Document imaging is the process of taking a physical document and converting it into a digital file and eliminating the need for a paper copy.
Whether you call it imaging, electronic imaging, document imaging, or even document scanning, it is the technology that enables users to scan hard copy documents into a computer system and store them in digital format. The digital copies are then indexed with metadata into the system and organized by the index values.
Metadata is information about the document. Some common ones are customer name, account number, document date, type of file, and department. These will be unique to your organizational needs.
Defining Document and Electronic Imaging
As you can see the two terms have almost identical definitions:
- Document imaging—The process of capturing, storing, and retrieving documents regardless of the original format, using micrographics and/or electronic imaging (scanning, OCR, ICR, etc.). (ISO 12651-1)
- Electronic imaging—The technique for inputting, recording, processing, storing, transferring and using images. (ISO 12651-1)
Benefits of Document Imaging
Benefits of Document ImagingThere are several reasons why you would want to digitize your organizations’ documents:
- Accessibility
- Ease of Access
- Full-text search
- Security
- Save Space
Document Image Management Components
There are four basic components to document imaging systems:
- Input
- Identification or indexing
- Storage
- Retrieval
Document Imaging Costs
Document Imaging CostsDocument imaging on average costs 7–12 cents. While imaging is getting easier to manage with all of the various types of scanning software available, the main things to consider in an imaging project are:
- Sorting the documents
- Preparing them for scanning
- Scanning
- Indexing the scanned documents so they can be retrieved and searched
- Storing documents in a system
Get a Document Conversion System Today
If you think document imaging could benefit your business, we can help you locate a professional scanning service for you.
Our network of scanning service professionals has extensive experience in helping businesses of all sizes migrate to a paperless office or digital filing system. We use proven methods combined with the latest scanning software and equipment to help create a very useful document management system that will change the way you do business.
To learn more about the document imaging services that we can provide, fill out the form to the right, or give us a call at (866) 385-3706.
