Scanners play an integral role in transforming your physical media into digital media. Turning physical documents into digital files has become a very necessary process, and every quality office has at least one decent scanner. Scanners allow us the ability to more easily share documents and help us to cut down on physical waste (such as paper). The benefits of using a scanner are indisputable and, nearly, everyone in a working environment has used one. However, despite the popularity of scanners, not many of us are aware of how they actually work.
The most commonly used scanner is a flatbed scanner, which lies flat on desktops and opens from the top, just like a copier. To use a flatbed scanner, you place the photograph or document onto the opened surface, close the top, and press a button. The real mystery is lies within what actually happens when you press that button. Seconds after the button is pressed, the scanner starts creating a digital code with the physical image or document that it is being presented with. The process of creating the digital code is made possible with a piece of software called optical character recognition, which all scanners come equipped with. Basically, the software is designed specifically to take the analog form of information and turn it into digital code that may be read by a computer.
The other process taking place when you hit the “scanbutton” involves a light source and is similar to the way a copy machine works. The button triggers the scanner’s main light source to start heating up, which allows the scanner to see the difference between the dark and light areas of the photograph or document being scanned. By differentiating between the dark and light areas, the scanner is given the ability to duplicate the image into its memory. If the scanner uses color, the process is completed with the use of multiple blue green and red pixels, while if the scanner is black and white, there is a single lens that reads different shades of black and white. After a copy is stored into the scanner’s memory, a digitized version of the information is sent to the computer and the physical media has been fully digitized.
Now, that you have a better understanding about how the scanning process actually works, you can continue to trust that ScanDigital will always provide you with quality work from our knowledgeable staff! We look forward to receiving your precious memories and helping to keep them intact.
Tags: digital media, flatbed scanner, photograph, physical documents, physical media, scan, scanner
