![]() ![]() The best, swiftest duplexing scanners have two scan elements, so they can scan both sides of a page at the same time. If you expect to frequently scan documents that are printed on both sides, you'll want a duplexing scanner, a duplexing ADF, or a scanner with a driver that includes a manual-duplex feature. Do You Need Duplex (Two-Sided) Scanning?ĭuplex scanning means scanning both sides of a page. Some ADFs can also handle stacks of business cards well. If you occasionally have a document that is more pages than the ADF capacity, you can add more pages during the scan as the feeder processes them. Pick an ADF capacity based on the number of pages in the typical document you expect to scan. If you'll be scanning longer documents on a regular basis, however, you'll want an automatic document feeder (ADF) that will scan an entire stack of pages unattended. If you'll primarily be scanning one or two pages at a time, a manual sheet feeder is probably all you need, or you can get by just fine with the scanning capability of an all-in-one (AIO) printer. Some sheetfed scanners can also handle thick originals such as ID cards. Having to open a flatbed lid and put a page on the glass is a minor chore, but having to repeat the process 10 times for a 10-page document is tiresome. If your main scanning need is scanning documents on a regular basis-particularly those longer than one or two pages-you almost certainly want a document-centric scanner equipped with a sheet feeder. We regularly update our Best Scanners roundup, so should you encounter an "oldie but goodie," it simply means that no similar model that we've reviewed has yet surpassed it. Scanner models tend to stay on the market for a long time between iterations, and this is especially true of flatbed photo scanners. ![]() Keep in mind, however, that even brand-new, unscratched plastic carriers can degrade scan quality somewhat. If you need to scan this sort of original only once in a while, you may be able to get by with a sheetfed scanner that comes with a plastic carrier to protect the originals. These work like cameras, snapping pictures of items and feeding them to suitable software for optical character recognition (converting images to editable text) or flattening the curve near the spine of a book.ĭelicate originals such as photos and stamps can go through a sheet feeder, but you risk damaging them. ![]() 3D scanners-which digitize objects to special 3D files for display or printing on a 3D printer-are a different beast entirely.)īooks, magazines, and objects thicker than a sheet of paper or driver's license are good candidates for an overhead scanner, which resembles an old-fashioned overhead projector with an illuminated scanning head that looks down on a flat surface. (When we talk about scanning objects, here we're talking about scanning three-dimensional objects to two-dimensional images. Do You Need a Flatbed Scanner, or an Overhead Scanner?įor photos or other easily damaged originals, bound material, and 3D objects, you need a flatbed scanner, which has a large glass platen on which you place the documents, photos, books, or items. This will tell you the kind of scanner you should be looking at: a classic flatbed, a model with a sheet feeder, or something else. You should also consider details such as the maximum size of the originals and whether you'll need to scan both sides of document pages. Somewhat less common are objects such as coins or flowers. ![]() Photos, unbound documents, receipts, and business cards are the most obvious things to scan, but you might also need to scan bound books, magazines, film (slides and negatives), or easily damaged originals like postage stamps. Knowing what (and how often) you expect to scan will tell you everything you need to know about the features you'll need. The first step in scanner buying comes down to a simple thing: what kind or kinds of media you'll be scanning. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software. ![]()
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