Flatbed Scanner
A flatbed scanner is a device that scans documents and photos and saves digital copies of them in your computer. This works just much like a copier machine where you lift the lid and put the document or photo on top of the glass, and then a light sensor or image sensor then scans the document or the photo. This electronic device helps in giving you digital copies of your important files for easy filing and easy access. You can then categorize the resulting files in folders. Putting a relevant filename to the files would provide you with easy access and better organization because you can then run a normal file search in your computer and the file you want would be presented to you in seconds. This is advantageous because instead of putting those documents in your physical folders and drawers and you might normally encounter problems in looking for a particular document, you could then just scan those documents and file those electronic copies, this way you could find the document or the details you are looking for in seconds with no hassles.
The flatbed scanner works by scanning the image or document and then the file is transmitted to the computer and displayed on the computer screen where you can edit or save the electronic copy on your computer after some modifications if you like. You can also print the file in many copies and as many times as you like depending on your objectives. Because you have a digital copy, you can share it to your friends and family with ease.
This device is sometimes referred to as document scanner. However, they are really completely two different devices. The document scanners are usually much bigger and they are especially designed for documents. These document scanners can scan documents with several pages all at once. The flatbed scanner usually can scan stuffs one at a time. In addition, this scanner is suitable for scanning photos. One limitation to take note is that this device just takes the “image” of the thing scanned. It would not recognize the characters or text in your documents and hence you will not be able to edit the digital copy. There is a way to do that but you should get an additional software that would accomplish that.
When you are planning to purchase one scanner of this type, you should look first at the things that you will scan. If the photos are of high quality, you should consider purchasing a scanner that has a high resolution and color depth. This way, loss of quality or detail will be prevented. This kind of scanner usually cost more than usual. If documents will be scanned, lower priced scanners could just perform the job well. These types of scanners are very helpful in offices where an office employee can have an immediate backup copies of the important documents. The office worker can then access and find those documents much easier if she will be using a computer. So if you want to have backup files of your important documents and photos and you want to share them, having digital copies is the best option, and using a flatbed scanner would be very helpful.
