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Are your files ready for scanning?

By: David Hughes

daveh@documentimagingnews.com

www.documentimagingnews.com
Are your files ready for scanning?

So you have purchased your scanner, you have the retrieval software in place, you know where the images are to be stored, and you’re ready for scanning. You go to the file room and begin the process of scanning documents. After a short time you become very frustrated because the scanning process is so slow. You soon realize that you cannot keep up with the daily scanning, let alone make any headway with the backlog.

You have just made the same mistake that most everyone makes, converting your existing filing system to an electronic filing system without a plan. A successful imaging system requires a plan. You should make an inventory of the documents to be scanned and then determine what features the scanner will need to scan each type of document. (see Document Management Plan) Then you can determine what class of scanner you will need for your system.

 If you need some help with this, send an email to editor@documentimagingnews.com with your questions.

 There are many tools that will help you get this project off the ground from the scanning side. Here are a few things you should  consider:

 Prepping the Files

Prepping files for scanning is a time consuming process and often the files are not prepped properly.  This will reduce scanner through put and could result in poor image quality.  Consider the operation of the scanner. It takes a stack of pages, feeds them one at a time, scans the front and the back of the pages and exits them from the scanner at high rate of speed. The better the documents are prepped, the faster they will go through the scanner, hence fewer problems and better results.

1.    Remove the staples because they will:

• Scratch the glass guides which will make lines on your documents.  This can cause a lot of problems.

• Cause jams in the scanner
• Chew up the rollers and belts

 2.   Repair torn documents because they will:

•        Jam in the scanner
•        Often be destroyed inside the scanner

3.   Unfold turned corners because they will:

•        Jam in the scanner
•     Often be destroyed inside the scanner

4.   Use targets to route the documents after scanning.

Take time to make sure the documents are scanner ready so that you get the most out of the scanner.

 Scanning the Documents

In a true production environment the goal is to always keep the scanner running. The trick to keeping the scanner running is good document preparation, and part of that preparation is to get the paper out of the file folder. If the documents arrive at the scanner in a file folder, the scanning process will be slowed considerably. In addition there is a chance that some of the documents may stay in the file folder and not be scanned. The best procedure is to use clips to group documents.

There is no need to have a fast scanner if you cannot keep the scanner running at the highest speed possible. 

Indexing the Documents

One of the biggest misconceptions about document imaging is that once a document is scanned you are finished. That is not the case.  The scanner only takes a bit map picture of the document.  Index fields must be created so that the document can be retrieved quickly.  

The traditional method of indexing is to manually key in the data at the time of scanning or keying data in a batch mode after the documents have been scanned.  The key to reducing indexing time is in finding alternative ways to automate some or all of the process. There are several ways to accomplish this:

• If the documents you are scanning have already been handled, chances are a database of the needed index information already exists. Database integration will allow you to populate the index keys from the existing database.  In addition to reducing keystrokes, this process will verify the data, thus reducing errors.

• Another method is to use a bar code. A bar code may contain all of the index information needed.  Database integration can be used in conjunction with the bar code.  There are several types of bar codes you can use:

•   3 of 9: This is a bar code that represents a number. The number can be random and relates to a field in the database. This will allow you to pull information from a database that exists and populate the rest of the fields in the database.

·       

• PDF417:  This has become a very popular bar code system. You can put a lot of information in a bar code using the PDF417 bar code. Several fields can be indexed in one bar code. There are programs that create these bar codes. One of the data fields from the database is keyed into the program and the bar code is created. Here is an example of a PDF417 Bar code:

• Preprinted Bar Codes: These are usually printed in sequential order. There can be several like barcodes per file. For example in a patient record, the bar code might represent the patient number and that bar code could be attached to each series of documents that belong in that patient file.

 There are many variations of the bar code procedure all of which are designed to reduce the need for manual indexing.  If you have more questions about bar coding send an email to the editor .

QC and Review:

This is the last step in the scanning process. If you read the article How to select a document imaging scanner your QC process will be much easier because you will have selected a scanner that uses image enhancement technology.  Most scanners today will do a good job of scanning standard black and white business documents.  Colors, highlight pens and shaded areas will all give the scanner a false reading and without image enhancement software, some of these documents will be unreadable. This means that these documents will need to be rescanned after adjusting the scanner. Even with image enhancement software some documents may not be acceptable, so a QC step is important.  Depending on the nature of the files, all images may not need to be checked.

 
This is the last step before committing the images to the storage media and this may also be the last time that the documents will available for rescanning. If you elect not to review these images you may not have the opportunity to correct the images.