That means they turn documents into patterns of digital 1s and 0s that your computer can store, edit and transmit. You can scan a paper invoice and send it to accounts receivable using your fax-modem. You can scan photographs or line art to spice up your presentations, the PTA newsletter or your Web page. If you're befuddled by mounds of paper, you can scan correspondence, reports or even printed forms and convert them into documents you can edit with your word processor or spreadsheet program. You'll pay more for enhanced color capability, resolution and higher speed.
Scanners come in a variety of sizes and price ranges, with capabilities to match.
That means it meets an industry standard that lets other programs control the scanner directly, rather than forcing you to use special scanning software. However, flatbed prices have been dropping rapidly. Inside the box, a scanning element moves across the length of the page and converts it into digital information. Some color units require three passes of the scanner head to record a photograph, while others can do it in one pass. In a flatbed, the image is stationary while the scanner head moves, an arrangement that's inherently more reliable than having the paper move through rollers.