Scanner

At a very basic level, a scanner detects any light reflected off the image or document being scanned. This is then transformed into binary, the language used by computers to perform tasks, and from this pixels are created. These pixels are small dots of colour which make up a computerized picture. The image is then stored on the computer awaiting saving or printing.

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Flatbed

These are the most common desktop scanners. The documents to be scanned are placed on top of a layer of glass, under which a photo sensitive scanner is run. This document scanner emits light onto the document,and any reflecting back is turned into an electronic copy of the document. These scanners are easy to use but take up alot of workspace. They are also usually manual feed, meaning you should purchase an automatic feeder as well if you’re looking to scan a lot of documents. These can also be used as a photo scanner.

Sheetfed

Unlike flatbeds where the photo sensitive scanner is run under the document, in a sheetfed the document is moved over the scanner. These are best for peoplewishing to scan a large number of documents which are mostly text based. The quality may not be as good as flatbed scanners, since the moving document can cause distortions, but they are handy in the office because they take up little space.

Handheld

Handheld scanners are small scanners just four or five inches across. This makes them very easy to carry around andplug into different machines, but the small size means large documents will need going over several times before they are scanned successfully, and  depending on how careful the user is, the individual scans may not always fit perfectly together. Often these can be used as barcode scanners.

Pen

Pen scanners are ones which you can scan over lines of text. This will then be saved onto the scanner and can be downloaded to a PC for retrieval.

Portable

Portable scanners are small versions of sheetfed scanners which can be carried around in a briefcase. This makes them convenient to move around,although the quality isn't’t very good due to the weak light.

Slide

These are designed to scan items such as transparencies and negatives. These need to be scanned differently to normal documents because the light needs to reflect through them, rather than offthem. They are usually a higher quality resolution than ordinary scanners, due to the small size of film etc, whichmakes them more expensive. Some normal scanners come with an adapter for these sorts of scans, although the quality will be lower. View all slide scanners

All-in-one scanners

Incorporating printing and copying.

View the full range of all-in-one scanners

This will be either grey scale (scans as black and white only) or be a colour scanner.

The amount of colours the scanner can process. It will be shown in the format 16-bit (64K grey levels) / 24-bit colour.In this particular one, 16-bit is the amount of computer memory used to store colours, which gives 64,000 possible shades of Gray. 24-bit colour gives 16.7 Million colours.

Optical Resolution

The resolution that the scanned picture will come out at. It is measured in dpi, (dots per inch) which is the number of pixels an image contains. The higher the dpi, the better qualitythe scanned image will be.

Interpolated Resolution

This will be a higher resolution than the optical resolution and is used when an image is enlarged. The higher this figure is the better quality enlargement you will have. If you don’t intent to enlarge your scans this figure is largely irrelevant.

The maximum size of document the machine can scan.

Supported Media Type

The type of materials that can be scanned. Most scanners will accept paper, and some will take materials such as film and transparencies.

Media Feeder Type

This states whether the scanner is manual-load (done by hand sheet bysheet) or automatic load. (Where you can queue up several scans and they will load themselves)

Interface Type

How the scanner connects to a computer to upload the scanned image. The majority will be via a USB cable.

System requirements

The version of computer system the scanner is compatible with. Most computers manufactured in the past eight years will be compatible with the scanners Euroffice sell, but if you are unsure please check with your I.T department before purchase.