Document scanning - FAQ
Pre Press
Documents Scan and OCR
CD Burning
Transfer old tapes to CDs
Power Point Presentation
Document Transformation in Acrobat Format
- What is an electronic document?
- How
would I access and use this electronic document
- Do
you store the documents on tape, CD, or DVD?
- Are there any hardware and
software requirements?
- What electronic formats do you offer?
- How many documents can fit on
one CD?
- Can I add notes to the scanned
documents?
- Do I need special training
to use a document CD?
- What if I want to add more documents to my CD-Documental CD that
I had made last year?
- What if I want another copy of my document CD later?
- What if I buy a new computer? Will it be able to read
the CD-Documental CD?
- What if I decide to use
a DVD (digital versatile disc) player instead of a CD player in my
next computer - - will I still be able to use my CD-Documental CD?
- What if new technology should happen five years from now?
Will I be able to use my CD-Documental CD?
- How much does converting paper documents to CD-ROM cost?
- How do I make my documents
"scan ready"?
- Is there a minimum that
I need to send to you to have my documents scanned?
- How fast can we get our
documents converted to CD?
- Do I need to make a contract?
- What file format are the scanned
pages?
- Do you OCR documents as well? Can you
convert the scanned files in Microsoft Word® format? What is
the accuracy? How much does OCR cost?
- What type of processing
do the images undergo?
- Do you offer a searchable
database of my documents?
- Do you return the original documents?
- How does my company allow
for more than one person at a time to access our scanned documents?
- Can you upload the image files to our server?
What
is an electronic document?
An electronic
document is a digital picture of the original paper document. When a piece
of paper is run through a scanner, it makes an electronic image of the
document, similar to a digital camera.
How would I access and use this electronic document?
There
are several possibilities for your use.
- You can read the document on your computers monitor.
- You can fax the documents using your computer's fax-modem.
- With Internet access, you can email the document.
- Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software, you
can convert the document images into editable text for use with word
processing and spreadsheet software.
- You can use your printer to print the entire document,
or only the pages you need at that time.
Do you store the documents on tape, CD, or DVD?
CD-Documental
stores electronic documents on CD-R media. CD-R media has a longer shelf
life, wider support, fast random access to files, cannot be erased or
altered, and is non-proprietary. Tape has moving parts to break, dozens
of different and incompatible formats, is quite slow to access, is erasable
and alterable, and can be damaged by common electromagnetic fields. We
do not recommend tape for long-term storage of electronic documents, nor
for frequently accessed information. Tape is often not accepted as a storage
method for legal purposes because of the ability to alter the files on
the tape.
While it does offer promise for large volume document
image storage, DVD is still a new technology and has not been standardized
to provide the nearly universal access to your documents that is possible
with CDs. Not all customized DVD disks are usable in all DVD players.
CD-Documental does not recommend the DVD format for document archiving
at this time, but may offer it as standards improve.
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Are there any hardware and software requirements?
A computer with a CD-ROM drive capable of reading CD-R disks and an imaging
program.
CDs can be formatted to be read by Windows, UNIX,
Linux, OS/2, and Macintosh systems. Eastman Software's "Imaging"
(also known as Wang Imaging or Kodak Imaging) is included under the Accessories
menu in Windows 95 and 98 and is an excellent program for viewing, copying,
and printing multiple-page TIFF files. (If you do not find it installed
on your system, check Windows Setup. It is probably on your Windows installation
CD. It is also available
for free download from Eastman Software.)
We recommend it highly and it comes at no additional expense to you.
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What
electronic formats do you offer?
CD-Documental
offers a variety of formats including those listed below. If you don't see the format you need, please inquire by phone or email.
It is important to note that each of these formats have their own unique
set of advantages and limitations.
(All Trademarks used below are property of their respective owners.)
- Adobe Acrobat
- Alchemy Data Grabber
- ASCII Text
- Docu-ROM/FileTRAX Queue
- DocuPACT
- File Magic Plus
- FileNET Panagon
- JPG Images Only
- I-PRO 2000
- Intellect 95
- Keyfile
- Kodak IBS
- LaserFiche
- Lason Visions
- Macrosoft
- Microsoft Office formats: MS Word, MS Excel
- Multi-Page TIFF Images Only
- InBase
- OmniForm
- OmniPage
- Optika FPmulti
- OTG Record-Out Format
- PaperClip
- PaperFlow Data Group
- PRODUCT4
- PSI Digital Xpress Reports
- Quantum Research
- Saros
- SMS Imaging
- Summation Blaze
- TitleSCAN
- Visioneer Paperport
- Watermark Batch Import Utility
How many documents can fit on one CD?
Approximately
10,000 - 15,000 letter-sized, black and white pages will fit on a single
CD. Color documents and photos can also be scanned to CD, but because
they require more memory, fewer will fit. This will let you find your
document without leaving your desk. Your files will be at your finger
tips. The fact that the documents are on a CD means that you may
be able to eliminate all those dusty files and file cabinets and vastly
reduce the cost of storage. You can transport millions of electronic documents
in your briefcase. Try that with paper.
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Can I add notes to the scanned documents?
Not directly onto the CD. By its nature it is a read-only medium.
This feature keeps others from deleting or changing your originals and
is usually required if the images are to be used for legal purposes. You
can annotate or otherwise edit the documents once you copy them to your
hard drive or other read/write media.
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Do I need special training to use a document CD?
No special
training is required to view or print the documents when using intuitive
software such as "Imaging". Most computer users are able to
get results in just a few minutes.
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What if I want to add more documents to my CD-Documental
CD that I had made last year?
If there
is sufficient room, we can add to your existing CD-Documental CD.
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What if I want another copy of my document CD later?
We can
make multiple copies anytime as long as your CD-Documental CD is still
in readable condition.
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What if I buy a new computer? Will it be able to read the CD-Documental CD?
The
CDs can be read by PCs and Mac equipped with CD drives, and most new systems
have the drives included. Computer manufacturers have made their CD Players
compatible by having industry standards, which were established by Sony
and Phillips over 10 years ago. Some older CD-ROM readers (more than 4
years old) may need firmware updates to properly read
CD-R media.
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What if I decide to use a DVD (digital versatile disc)
player instead of a CD player in my next computer - - will I still be
able to use my CD-Documental CD?
Most
DVD players on the market are designed to read all standard CDs including
those produced by CD-Documental. Check manufacturer’s specifications to
see if the DVD drive will read CD-Recordable (CD-R).
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What if new technology should happen five years from
now? Will I be able to use
my CD-Documental CD?
If you keep your CD or DVD player - no problem. However, CD-Documental will keep up
with any widely used superior technology and will offer conversion services
when required for our customers. The format on the CDs is generic enough
that the electronic industry will be able to convert or use them for the
near future. If the technology changes, you will have adequate time to
convert them.
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How much does converting paper documents to CD-ROM cost?
Click here to request our
current price list.
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How do I make my documents "scan ready"?
"Scan
ready" means all the staples and other paper fasteners have been
removed from the files and the pages are not excessively wrinkled, torn
or otherwise damaged. The pages are all oriented the same way (i.e.: all
tops up) and facing the same way (if single-sided). If the pages are of
odd or mixed size, charges may apply for extra processing.
The files should also be separated and labeled in a way that is logical
to how you would store and access them normally. We will assign a file
name based on the label on the physical folder, unless some other naming
scheme has been planned. Each electronic file should contain no more than
100 images because of the limits of most computer's RAM memory prevents
viewing of larger files. If a particular physical file is more than 100
pages, it will span more than one electronic file. Extra charges may also
apply if there are more than 2 unique file names for each 100 pages due to the extra processing
required to manually assign file names, and this requirement also applies
to extra directory levels.
If you wish, CD-Documental will prepare your documents for scanning, starting
at $0.05 per page.
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Is there a minimum that I need to send to you to have
my documents scanned?
There
is no minimum number of pages. For our current minimum charge, please
click here to request our current price
list.
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How fast can we get our documents converted to CD?
Turn
around time depends on the volume of documents, the level of service requested,
advanced notice, and our current job queue. If getting the best cost per
page is not as important as getting it back ASAP, rush jobs may be available,
so contact a CD-Documental representative if you have a time constraint.
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Do
I need to make a contract?
Our
proposal for your job becomes your contract should you choose to accept
it. There is no "subscription" period, nor amount of time you
must commit to using CD-Documental's services.
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What file format are the scanned pages?
CD-Documental
offers many file formats, but we recommend black and white Group 4 TIFF
for most document storage applications due to its wide support
by software developers, small file size, and ability to store multi page
documents in one file. Other image formats are available for full color
or special applications, subject to a higher cost per image due to royalty
requirements or additional processing time. If you require a special format,
just ask.
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Do you OCR documents as well? Can you convert the scanned files
in Microsoft Word® format? What is the accuracy? How much does
OCR cost?
CD-Documental
does offer conversion of paper documents to editable file formats such
as word processing files, commonly called OCR or Optical Character Recognition.
Accuracy is entirely dependent on the quality of the original. Claims
by OCR software vendors for uncorrected documents are 99.7% accuracy with
a high-quality original but expect average of 95-99% based on industry
experience. A document produced by a laser printer or printing press with
standard fonts on white paper is considered a high-quality original. Photocopies,
low-resolution printouts, documents with non-standard fonts such as script,
and documents with poor contrast due to similar colors of paper and ink,
are all considered low-quality for the purposes
of OCR and will probably require extensive manual processing to improve
accuracy.
CD-Documental will perform one-pass OCR processing for $0.10 per pre-scanned
image (scanning is an additional charge). One-pass means that there is
no correction of the document by our company. You would then take your
file and use tools such as spell check to find any errors it may have,
and adjust formatting for your printer or other final output.
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What type of processing do the images undergo?
Images
go through extensive quality control for straightening, de-speckle, and
visible page edge removal before being recorded to CD.
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Do you offer a searchable database of my documents?
A searchable
database can be supplied. The creation of a searchable database of document
content is also called "indexing". There are many types, and
therefore costs and effectiveness vary greatly. In most cases, a company
is best off getting the paper documents scanned to CD, then ordering conversion
and integration services specific to their workflow procedures and database
software.
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Do you return the original documents?
Yes,
we can. All transportation costs are paid for by the customer. If you
need to dispose of the originals, inquire about document destruction with
a CD-Documental representative.
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How does my company allow for more than one person at
a time to access our scanned documents?
If your office has a LAN (local area network) or WAN (wide area network),
document CDs may be placed in CD-ROM players that are accessible on the
network.
For large archives spanning more than one CD, some companies use CD "jukeboxes"
which hold multiple CDs ready for use. You may also get multiple copies
of your archive so each key staff member or branch office has a complete
set. You can also have your IT manager copy the files to your server's
hard drives for access across your network.
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Can you upload the image files to our server?
Yes, we can, but the time to do so might not be as time or cost-effective as sending you a CD for on-site copying to the server by your in-house or contracted technician who already knows your network system. The CD is also your backup copy in case of hard drive failure or other disaster. We also offer private FTP downloads of your data. If you need special handling of your image files, bring up your needs to your CD-Documental representative when you inquire.
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