How to Prepare Documents for Scanning & Digitization

When I am speaking with potential clients about the process of document scanning and digitization, many balk at the prospect of paying an imaging service bureau to perform the document preparation. Their thought is that they could easily pull some staples, put the pages in a box and they have magically saved themselves hundreds, even thousands of dollars. If only it were that easy! Most lay people don’t understand what document prep is or how vital it is that it be done correctly.

Proper Document Prep for Scanning

When we perform doc prep (as we call it in the biz) our main focus is to have the pages scanner ready. This means everything from pulling staples to unfolding pages but it also means smoothing dog-ear corners, rolled edges and orienting the pages correctly. It can also include verifying the order of the documents and inserting cover sheets with bar-codes embedded to streamline the metadata component of the project. We even take the time to smooth out the staple holes once the staple is removed so that it doesn’t cause feed errors. What I am getting at is that doc prep is much more than pulling staples!

In-house Document Prep before Digitization

Can an organization perform their own document prep? Sure, with guidance and training. We have a few clients that have mastered the skill but it didn’t happen overnight. Many times we have had clients that took the time to do the prep only to find out that we had to re-prep the documents because their work didn’t meet our standards. It’s all about having quality, well trained people to perform the work. That’s what an imaging service bureau gives you.

Contact MCS Seattle for Document Scaning Services

Allow MCS Seattle to assist you with the preparation, digitization, and digital management of your documents. For digitizing paper records, business records, and for all your document scanning services, please contact MCS in Seattle today! Call us at 206-248-3191.