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Document Preparation |
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Whether you are scanning
from film or paper the first step to insure high
quality images and proper handling of your data
is document preparation.
Paper document preparation usually consists of removing
staples, paper clips, rubber bands, brads, or other
types of binders. Thorough document preparation
is vital to minimizing scanner jams and double feeds,
which occur when two sheets are fed at the same
time and are scanned as one. Non-paper media undergo
cleaning and dusting to prevent foreign matter from
corrupting the data. The standard document preparation
steps to insure proper image capture and quality
are: |
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| 1. |
Purging |
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Part of the process of
converting paper to images requires an evaluation
of the material involved. Some file folders,
documents or other materials contain extraneous
material, duplicates, notes and other information
that need not be scanned. In these instances,
you must decide whether it is more cost effective
to purge files before scanning or to scan
everything and purge extraneous images. In
some instances, purging requires the use of
personnel with knowledge of the documents
being scanned. We call this subjective purging.
In other instances, persons without such knowledge
can do purging guided by specifications e.g.
purge all handwritten notes and all Post-it
notes. We call this objective purging.
Annapolis Technologies recommends
the use of objective purging of file documents.
Since objective purging specifies exactly
what is to be deleted, it can be done quickly
and easily.
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| 2. |
Organizing |
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Like pieces of paper,
images typically are grouped into documents.
Accordingly, the beginning and end of each
paper document must be clearly defined. We
do this with document separator pages.
Document separator pages are
inserted between documents during the document
preparation phase. Separator pages typically
have a bar code printed on them. This code
tells our software that one document has
ended and another has begun.
In some cases, we encode
indexing information in the bar code on
the separator page. This can be a file number,
a client name, a date and more. When job
constraints allow us to use this technique,
we can read the bar code and use the information
to automatically populate the index fields
associated with that document without human
intervention. This can greatly reduce the
cost of indexing documents.
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| 3. |
Paper Preparation |
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Preparation is required
before documents go through a scanner. Staples,
brads, paper clips Post-it notes and attachments
must be removed. Depending on the job, it
may be necessary to rebind documents after
scanning.
Preparation typically requires
documents to be "jogged" so that
all leading edges are aligned before they
are fed into the scanner. Physical activity
is required to jog documents. This process
is necessary to eliminate scanner jams and
double feeds.
Paper size and weight must
be considered. Many scanner auto-feeders
cannot handle mixed widths and weights.
An appropriate scanner and feeder must be
selected to match the requirements of each
job. Flatbed scanners may be required In
some cases.
Finally, consideration
should be given to "batching"
documents. Batching will improve control
and efficiency of the conversion process.
Batching provides a convenient way to audit
the process and ensure that the number of
scanned documents matches the number of
images.
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