Scanner Optimization Dan Krahn Hardware Products Manager

Document Scanning Getting the most from your Scanning Resources Everyone is challenged with doing more with less. Is document scanning a burden or an Asset? Can the efficiency and quality of scanning be improved?

Plug and Play Typical Scenario Install scanner drive software Install scanning application Connect the scanner Start scanning This usually works with respectable results But can some fine tuning make it even better?

Todays Topics Image Quality Efficiency Best Practices Troubleshooting Interactive Format Questions and Comments are welcomed at anytime!

Image Quality

Image Quality Areas Body or Content How well can you read the information Barcode and OCR Read rates Clean-up Making the image look like the original document Enhance Making the image look better than the original

Improving Content Readability Brightness Auto or Fixed Auto is best most of the time Fixed is better is some cases for consistent Barcode or OCR recognition Contrast More or less Higher to eliminate shading Lower to pick up light print Gamma What is it Has similar results to changing contrast in Black & White Has more function in grayscale or color

Image Clean up Deskew Straighten crooked images Can be done based on document edges or content Crop Removing the portion of image that extends beyond the document Border removal Crops the image by finding the edges of the document Edge Clean-up Eliminates edge lines but slightly over cropping the image Can cause data loss if information runs to the edge

Image Enhancement Hole Fill Fill in paper punch holes on images Edge Repair Fill in missing or folded corners Remove jagged edges Background removal Eliminate background pictures or watermarks Color Drop-out  Possible legal ramifications

Image Resolution Myth: Higher resolution equals a better quality image Increasing the resolution because the image quality is poor, typically results in a higher resolution poor quality image. 200 DPI (Dots Per Inch) is the “industry standard” resolution for black & white (bitonal) images Explore methods of improving the image through other settings before increasing the DPI An uncompressed image file is 2.25 times larger at 300 DPI than at 200 DPI. Consider image storage when increasing Resolution

Downstream Benefits to Quality Images Higher Barcode and OCR read rates Less manual data entry and validation Smaller file sizes Greater user satisfaction (internal and external)

Efficiency

Throughput Every scanner has a “pages per minute” (PPM) throughput rating Panasonic KVS5055C – 90 PPM Fujitsu fi-5950 – 135 PPM IBML ImageTrac Lite – 286 PPM But what is actual “real world” throughput? Likely somewhere between 10 and 80 percent of rated speed A 2013 Audi RS4 Avant has a rated top speed of 174 MPH, but who will ever go that fast

Orientation Landscape vs. Portrait If you are able to scan in landscape…….Do it! Portrait scanning reduces throughput by ≈ 20% Image rotation Fixed rotation – 90˚ Auto Orientation – Performs OCR check of text (may reduce throughput speed)

How much of the time is the scanner actually transporting paper? How much of the time is the scanner idle while batches being opened and closed? What can be done to increase the size of a batch? Automated document recognition and separation Intermixing multiple document sizes and types Batch Size

Reduce Scanner Stops How often does a scanner stop for an error condition? Jam conditions Multi-feed stops VRS QC check

Best Practices

Regular Maintenance Clean scanners on a regular interval What is the correct interval? Have available and replace consumable items when needed Service Contracts with PM’s are recommended Ask for training and recommendations. Don’t let problems creep up without noticing

Benchmarks When a scanner and capture application have been configured and validated collect some benchmark data Save a sample set of documents; especially documents with barcodes or extracted data fields Save image files of these documents Record the amount of time it takes to scan a batch

Document Keep records of your settings Take screen shots of your setting windows Save copies of profile/settings files. Keep records of logs, volume counters, consumable changes Be aware of and note changes on the network, applications or operating systems

Troubleshooting

Problem Resolution When an issue comes up, narrow the possible causes Use a test/utility application to isolate the scan application Scan to a location on the local PC rather than to a network Test with known good documents Test multiple batch classes or scan jobs Reboot - Reset The number of times this resolves issues is high

Awareness When something stops working or changes its behavior What may have happened prior to this? Windows Update New Virus scan software implemented New equipment plugged into the same circuit Environmental conditions Equipment moved Cleaning

Common Issues and Solutions Feeding problems (Poor feeding and/or Multi-feeding) Clean or replace consumable components No Communication between PC and Scanner Reseat connecting cable Reboot scanner and PC Check the status of the scanner in device manager Not reading Barcodes Check the image for lines, voids, or other quality issues Test with known good documents

Engage Security MicroImaging for end to end capture solutions! Content Management Capture Application Capture Hardware

Thank You!