No one can deny that the experience of working with information contained on real paper provides a lot more comfort and satisfaction than viewing it on a computer monitor. This is not just the case when trying to view portrait oriented office documents on a landscape monitor, but even more so when it comes to working with large documents such as engineering plan drawings or maps.
Many image viewing applications try and make the experience more pleasant with an innovative array of software functions such as displaying thumbnails with birds eye views and smooth panning.
Luckily however, the incredible advances in computer hardware together with much higher monitor resolution is making the experience a lot more bearable.
So why are we trying our damnedest to cram wide format documents into computers, even though the user experience remains less than ideal?
Of course the reasons are compelling, especially from a business point of view.
One of the most powerful motivators for going digital has got to be the cost savings in terms of digital distribution by means of e-mail or publishing on the Internet.
Other compelling reasons include the ability to convert images from plan drawings, maps and other wide format documents to CAD format by means of a process called vectorization.
This software process operates similar to OCR or optical character recognition, a complex software application that converts scanned text into computer recognisable text.
Vectorisation software is extremely useful for the conversion of engineering plan drawings and GIS information from maps into popular CAD file formats for the purposes of editing or to act as electronic stencils for the purposes of cutting or milling shapes in the fields of product manufacture and reverse engineering.
Unfortunately though, the cost of acquiring large format scanning capability has been prohibitive for all but the larger and more profitable organisations. With the typical cost of a wide format colour scanner ranging between $10K to $20K, it has never been economically viable for smaller organisations to benefit from this crucial technology.
However, one can always rely on the typical Australian "can-do" attitude to come up with a simpler solution. Due to their rugged and unforgiving environment, Australians have always managed to come up with category busters when it comes to innovative solutions.
Some examples of Australian ingenuity include the old Tommy Gun, Grain Harvesters, the ubiquitous Ute or Pickup and the Cement Spun water pipe.
One of their latest inventions, the Deskan 6 wide format colour scanner finally breaks the entry barrier to smaller organisations who would like to benefit from an in-house capacity to convert large format documents to digital format.
With a scanning resolution of up to 600 DPI and the capacity to scan in either 24 bit colour, greyscale or black and white from wide format documents even larger than "E" or "A0" size, this rugged and reliable Australian innovation offers the same set of features found in traditional wide format roller scanners, but at a quarter of the normal price.
The only real compromise is scanning speed.
However, with the capacity of realistically scanning up to 90x E-size (A0) wide format colour documents at the industry standard resolution of 200 dpi and up to 150 similar size documents in black and white in an eight hour shift, it would only be the most demanding commercial imaging service providers and large government organisations who may find this compromise unsuitable.
However, due to its unique simplified construction, the Deskan 6 now offers complete affordability to smaller organisations who would never have been able to justify the cost of a traditional wide format scanner.
Consider this. A standard wide format colour roller scanner of around $15,000 works out to a monthly lease repayment of approximately $600.00, an expense that can hardly be justified by most smaller organisations.
On the other hand, the Deskan 6 comes to only US$4500.00 which includes international shipping to the USA, Canada or the UK. This means you can enjoy all the benefits of an in-house wide format colour scanner for only $175 per month which works out to less than $6.00 per day.
If you cannot benefit from having a colour wide format scanner at $6.00 per day, you don't need one.
Let's have a closer look at some of the organisations that may benefit from investing in the Deskan 6
Instead of relying on expensive courier services, Architects, landscapers and other artists are instantly empowered to serve a much wider geographic client base by being able to scan and e-mail their freehand drawings or art. What used to take days can now be on the client's desktop for approval with in a matter of minutes.
Manufacturing and maintenance divisions can now provide key employees with controlled and instant online access to collections of plan drawings or other information contained in wide format documents. This reduces downtime and increases productivity to the extent of having become a no-brainer to organisations who wish to stay competitive.
Manufacturing engineers involved in reverse engineering of components now have a low cost and viable option for the scanning and vectorisation of 2.5d components.
Other individuals who may benefit include those who need to create CAD format stencils and templates for electronic embroidering, vinyl sign or laser component cutting, custom auto detailers and artists, fabric and carpet pattern designers, smaller photocopy shops and printing businesses etc.
For those who need more information and would like to see an online video presentation, please do not hesitate to check out this amazing new innovation.
With a solid involvement in computer hardware stemming from the early 80s, and specialising in the conversion of hardcopy to searchable electronic information for the last 13 years, I have always been motivated to bring the latest innovations to clients who could benefit from digital imaging. As founder owner of numerous computer-based businesses, most of whom have been acquired by large listed organisations, I now offer various document imaging and consulting services from http://www.docsondisc.com/Deskan.html on the Australian Gold Coast, our premier holiday destination. |
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