A scanner is a peripheral device which enables to digitalise documents. It is the perfect instrument to transform your souvenirs and written papers into digital documents that time won't wait for. Some scanners are capable of digitalizing any type of document; others are destined for specific formats, from the most common to the most particular (such as business card scanners). There exist a scanner for every use, but there will be necessarily one which will be the connection between yourself and your computer.
Look before Buying Scanner
Different Type of scanner
What differentiates all these scanners, before any technical considerations, is the type of documents they are capable to digitalise.
•Sheetfed scanner The sheetfed scanner is uniquely capable to digitalise sheet per sheet. It is enough to put your sheet into a feeder or directly into an opening for it to appear just a few seconds later unto your screen. This type of scanner is very compact but very limited in its usage. In fact, it has a tendency to disappear.
•Flat scanner The flat scanner is the most common type of scanner. It can digitalise all types of documents, of different sizes (more often A4, but there also exists A3 scanners). To digitalise your document, you just need to place it against the device's screen. Today many flat scanners propose in option a back for your transparencies. This option allows you to digitalise all types of transparent documents, including documents on film transparencies and negatives (24x36 films...). You got it; this is currently the type of scanner the most polyvalent available.
•Film scanner First and foremost destined for professionals, the film scanner is specialised in the digitalisation of 24x36 negatives or APS. It can achieve very high resolutions and its quality is excellent, but its use domain is very restricted.
Other types of scanners exist, even more specific, such as business card scanners (useful when you have a large batch of contacts to manage), barcode scanners or pen scanners allowing you to digitalise a single line of text at a time.
A scanner of: 10 bits can distinguish 1,024 colours. 24 bits can distinguish 16.7 million colours. 42 bits can distinguish 440 billion colours. Today a scanner must at least be capable to sample 24 bits.
Optical resolution: in "dot per inch" (dpi) or "point per inch" (ppi) It is the number of points that the scanner sensor is capable to distinguish on a surface per square inch. Today it is crucial to choose a scanner digitalising at a resolution of at least 600x600 ppi.
Colour sampling depth Measured in bits, it is the number of colour gradation that the scanner is capable of dissociating. The higher their number, the better the colour gradation will be restored and the more your document will be faithfully restituted.
Interfaces Nowadays, scanners propose different types of interfaces, sometimes even simultaneously. You must, of course, have the appropriate port in question on your computer.
•Parallel Port The parallel port is the most widely used interface on scanners and printers for several years. It is today phasing out, taken over by USB (Universal Serial Bus) which offers superior performances and a reduced processor's resources usage.
•USB (Universal Serial Bus) As with most actual peripherals, scanners can connect to your computer via a USB port. Very fast and practical to use, this interface is also compatible to both PC and Mac, and certain scanners can be even fed (electricity wise) directly from the USB port.
•SCSI (Small Computer System Device) Destined above all for professional and work stations, the SCSI interface has the lowest processor resources consumption. These types of scanners are becoming rarer and are often top of the range models.
The software The programs delivered with the scanner are classified primarily into two large categories:
•Image editing The provided versions are usually lighter versions of the commercial software which cost several hundreds of pounds. They are good enough for small works but can appear more limited for an advanced editing.
•Character recognition Also named OCR, it is a major advantage of scanners. Thanks to this software, they can read a "text image" and transform it into a classical text document, while keeping page-setting, the images and illustrations of the original document. Today the rate of recognition nears 100% but some small manual improvements may be sometimes necessary.
Some scanners are pretty and slim, others austere and massif. Some are equipped with buttons in frontage which make it possible to automate certain tasks (such as for example the launching of a photocopy or a digitalization by the simple touch of a button), others can also function whilst maintained vertically. Depending on the main use of your scanner it may be appealing to look into these kinds of annexed functionalities.
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If you are running a business then you should think about all-in-one printers that combines fax technology to help you keep in touch. You might also think about a device with optical character recognition (OCR) that can help you scan documents into your computer for editing later and a machine with an automatic document feeder for consecutive scanning or faxing.
Accessories
•Ink The price of replacement ink cartridges will have a significant effect on running costs for an inkjet-based all-in-one. The high prices have seen a small industry spring up in the refill market with 50 per cent savings to be made. However, continual refilling may eventually have an effect on the printer and may cause some conflict with manufacturer's warranties. Avoid colour cartridges that combine three colours - when one runs out you have to throw away what remains in the other two sections.
•Toner cartridges Toner cartridges for laser-based all-in-ones can be more expensive initially but last longer which brings eventual running costs down.
•Paper Glossy sheets for photographic images, 6" by 4" for prints, plain white for copying, heavier weights for business cards - most all-in-ones can handle a variety of paper types and sizes. Specific paper is available for inkjet printing to reduce "bleeding".
Key Features
Laser A laser printer tends to be faster than an inkjet and while toner cartridges for laser printer are more expensive than ink, they last a lot longer. Laser printers generally give clearer and sharper text reproduction and may be better for handling envelopes, cards and non-standard paper sizes.
Resolution This may vary for the different elements but in the case of the copier, printer and scanner the key measurement is dots per inch (DPI). Simply put, the higher the DPI, the greater the detail that is likely to be reproduced. DPI may vary for black and colour printing. Additional proprietary technologies may be used by individual manufacturers to improve resolution. Maximum black and white printing resolutions on inkjet printers vary from 600x600 DPI to 1200x6000 DPI.
Consumables There is a reasonably close correlation between the low price of some machines and their high running costs that means that some machines are not the bargains they might at first seem. A higher-priced machine with a lower running cost in terms of ink cartridges is likely to pay for itself pretty quickly. Comparing costs can be difficult but will save you significant amounts on even average usage.
Inkjet The original advantage of the inkjet printer was that it could reproduce colour when only very expensive laser options could. That price differential has all but disappeared, but inkjet technology can now produce photographic quality outputs. Print speeds and text quality can be lower than laser-based versions and running costs can be considerably higher. An inkjet is the right choice for all-round use.
Monochrome or colour All-in-ones with monochrome printers (most common among laser-printer types) may well have colour scanners but are only able to print in black and white. Most inkjet printer are able to print in colour and black and white, but some cheaper inkjet printers can print both but not at the same time. If you want to print a page which contains black and white text and colour images you will need an inkjet printer with four colours.
Bit-depth The higher the bit-depth of a scanner the higher the quality of the scan. Most colour scanners are 24-bit and collect 8 bits of information about each of the three primary colours red, green and blue. This gives excellent quality. Scanners with 30 or 36 bits are also available.
Memory All-in-ones require printer memory to store and process information while printing. Measured in megabytes (MB), the more memory the device has the faster it will print.
PictBridge Allows you to transfer images from the memory card in a digital camera directly to a compatible all-in-one without a computer or editing software. Print size and layout can be set using the controls and the LCD on the camera. PictBridge is becoming the standard for digital image transfers and replacing proprietary solutions.
Fax type Faxes can be sent either directly from your computer or by printing a document and feeding it through to send.
Fax memory Will store faxes sent to you when machine is not in use.
Drivers Usually supplied with the software for the machine, a printer driver controls the communication between your computer and the all-in-one. Updates to drivers are commonly made available from the manufacturer's web sites.
Twin-sided printing Sometimes called duplex mode means you can print double-sided documents.
Maximum printing speeds Print speeds (usually expressed in pages per minute) for all-in-ones will vary so if they are going to be important to you, you should compare competing models. Most models on the market will print between 20 and 25 black and white pages per minute. Colour pages will take longer depending on the quality selected.
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