Know Thy Scanner, Love Thy Scanner

I have no idea how my car’s engine works. Literally, just absolutely no clue. I know gas makes it go. If you think about it, I’m sure there are an endless number of things you use every day that you don’t really understand how they work. We all take these things for granted, which is fine since there are many hard-working people whose jobs it is to fix these things for us if something should go wrong.

But isn’t it nice to be in the know about these things? Not just for your Trivial Pursuit repertoire, though that’s very important, but to know if something goes wrong you’ve got the knowledge to go about fixing it. I know any time I need to have any work done on my car, I call my dad immediately. He knows so much that I don’t, so I want to make sure I’m getting the best deal, and getting what I actually need from my mechanic. When I’m buying a cell phone, though, I go it alone since I’ve got that stuff pretty well figured out. It’s so much easier not having to rely on others to help me with these types of things.

Your scanner is one of those things. The concept of its function in incredibly simple, but the actual execution is pretty complex. As Office Space has shown us, scanners can (and do) stop working, sometimes for seemingly no reason. Equipping yourself with some basic knowledge of how scanners work could end up saving you your time and sanity. So let’s dive in!

The scanner goes through multiple steps between you pressing the scan button and the file showing up on your computer. After your document is placed on the glass plate and you close the cover, that’s when the magic happens. As you probably have noticed, the inside of the cover is most likely white (most are). This makes it so that the background is consistent, making it easier for the scanner to recognize where the document begins and ends. Once you press “scan,” the lamp beneath the glass is used to illuminate your document.

This is where things start to get a little tricky. Scanners use multiple mirrors, a lens, a filter, and a charged coupled device (CCD), which altogether make up the scan head. The scan head is moved slowly across the document by a belt attached to a stepper motor. The scan head is attached to the stabilizer bar to make sure that nothing is moving around when it passes over the document.

When the scan head is moving across the document, the image is reflected through multiple mirrors until finally being reflected through the filter into the  CCD. The CCD has light-sensitive photosites arrayed along it that read the level of brightness into electronic signals. These levels of brightness are then processed into a digital image.

Did that make sense? I’ll try and put it in layman’s terms.  The light is shot at the paper. The reflection goes through a few mirrors. Then the reflection is shot into the neat light-sensitive board. That reads the level of brightness it’s sensing. A black letter will give off a lower level of brightness than a white blank spot. This is then converted into the digital image we see on our screen. Hopefully the picture helps.

But how does it get there, you ask? Great question. The scan is pretty useless unless we can access it on our computers. Scanners have a few options of how they connect to the computer. A parallel connection, a small computer system interface (SCSI) connection, USB, or FireWire. USB connections are probably the most often used because they’re fast, easy, and affordable.

Other than that, the last piece of the puzzle is to have software that knows how to communicate with your scanner. It’s often referred to as the driver. Think of it as a language barrier. Most scanners speak the same language: TWAIN. Your scanner converted your document into TWAIN. With the help of your software (driver), you’ll be able to turn that TWAIN into readable English on your computer. Though obviously it still works if you’re scanning something in Spanish. I really hope you got that joke. If not, go re-read the entire post and try again.

That’s it! You should feel smarter. I do. Now when something goes wrong with your scanner, you will look like the smartest guy (or girl) in the office. Spew off a few key words and everyone will think you are a genius. You’re welcome. If this doesn’t help you actually fix your scanner in the future, at least you’ll know what the repair guy is talking about.

The Best Flatbed Scanners for any Budget

You know when you go to the grocery store, and there’s a million different pasta sauces? Different brands, different ingredients, organic or not, you get the picture. It’s exhausting. I just want some red sauce to put on my spaghetti. We’ve all been there. Shopping for scanners is basically the same, except you don’t get a delicious meal at the end of it.

I’m breaking down some of the best flatbed scanners out there based on price points in hopes that you can forego the endless research and headaches associated with buying electronics. Don’t worry, I’ll scale ’em for you by prices from $–$$$$$.

$: For a low price, just $60, the Canon CanoScan LiDE 210 still packs a punch.  If you won’t be doing too much heavy-duty document scanning then this could be a great option for you. They have great image quality and a sleek design, are lightweight and easily stored, and can scan any of your basic needs. The negatives? Well, some reviews say its software can be finicky and not always as intuitive as some might like. Additionally, its OCR is said to not be up to par. To be fair, it’s only $65 for a fully functional scanner. As they say, beggars can’t be choosers.

$$: Moving on up, the Epson Perfection V370 could be perfect for your home or office if you’ve got a little more cash to spend. At just $119.99, this flatbed scanner is still incredibly affordable. It’s great because it can scan a full-sized sheet of paper as well as photos and film. It also is incredibly easy to scan to cloud services (Google Docs, Evernote, etc.). Some drawbacks: the scanner has had some issues with software compatibility. Some say that it doesn’t work with Macs, others say it’s Windows 7 that’s the problem. It could just be that reviewers aren’t tech-savvy and couldn’t figure out the set-up process, but be aware that your computer might have some issues with set-up and getting started with this scanner.

$$$: In the middle of the road, we have the Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i. It comes in at $249.99. It features an automatic feeder, OCR capabilities that can convert to editable Word, Excel, and PDF documents,  and the ability to scan 12 double-sided pages per minute. It’s very lightweight at just 3 pounds and is compatible with both Mac and PCs. What more could you want?! I’ll tell you. Some shortcomings: There is no TWAIN, WIA, or ISIS support, which means that the scanner isn’t able to work with any 3rd party application interface. This can be tricky for office use. If you don’t need those things, though, this scanner otherwise comes very highly recommended.

$$$$: Beginning the higher-end scanners we’re going with the Visioneer OneTouch 9520. It goes for about $349, give or take. The OneTouch has amazing image quality, and can scan more than 281 trillion colors. Yes, that’s with a “tr-“. Its scan density is insane, making it possible to scan film and film negatives without any degradation in quality. It also supports optical character recognition (OCR) so, like the ScanSnap, it can create editable documents from your scans. It also is a great option for anyone doing 3D scans. Any downfalls? Although it is compatible with Mac and Windows, there have been reports of it not being very “user-friendly.” It also is said to have a short lamp life, but you can always buy another lamp and replace it.

$$$$$:  The granddaddy of them all. Okay, we may have made a little bit of jump. At $1,099.99 we have the luxe HP Scanjet N6350. This is the scanner you think of when you envision an office scanner. It’s big, has an automatic document feeder (that holds a whopping 50 sheets), and is mostly used for plain old paper. What makes this (possibly) worth your wild is that it’s consistent. HP is a trusted name in scanners and printers, and their customer service is top-notch. If something goes wrong, you will most likely be helped. It gives great image quality, is compatible with Macs and PCs, scans quickly and efficiently, and is dependable. What’s not to love? Well, it is somewhat bulky, which means you’ll need to have enough space to actually store it. Its product description says it’s primarily for your paper scanning needs, but you can absolutely use it for more than that.

Have another scanner that you love and are dying to tell us about? Leave a comment, we’d love to hear from you! Happy scanner hunting!