
  typically have DPIs in the 400 to 1200 range,
  with 600 DPI being the most commonly selected
  resolution. Experts believe a 600 dpi optical
  resolution would be sufficient to produce quality
  CAD, GIS and map documents.

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Wide Format Scanners in Ontario

• DPI is an important consideration, especially if
  youre scanning detailed documents such as CAD
  drawings. You need to determine the types of
  documents youll be scanning, then look at the
  level of detail in those documents. Therefore, a
  basic guideline is the more detail you have, the
  higher resolution you need in wide format
  scanners in Ontario to get a quality result.

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Wide Format Scanners in Ontario

• Another consideration when considering
  resolution is the file size produced. The higher
  the resolution, the larger the digital file will
  be. So, its important not to buy a higher
  resolution scanner than what youll actually
  need.
• For example, a CAD drawing scanned in color at
  1200 dpi would produce a monstrous 6.2 gigabyte
  file. Managing and storing these huge document
  files can be inefficient and defeat the purpose
  of using wide format scanners in Ontario. Also,
  you need to make sure the computer the scanner is
  connected to is powerful enough to manage those
  huge files.

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Wide Format Scanners in Ontario

• Speed. If your application is an office
  environment, you may be able to make a trade-off
  between another feature, such as price. However,
  if you will be operating a high volume scanning
  operation, like a service bureau, speed will
  obviously be an important consideration.
• Whatever operation you have, you want the speed
  of wide format scanners in Ontario to be enough
  so it doesnt catch production bottlenecks.
  Speed is measured in inches per second with
  scanner widths ranging from 24 to 54 inches.

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Wide Format Scanners in Ontario

• And, if you have to scan lots of documents at
  one time, youll want a batch scanning feature.
  You dont want to have to stop to scan each
  document individually.
• Price. Almost all purchasing decisions come
  down to pricing. With a wide variety of options
  and manufacturers marketing wide format scanners
  in Ontario, its important to make a consistent
  comparison.

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Wide Format Scanners in Ontario

• Whenever you consider price, you also need to
  factor into the total cost of ownership and value
  criteria. When you include these things in your
  analysis, youll find the lowest price isnt
  always the best deal.
• Total cost of ownership is a business term used
  to define the total investment youll need to
  make in wide format scanners. Your cost isnt
  just the initial price, but what it will cost to
  operate, maintain and repair your scanner. In
  addition, if the reliability of your scanner
  isnt the greatest, youll have a cost associated
  with the lack of productivity.

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Wide Format Scanners in Ontario

• Value comes into play when youre calculating
  the various trade-offs associated with wide
  format scanners. A lower priced scanner may be
  manufactured with lower quality parts. In this
  case, your costs you less to buy the scanner.
  But, you might end up paying more over time
  because of repair and replacement of parts.
• When you make your purchase decision for wide
  format scanners in Ontario, it boils down to
  weighing several factors that are important to
  you and your application. When you determine
  whats most important, you can then begin
  evaluating different vendors and models to get
  the right fit.

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About the Author

• Kevin D'Arcy is VP of Sales and Marketing for
  MES Hybrid Document Systems, Ontario's leading
  document scanning and document management
  supplier. For more information about Wide Format
  Scanners in Ontario, visit http//www.mesltd.ca/.