There’s more to scanning than meets they eye. Learn the differences between photo scanners, general office scanners, and scanners that specialize in document management. When you’re done reading, you should have enough information to choose the perfect HP scanner for your needs.
Photo vs. document scanners
Scanning photo slides and negatives requires a TMA, which lets light pass through. The affordable HP Scanjet G3110 Scanner comes with one included.
HP makes both photo scanners and document scanners. Each has distinct features that allow them to excel at one job or the other:
Dedicated photo scanners
Often have a TMA (transparent materials adapter), which allows the scanning of film negatives and slides
May include HP real life technologies such as Auto Red-Eye removal, Adaptive Lighting, Image Restoration, and Photo Brightening, all of which can enhance image quality
Include photo-editing software
May include one-touch buttons for photo fix or scratch and tear removal
The HP Scanjet N6010 is a general office scanner with basic document management capabilities, including a quick-feeding ADF and one-button business card scanning.
The front panel buttons of the Scanjet 5000 Sheet-fed Scanner and the included software allow for easy document management.
General office scanners and document management scanners both can scan documents, but here are a few other strengths of each:
General office scanners
General office scanners may be more versatile and may even include a TMA for scanning negatives and slides. They may also include basic document management software and capabilities such as one-button scanning to PDF, one-button business card scanning, and the ability to scan documents directly into Microsoft Word.
Document management scanners
These workhorses often have features designed to handle, share, and organize larger quantities of documents quickly, either directly from the scanner or using included software. Options may include scanning directly to a network or e-mail, ultrasonic double-feed protection, and higher duty cycles allowing for a greater number of scans per day.
For business graphics and documents, scanning at 600 dpi allows for faster scanning and more manageable file sizes.
Compare the detail of a competitor’s 3-color scan vs. the color detail captured by an HP Scanjet G4050 Photo Scanner’s six-color scanning.
The HP Scanjet G4010 Photo Scanner scans 96-bit color to give the greatest gamut of shades available in an HP Photo scanner.
Here are some basic scanning terms dealing with the quality of scanned images, from the amount of information captured to the number of colors that your scan can express.
Optical resolution
This is a measure of how much information is actually captured by a scanner. It is measured in dpi (dots per inch). Scanning up to 600 dpi is ample resolution for most document scanners. A photo scanner captures up to 4800 dpi.
Enhanced resolution
Enhanced resolution refers to the resolution that can be achieved when computer software takes the data that’s been optically captured in a scan and makes an “educated guess” about additional information to provide a more detailed image.
Six-color scanning Most scanners capture a range of tones based either on three (RGB) or four (CMYK) basic colors. With a second lamp, many HP scanners capture permutations of six basic colors, delivering scans with a wider gamut of color.
Color bit depth
Bit depth is a measurement of the number of bits used to represent each pixel, indicating how many colors a scanner can recognize and translate into digital information. While 48-bit scanners offer a wide spectrum of color, many HP Photo scanners and some HP Photosmart All-in-Ones offer 96-bit depth, allowing for optimal noise reduction and color accuracy.
Grayscale levels
HP scanners come with a standard of 8-bit grayscale, meaning they can capture 256 shades of grey between white and black, allowing for a smooth transition between tones.
Example of a flatbed scanner, useful for the scanning of 3-D or bound materials.
Example of a sheet-fed scanner, able to handle large quantities of documents rapidly.
A TMA (transparent materials adapter) allows the HP G4050 Photo Scanner to capture six-color, 96-bit scans of photos, slides, and negatives.
The HP Scanjet N9120 Document Flatbed Scanner is the ultimate in document management scanning, featuring ultrasonic double feed protection and a duty cycle of up to 5000 scans per day.
The versatile HP Scanjet 5590 Digital Flatbed Scanner does it all, scanning photos, slides, and negatives, as well as documents at up to 8 ppm/ 4 ipm, unattended with the 50-sheet ADF.
By scanning two sides of a document at once, the HP Scanjet 7000 Sheet-feed Scanner is able to capture up to 80 images per minute at 200 dpi in black and white or grayscale.
Learn the basics of how HP scanners can handle documents and other media.
Flatbed
A flatbed scanner allows you to open a lid and manually position media on the scanning glass. Most document scanners also include an ADF (automatic document feeder), which allows for the unattended scanning of documents.
Sheet-feed
A sheet-feed scanner allows for rapid scanning of documents and paper via an ADF, but isn’t suitable for photos or other media.
3-D scanning
CCD (Charge Coupled Device)
CCD scanners use mirrors and lenses to capture optical information, which the scanner then converts into digital data.
They are able to capture a greater depth-of-focus than CIS scanners, making them more suitable for heavy and detailed 3-D scanning or double page spreads to minimize visible black lines at the binding.
HP dedicated scanners and most HP LaserJet MFPs use CCD technology for optimal color and depth of focus.
CIS (Contact image sensors)
Lighter-weight than CCD technology, CIS technology uses LEDs placed near the scanning glass to capture an image and are perfect for HP All-in-Ones. HP All-in-Ones featuring flatbeds and CIS technology are also capable of scanning 3-D items and are available with up to a 48-bit color bit depth.
Media types
Aside from paper types (sometimes including checks and business cards specifically), some scanners are capable of scanning photos, photo negatives, 35mm slides, and 3-D objects. Negative and slide scanning requires a TMA (transparent materials adapter) that allows for backlighting of the media. Learn how to Scan 35mm photo slides and negatives.
Legal-sized scanning glass
If you will be scanning legal-sized documents, such as contracts, make certain that the maximum scan size is at least 8.5" x 14". Be aware that some scanners can scan this size via ADF, but their flatbeds only accommodate letter-sized paper.
Multi-feed detection
There are several ways scanners can detect when more than one page is going through the ADF (automatic document feeder) simultaneously, which could cause you to miss essential scans. With both types, the scanner alerts the user when there’s been a possible misfeed.
Page length
This type of detection notices when an irregular length of paper has gone through the scanner, possibly indicating that one page was pulled in behind another, a rare but possible occurrence.
Ultrasonic double feed
This type of protection is an even more advanced method of multi-feed protection, using ultrasonic waves to measure the thickness of the paper, and alerting the user to irregularities.
PPM (pages per minute) vs ipm (images per minute):
Pages per minute refers to how many documents an ADF can pull through and scan in a minute. Images per minute refers to how many page-sides a scanner can capture per minute.
When a scanner measures twice as many ipm as ppm (i.e. Up to 18 ppm, up to 36 ipm), it’s an indication that the scanner is capturing the image from both sides of a document simultaneously for the fastest results.
When the measure of ipm is lower than the measure of ppm (i.e. Up to 15 ppm/ 6 ipm), it indicates that the scanner turns the paper over to scan a second side.
Included OCR software enables you to search your scans, and even edit them, making your scanner infinitely more useful.
NewSoft Presto! BizCard Reader software is included with many HP scanners and imports contact information into the correct fields.
HP scanners come with included software to give you great flexibility with your images once you’ve scanned them. Check individual HP scanners to see what software is included.
File formats
Most HP scanners support a wide range of file formats, including PDF. Photo scanners support more image formats, such as TIFF, GIF, JPEG, and more, while some document scanners also allow you to scan documents directly into Microsoft Word.
TWAIN
TWAIN is a standard created to ensure that image capture devices and software can communicate with one another universally. HP scanners are TWAIN compliant.
OCR (Optical Character Recognition software)
When you Understand OCR: Optical character recognition, you see how much this valuable software lets you do with your scans, including searching and editing them. OCR software is included with most HP scanners, including photo scanners.
NewSoft Presto! BizCard Reader software
This software allows you to scan business cards and import them into your electronic contacts.
Below is a sample of the general office, document management, and photo scanners available from HP. To see the entire array of HP scanner offerings, visit the HP Scanner buying guide.
The HP Officejet Pro 8500 All-in-One Premier offers high-quality color printing, scanner document management, including one-touch scanning to e-mail and network, and a legal-size scan glass.
HP’s lowest-priced color laser MFP with fax, the HP Color LaserJet CM1312nfi MFP, scans up to 1200 dpi optically and has the ability to scan legal-size documents via the ADF.
HP also offers All-in-Ones and MFPs that include scanning capabilities along with printing, copying, and, on some models, faxing, too. Each family has additional talents:
HP All-in-Ones with photo features
Visit the HP Photosmart buying guide to compare these All-in-Ones with special photo scanning capabilities and features.
Versatile home office HP All-in-Ones
Any family or home business will run more smoothly with help from an HP Officejet All-in-One. Visit the HP Officejet buying guide to learn more.
Small business All-in-Ones
To see the line-up of HP inkjet All-in-Ones with business-focused features such as document management and models with legal-size scanning glass, visit the HP Officejet Pro buying guide.
Choose a high-volume MFP The HP LaserJet buying guide allows you to compare reliable, low-intervention, high-volume HP LaserJet multi-function printers with document management skills.
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