Well, would you look at that! It’s Tuesday yet again! Must be time for another neat little blog post! Today, let’s talk about the many ways one can scan a document.

Back in the early days, when you wanted to scan something, like a picture, you had to have a dedicated scanner connected to a computer. As technology evolved, scanners started to become integrated with printers as an all-in-one unit (Known as a Multifunction Printer).

Fast forward to today, and it is common for everyone to have a scanner of some sort, whether it be in a small desktop MFP, or even in an office copier.

Oh, and that necessary attachment to the computer? That’s been replaced by numerous other methods of getting a scanned document from point A to B. Here we will talk about the many ways you can scan a document, with or without a computer to rely on.

First, let’s start with a computerless method: Scanning to your e-mail. Often times, when one is scanning a document, image or other item, they usually want to send it to someone else. The process used to be you would need to scan the item to your PC, then attach it to an email and send it. Today, your copier can do all of that for you with just the press of a couple of buttons! There’s zero need for a PC in this case as the machine can send the email for you. This is also one of the simplest forms of scanning in that only an internet connection is needed.

As for the machine, it merely needs access to an email account, and you can simply use something like a GMail account to accomplish that task! Some copiers (CopyLady machines do this!) can also RECEIVE attachments from email, and print them out for you on the spot. Talk about convenience!

Of course, if you want to scan to your computer (or other device), There is not one, but THREE methods to accomplish this:

* Through TWAIN scanning: This requires the use of a driver on your PC, much like a traditional scanner from the early-2000s, But often does NOT require a direct connection (Such as via USB) to your PC. TWAIN scanning allows you to scan a document directly into most any software. TWAIN scanning can be done over a network connection. The downside, however, is that you have to initiate the scan from the PC end, so it does require some back and forth between machine and workstation.

* Through Scan to Folder (SMB): Scan to Folder requires that a network-accessible folder is set up on your PC. The upside to this method is that all scanned files are stored in the PDF or JPEG file formats. This makes it easy to do what you wish with the file, including sending it out via email. Unlike TWAIN scanning, Folder scanning is done purely at the machine itself, much like scanning to an email. This simplifies the task greatly.

* By scanning to a USB drive: No method of scanning a document can get any simpler than this. For this, you plug a properly formatted USB flash drive into your machine, then select the option to scan to the drive. Just like other methods of scanning, you will get a PDF or JPEG file with the output. This can be accessed on any device capable of accepting a USB flash drive, even your mobile devices!

Of course, there are some caveats to scanning, as I have discussed in a previous blog post. Let’s talk about that a bit. As we know, some like to scan copies of sent/received checks for documentation, as well as other things such as birth certificates, Social Security cards, etc.

Modern machines are designed (By law in fact) to shut down when trying to scan these types of items. This is done as an anti-counterfeitting measure. The way to work around this is to scan ONLY in Black & White.

Another one comes with scanning directly to an email. Email services tend to limit the size of attachments. This is done to lower storage and data costs in most cases. While you’ll never run into this when sending one or two pages, the more pages you scan in one go, the larger the attachment gets. Eventually you’ll finish that 80-page scan, only to get hit with that dreaded error that the document could not be sent. There’s a few things you can do here:

* Scan in B&W – If what you’re scanning does not require color, scan it in Black & White. This can greatly reduce the size of a file. On some machines (Such as CopyLady’s), Auto Color can also help as it will only do color scanning on pages that it finds color on.

WATCH OUT: This also includes any pen markings, coffee splatters, highlighters, etc!

* Decrease the resolution – DPI, or Dots-per-Inch, defines the sharpness and clarity of a document. The higher the DPI, the finer the detail, but also……..Yep! The LARGER the file that is created! Lower the resolution a bit to shrink the attachment size.

* Split the scan – Of course, if worse comes to worse, you can also split your scan into multiple files. While it may seem inconvenient, it is the only way IF the document requires a certain level of quality. (Although in that case, you can just scan it to a USB drive OR scan folder, then attach it however you like from there!)

Happy Scanning!