The Importance of Document Scanning Software

Your document scanner cannot do much by itself. It's the document scanning software that interprets the light information and produces meaningful results. This article first describes the significance of scanning to document management. Then the criteria that determine the features you want in the scanning software is investigated.

Scanning software comes in different flavors, with simple to extensive capabilities. You have to guard against paying for expensive features that you don't want, and at the same time ensure that the software will meet the needs that you do have.

Significance of Document Scanning (Software)

Document scanning moves paper documents into the electronic workflow by converting them into digital documents. This conversion process typically has two major stages. First, scanning software produces a digital image of the paper documents. Second, any text-character ‘images' are converted into computer readable text by Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Once the text characters become readable by the computer, it becomes possible to carry out several key document management processes:

• The converted documents can now be edited like any text document created originally in the computer. Without an editing facility, you will have to go back to paper to make any changes.


• The documents can be indexed and made searchable by words in the content. The ability to retrieve documents containing a specific keyword is a critical element of modern document management systems. It then becomes possible to retrieve all documents that deal with particular topics and obtain meaningful insights.


• Digital documents are less expensive to store and manage. Paper documents require large amounts of space, equipment like filing cabinets and an army of filing clerks to manage. If you have an electronic document management system that can authenticate the stored documents, most of the paper documents can be shredded once they have been converted into digital format (and you can save on the expenses).


• An electronic workflow is far more efficient than a paper-based one. Documents stored in a central server can be accessed instantly by any workstation connected to the network. You don't have to send a request to the filing section and then wait for the documents to arrive.


• Safety of the documents and security are also improved in such a scenario. Digital documents can be backed up and the backups can be stored away from the main office (such as the Web). In case of disaster, these backups can be used to restore the documents. Security is improved by restricting access to the documents to authorized persons. This is typically done through a system of permissions and passwords.

Selecting Document Scanning Software

Document scanning software offerings differ in capabilities and cost. Your desktop scanner can most likely scan only single sheets of up to, say, A4 size pages. You have to hand feed each sheet. Heavy duty scanners can accept a continuous flow of automatically fed sheets, of different sizes, and are far more productive. You have to select a scanner that meets your requirements.

Other features of scanning software include:

• The ability to work with varying quality documents, including handwritten and almost illegible documents. By adjusting the brightness, contrast, and other factors, the scanner might be able to produce outputs that can even be better than the original.


• OCR software can handle non-uniform characters and produce reliable output instead of mistaking these characters for some other characters and coming out with sporadic results.

The more extensive the capabilities, the more expensive the scanning software is likely to be. You have to balance your needs and the cost.