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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchDocument image processing is the workflow that captures documents as digital images and prepares them to be identified, stored, searched, and retrieved. It involves more than scanning: the image may be enhanced, text may be recognized with OCR, and metadata or indexing helps people find the resulting record.
What document image processing means
AIIM reproduces ISO 12651-1’s definition of document imaging as “The process of capturing, storing, and retrieving documents regardless of original format, using micrographics and/or electronic imaging (scanning, OCR, ICR, etc.).” AIIM’s glossary also describes electronic imaging more broadly as inputting, recording, processing, storing, transferring, and using images.
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In practical terms, scanning creates a digital image of a paper document. Image processing can adjust or prepare that image; optical character recognition (OCR) identifies text in the image and makes it machine-readable. Indexing and metadata describe the record so it can be organized and found. Storage and retrieval complete the system.
How the workflow works
AIIM identifies input, identification and indexing, storage, and retrieval as the basic components of an imaging system. A typical paper-document workflow connects them in sequence:
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- Sort and prepare: Decide which records belong in the batch and prepare them for capture. For paper, that may include removing staples and clips.
- Capture: Scan the documents into digital images. Depending on the scanner and workflow, capture may be simplex (one side) or duplex (both sides).
- Enhance when appropriate: Adjust the image to improve legibility or prepare it for later use. Keep an unchanged capture when preservation or evidentiary integrity matters; changes should not obscure or replace the source image.
- Recognize text: Apply OCR to make text in the image machine-readable. OCR can enable full-text search, but it does not replace indexing or descriptive metadata.
- Index and store: Add information that identifies and organizes each record, then manage the image and related data in a storage system. Indexing quality affects how easily records can be found.
- Retrieve and inspect: Search or query the system to locate records, and check that captured files meet the workflow’s quality requirements. For permanent scanned records transferred to NARA, agencies must document their quality-control inspection and its results.
AIIM’s system overview describes the core components and preparation steps. Adobe also documents OCR workflows for making scanned documents searchable: searchable scanned PDFs.
Choosing image settings without losing useful information
There is no single resolution or color setting that suits every document. The right choices depend on the source’s condition, the information it contains, what the digital copy must support, and any applicable retention or transfer rules.
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For permanent textual records covered by its federal transfer guidance, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) specifies these minimum capture settings:
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| Clean, high-contrast printed text | 1-bit bitonal, 300–600 ppi | 600 ppi |
| Poor-legibility text, faded or stained records, annotations, halftones, or photographs | 8-bit grayscale, 300–400 ppi | 400 ppi |
| Text where color affects interpretation | 24-bit RGB, 300–400 ppi | 400 ppi |
These are NARA requirements for the specified federal record transfers, not universal settings for home or office scanning. See NARA’s scanned-textual-records guidance for the covered context. For any project, match resolution, bit depth, color mode, file format, and compression to the documents and their intended use.
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Preserving the original image
Enhancement and compression can affect what a digital image preserves. NARA’s guidance warns that lossy compression may degrade the original image and says OCR must not replace or alter the original bit-mapped image in the covered transfer workflow. Retaining an unaltered capture alongside any OCR output or enhanced derivative helps keep the source image available for comparison and later use. Follow the preservation and transfer rules that apply to your records. NARA’s digitized-record guidance explains these protections; Adobe’s PDF enhancement documentation describes enhancement as a separate workflow activity.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What to consider when setting up a workflow
Choose capabilities around the records and how people need to use them, rather than treating a scanner or OCR tool as the whole system. Relevant considerations include:
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- Scanner type: Document
- Connectivity technology: USB
- With Auto Scan Mode, the scanner automatically detects what you're scanning
- Digitize documents and images
- Expected page volume and whether capture needs to be simplex or duplex.
- Whether originals may be fragile, faded, annotated, stained, or dependent on color for meaning.
- Available resolution, bit-depth, and color-mode settings.
- OCR language support and the text output required for searching or reuse.
- Indexing and metadata fields that will help users retrieve records.
- Export formats, compression controls, and preservation requirements.
- Quality-control features and compatibility with the storage or records systems the organization must use.
These needs span capture, identification, storage, and retrieval; no single scanner setting or OCR step substitutes for the complete workflow.
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