Best Practices for Scanning Documents

Tired of blurry, cut-off text whenever you scan documents or make copies? You can learn how to scan high-quality documents with help from WiZiX Technology Group. We have everything you need to produce superior business documents—from scanning tips and best practices to affordable multifunction printers and scanners for your office.

Best Practices for Scanning Documents

1. Check Documents for Damage and Obstructions

Wrinkles, creases, and rips in a document not only affect the quality of your scan, they can also damage your scanner. Before you begin scanning documents, make sure to smooth out the document and remove any torn bits of paper. 

You should also check your document to ensure that all the text is clearly visible and easy to read. Paperclips, staples, and other items that may cover up text can lead to misinformation or harm your equipment. Always remove obstructions before you start scanning documents.

2. Optimize Your Scanner’s Settings

Configure your machine to scan documents at a high resolution so your documents will be easier to read. Make sure to set the dots per inch (DPI) between 300 and 400 for high-quality scans. Keep in mind that the higher the resolution, the more storage space the file will need. File sizes of color documents are typically larger than black and white files, so consider saving space by setting your scanner to always scan in black and white.  

3. Choose Between Black and White or Color

Not only does color scanning impact your document storage capacity, it also impacts your budget. Scanning documents in color can cost your business more money than scanning in black and white because printing with color cartridges costs more. 

Only scan documents in color when absolutely necessary—if your document only contains a little color, it’s typically best to scan in black and white. However, scanning in color is better for documents with highlights to avoid creating dark highlights that obscure the text.

4. Consistently Name Your Documents

When indexing your scanned documents, it’s important to remain consistent with how you name the files. Establishing a specific naming convention for all employees to use will make it easier to retrieve documents in the future and prevent the loss of important files. Using more than one identifier such as name, date, and author of a document makes a file easier to find because it gives you more search criteria. 

Depending on your scanner, you may also be able to find files even if someone mislabels them. If your scanner has optical character recognition (OCR) software, then it can convert your document into an editable text file instead of an image of the text. That means you can find a misnamed file by searching for certain keywords in the document.

Buy or Lease Multifunction Printers or Scanners in California

Before implementing these best practices for scanning documents, you need a scanner that comes with the right speed and settings to meet your needs. If your scanner can’t process the material or size of your documents, it may be time to upgrade. At WiZIX Technology Group in Northern and Central California, we offer a wide range of the latest multifunction printers and scanners from top brands. Call 866-846-1411 today to discuss buying or leasing new equipment.