February – Service of the Month

At VirtualOffiCenters we will happily do all of your document scanning projects so that you don’t have to. That being said, there are plenty of times you have just one of two documents that you want to scan on you own. We’ve scanned a lot of documents over the years, and have learned a few tricks we’d like to share with those of you scanning documents yourself.

Document Scanning Tips

Scan in Order

If you know there’s a specific organization you would like for your documents once they are scanned, you should scan your documents according to that organization. Organizing and grouping paper documents previous to scanning can save you a lot of digital organization time later, and will also ensure that you don’t forget any important documents during the scanning process.

Scan Similar Sizes

If you’re scanning different sized documents, be sure to scan documents of similar size together. If your scanner can be fed stacks of paper simultaneously, smaller documents like receipts may shift between larger documents being loaded, leaving you with sideways or disoriented scans. To prevent this, scan only documents of similar size and, if possible, adjust the guides on your scanner to the size of the documents you are scanning. 

Use Flatbed Scanners for Antique or Fragile Documents

Whenever you scan documents that tear easily, you should use a flatbed scanner rather than a sheet feed scanner. When a scanner automatically feeds documents from a tray or stack, there’s always a possibility for a jam. In the unfortunate case of a jam, you want to be sure that flimsy or especially thin documents do not get torn to pieces in a feed scanner. To avoid this, scan things like tracing paper, ancient documents or anything with perforated lines, in a scanner which allows you to scan documents lying flat.

Remove Stickers, Tape and Staples

It seems obvious, but it’s easy to forget a label, piece of tape, or a couple of sheets stapled together in a large stack of documents that you are scanning. Stickers, tape and staples can cause jams and missed scans. Always double check that you have removed anything that could cause a jam or cause pages to stick together before scanning.

VirtualOffiCenters is offering 20% off scanning projects during the month of February! No project is too big or too small for us to handle!!

 (discount applies to Admin Assist time, not to scans or copies)