Document imaging – get to know the process in detail

Document Imaging – Get to Know the Process in Detail l

Document scanning and imaging is a great way to safely store important documents and retrieve them easily when required.

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A paperless office uses advanced scanning technology for document scanning and imaging so that important documents can be stored securely and retrieved easily when required.

These stored images are readily accessible and can be reprinted when needed. While some organizations choose to have the scanning process done in-house, others find it more convenient to outsource the entire process to a document scanning company and save time and resources. Any documents/files including medical records, legal documents, aperture cards, microfilm/microfiche, photographic paper prints and film slides can be scanned and stored safely.

The major benefits of having your business documents in electronic form include the following -

Save space

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Save time spent in searching files

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Streamline workflow

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Easy data retrieval

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Easy to share files

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Improve customer service

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Boost productivity

With digital copies of documents, you need not depend on fax machines or encounter frustrating fax busy signals. With a good scanning solution, users can share documents in minutes, and if you choose to partner with an external provider of advanced scanning solutions, your in-house team can focus more on core business activities. You even get to save on scanner maintenance charges.

Document Scanning and Imaging Process – Steps Involved The process can be easily described as scanning, storing, retrieving and managing. 

Pre-scanning process – Before the scanning process, the documents to be scanned will be collected and prepared for the process. Preparation includes removing paper clips and staples, repairing any torn pages and aligning them into batches for scanning.

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Scanning – The process starts with creating a digital version of the given document.

Feed the aligned piles of paper into the scanner. Most scanners today use the single

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pass method. The faster the scanner, the less time it takes to scan huge volumes of paper. Any image of poor quality will be rescanned. 

Image processing - The next step is for the scanned images to be processed.

Digitized images can be enhanced by straightening them, adjusting the color, cropping borders, removing punch mark and double-page detection.

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Quality checking – Quality assurance is to be done at every step of the imaging process. At reputable document scanning companies, the scanned digital images are checked for quality and consistency once again. The team should confirm that every image is properly indexed, has the correct resolution, and is fully readable. Bad images are flagged and rescanned.

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Storage – Completed images can be stored on portable media such as hard drives or DVDs, secure FTP or on a local server for a faster access. The images will be saved as one of a number of formats: TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), JPEG, PDF, or GIF (Graphics Interchange Format).

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Retrieval – This is the process of searching for the digital files you need or for the specific information contained in a particular file. The file can be presented in any format that suits your business process.

Having your business documents in your preferred digital formats is indeed beneficial in many ways. However, you must be aware of the vulnerabilities of digital equipment and processes, and take effective security measures to ensure a high level of confidentiality.

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