DOCUMENT SCANNING BUREAU SERVICE

Storofile can provide a full document scanning bureau service, scanning anything from a business card to oversized A0 plans – mono and colour – converting microfiche and aperture card to digital and placing all of them on self-contained CDs or DVDs for use on your PC.

ULTRASONIC DOUBLE-FEED DETECTION SYSTEMS

All our scanners have ultrasonic double-feed detection systems to ensure that no originals are missed out and all scanners are constantly manned by trained operators who view the images on screen as they are captured. All images not up to our high standards are re-scanned until a suitable quality is achieved.

WHAT WE SCAN…

  • Small Format Scanning
  • Large Format Scanning
  • Purchase Invoice Scanning
  • Microfilm Scanning
  • Indexing
  • Optical Character Recognition
  • Small Format Document Scanning

    Documents up to A3 in size are captured using high volume scanners (as fast as 240 images per minute). These machines are capable of scanning in colour, greyscale or black and white at high speeds, and have a sophisticated toolset that helps us ensure the highest quality images are produced, even from poor quality originals.

    All our scanners have ultrasonic double-feed detection systems to ensure that no originals are missed out and all scanners are constantly manned by trained operators who view the images on screen as they are captured. All images not up to our high standards are re-scanned until a suitable quality is achieved.

    Scanned images are produced in all common formats (i.e. Tiff, Jpeg, Pdf) and are returned to you on CD / DVD. They can be viewed, printed and emailed from your PC using free software or exported for use in a database or document management system.

    Large Format Document Scanning

    Large format scanning is also known as large document scanning and refers to the scanning of documents which are A0, A1 or A2 in size. This often involves the scanning of maps, engineering plans and drawings, and architectural drawings and plans.

    Large format scanning is available for many purposes. For example:

    Engineering drawings e.g. general assembly, parts and components, schematics

    Architectural drawings e.g. property floor plans

    Maps e.g. OS, county, historical

    We can scan in any of the following: black and white, greyscale or colour. Output is dependent upon your requirements, but our standard output is Group 4 Tiff or alternatively, a searchable PDF (portable document format). Dependent upon size, files are normally returned to you via email or CD/DVD.

    Purchase Invoice Scanning

    Storofile can collect your purchase invoices. We will them scan the invoices into the format and resolution best suited to you (Tiff, PDF etc). There is then the option of having the images OCR’d (Optical Character Recognition) by Storofile and returned in a searchable format – allowing you to find any piece of information on an invoice instantly – or returned to be OCR’d by your document management system.

    The images can then either be returned to you by either CD/DVD or by being made available to you for immediate download on our secure FTP server. The images can then be added to your server or imported into a pre-existing document management system, ready for use and instant retrieval of information.

    Microfilm Scanning

    Let us turn all the different types of microfilm you have into digital images:

    Microfiche

    16mm Roll Film

    35mm Roll Film

    Aperture Cards

    Whilst microfilm was a low cost and small format method of imaging, the flexibility and security now offered with scanned digital solutions has generally superseded this technology. However, many documents microfilmed last century and in the early part of the 21st century are still required to be viewed today.

    But equipment for viewing and printing is becoming scarcer and the costs of maintenance higher. Furthermore, microfilmed images cannot be shared, emailed or made available online unless they are first digitised. Once digitised, the images can be made available in a variety of formats such as Tiff or PDF and then incorporated into a range of viewing platforms for ease of access.

    Indexing & Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

    There are two ways you can find your documents after we have scanned them into an electronic format. You can index the documents or OCR them to produce a live searchable version, or a combination of both.

    Indexing

    Whether it’s drawings, microfilm or business documents being scanned, they need to have indexing (or metadata) applied for quick and logical retrieval. This could simply be mimicking an existing paper filing structure, or it could be a complex system encompassing multiple search fields.

    The key to indexing documents is finding the balance between price and functionality and we are always keen to help you. We can provide many cost saving solutions including Zonal OCR.

    Output of this data is made according to your specific requirements, which could be simple files and folders, txt/csv files for import into existing databases.

    Optical Character Recognition

    OCR technology reads the content of a scanned image and produces electronic text. We can provide two main types of OCR on your scanned images:

    The first is “Background OCR” which retains the original scanned image for viewing but creates a layer of hidden text. This enables you to find relevant content in a document regardless of where it is located, how it was produced and what it is called.

    The second, “Full OCR”, creates an editable record (typically word-processor, database or spreadsheet) and is often used to reproduce documents that only exist in hardcopy (or microfilm) without the need for re-typing or for converting large volumes of data for use in a database.

    Are Scanned Documents Legal?

    The short answer is… YES!!!!! It is essential that anyone choosing to put scanned documents onto CD follow certain procedures. In most cases where a documents admissibility has been questioned, it is in fact the procedure rather than the actual media that is in doubt.

    There are ways to ensure that such problems are avoided:

    • Always inform any governing body that may wish to see your documents that you intend to change your paper onto another format. Most departments will send you written permission to do so providing you can satisfy them that the correct process has been followed and it is something your company wishes to do as a matter of normal routine.
    • In the same way that paper documents must be accessible to auditors, documents kept on CD Rom must also be freely available to any outside body wishing to view them.
    • Using a bureau for your scanning work ensures that the correct procedures have been followed in the scanning, preparation, indexing and destruction of your work.
    • Finally, there must be an person appointed whom if required can be responsible to explain and oversee the company’s CD Rom scanning policy.

    So in short, YES CD Rom is a legal format (COMPARABLE WITH PAPER WORK AND MICROFILIMING), if the correct procedures are followed. Providing the guidelines listed above are followed, there should be no problems with you opting to benefit from the document storage system of the future now.

    Are Scanned Documents Legal?

    The short answer is… YES!!!!! It is essential that anyone choosing to put scanned documents onto CD follow certain procedures. In most cases where a documents admissibility has been questioned, it is in fact the procedure rather than the actual media that is in doubt.

    There are ways to ensure that such problems are avoided:

    • Always inform any governing body that may wish to see your documents that you intend to change your paper onto another format. Most departments will send you written permission to do so providing you can satisfy them that the correct process has been followed and it is something your company wishes to do as a matter of normal routine.
    • In the same way that paper documents must be accessible to auditors, documents kept on CD Rom must also be freely available to any outside body wishing to view them.
    • Using a bureau for your scanning work ensures that the correct procedures have been followed in the scanning, preparation, indexing and destruction of your work.
    • Finally, there must be an person appointed whom if required can be responsible to explain and oversee the company’s CD Rom scanning policy.

    So in short, YES CD Rom is a legal format (COMPARABLE WITH PAPER WORK AND MICROFILIMING), if the correct procedures are followed. Providing the guidelines listed above are followed, there should be no problems with you opting to benefit from the document storage system of the future now.

    FOR A FREE QUOTE PLEASE CONTACT US ON 01202 822 855 OR ALTERNATIVELY BY SENDING AN EMAIL TO INFO@STOROFILE.COM