ADF scanners or Automatic Document Feeder scanners are used to scan multiple pages at high speed and enables saving them electronically. ADF scanners are becoming a necessity in the business world of today for managing your documents.
A scanner is mainly an input device. Unlike the keyboard where you have to type every character, scanners can easily copy the complete document and save it on the computer, saving time and increasing productivity and efficiency. However, the drawback with conventional scanners was that they stored the scanned page in an image format. This made the documents un-editable as well the file sizes were big. An ADF scanner on the other hand is capable of scanning multiple documents in less time and allowing them to be editable. ADF scanners use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert the raw images into ANSII or other digital text format, which reduces the file size and allows the text to be reformatted and processed.
Various multifunction printers (MFPs) nowadays have OCR, offering a one stop solution to almost all the office needs. These devices require less storage space and provide reasonable low-budget solution. The only drawback with these devices is the quality. Because they are multifunctional, they are built for convenience rather than high quality. Mostly printers are the primary focus in MFP devices; the other functions provide basic level performances. Dedicated ADF scanners on the other hand provide precise scanning and with highest speed. They are designed for heavy purpose use and are an excellent choice for the offices.
There are mainly two kinds of ADF scanners, reversing ADF scanner and duplex ADF scanner. A reversing automatic document feeder scanner (RADF) scans one side of a page. In order to scan the other side you have to flip the page and scan it again. Whereas the duplexing automatic document feeder (DADF) scans both sides in one pass. This is achieved by placing two cameras one on either side of the document. The obvious advantage of the DADF over RADF is speed. Then there is the ADF photo scanner. This particular device is best suited for book scanning.
There are various ADF scanners available in the market and vary in their size, capacity and speed. Generally the scanner with ADF can produce 15 pages per minute with a high resolution. Sheet carrying capacity varies brand to brand. Some ADF scanners have an automatic feeding capacity of up to 50 sheets.
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