• Before choosing a scanner
• Some background info to consider
• Basics no one will be bothered to tell you about scanning
• Forewarned is forearmed - have your answers READY!
• Scanner technology - the need-to-know stuff
• Software with which scanners are commonly associated
• Scanning costs

Software with which scanners are commonly associated

Image Editing Software

This is the software used to manipulate colour, greyscale and line art pictures, which usually correspond with settings in the scanner's TWAIN driver.

Almost all scanners will ship with some type of image editing software, whether it be a cut-down version of a full product such as Adobe Photoshop or the full version itself.

This link provides an example of how editing software allows you to touch up images.

Optical Character Recognition Software

This software is used to get text documents into a word processor without having to retype the document. Good OCR packages will be able to understand a variety of languages as well as have the ability to retain formatting. As with image editing software, most scanners will ship with either a full version of OCR software such as Omni Page or a cut-down version.

Unlike printing, there are no ongoing consumables costs involved in scanning. Your scanner's initial purchase cost plus the cost of any accessories and additional software will pretty much determine the bulk of your scanning costs.

Some hidden costs to look out for are hardware upgrades to your PC that may be needed to run the software for manipulating the images or documents you have scanned. Other costs include the purchase of optional accessories such as automatic document feeders or film holders.

Also keep in mind that an A4 or A3 flatbed scanner will require a substantial amount of desk space. Remember, too, that if you are planning to do a lot of scanning - especially of colour images at high resolutions using large bit depths - then you are going to use up a lot of hard disk storage space.

Scanning costs

Your scanning costs will be determined by your initial knowledge of your exact requirements of the scanner and how your PC needs to be configured to accommodate them. All things considered, it can range from under $100 up to tens of thousands of dollars.