FAQ
Top 30 Q&A about Document Imaging
- What is an electronic document?
- How would I access and use this electronic document?
- What is PDF?
- What is Acrobat?
- What is TIFF?
- TIFF Format vs. PDF Format?
- What are the legal issues surrounding document scanning and imaging?
- Are the digital images compliant with SOX, FACTA, Graham- Bliley-Leach, along with other state and federal requirements for document retention?
- Do you store the documents on CD, DVD, Hard drives, or Customer Network Server?
- Are there any hardware and software requirements?
- What electronic formats do you offer and can the data integrate with our current software?
- How many documents can fit on one CD, DVD, Hard Drive or Network Server?
- Can I add notes to the scanned documents?
- Do I need special training to use a document disk?
- What if I want to add more documents to my disk that I had made last year?
- What if I want another copy of my document disk later?
- What if I buy a new computer? Will it be able to read the disk?
- Will my disk work in a DVD (digital versatile disc) player?
- What if new technology should happen five years from now?
Will I be able to use my disk? - How much does your service cost?
- How do I make my documents "scan ready"?
- How fast can we get our documents converted to CD?
- Do you OCR documents as well? Can you convert the scanned files in Microsoft Word® format? What is the accuracy?
- What type of quality control do the images undergo?
- Do you offer a searchable database of my documents?
- Do you return the original documents?
- Can you upload the image files to our server?
- Can you Bates Label?
- Does ImageDoc USA Inc. have a disaster prevention program?
- Once my documents are imaged, how does ImageDoc US Inc. handle document destruction?
1. What is an electronic document?
An electronic document is a digital image of the original paper document.
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2. How would I access and use this electronic document?
There are several possibilities for your use.
- You can read the document on your monitor.
- You can fax the documents using your computer's system if applicable.
- With Internet access, you can email the document.
- You can print the entire document or only those pages ions desired.
3. What is PDF?
Portable Document Format (PDF) files are a computer file extension allowing
exchange
printable documents electronically. A PDF file preserves the format of
an original
document, and contains all the original fonts, images & graphic information,
layout and
formatting. A PDF file can be viewed and printed without format loss from
any operating
system, including Windows, MacOS, and all Unix variants including Linux,
using the free
Adobe Acrobat Reader. WWW.ADOBE.COM
The Portable Document Format (PDF) was originally developed by Adobe
for the U.S.
Federal Government to store its legacy files. Currently, the U.S. Federal
Government is
still the largest user of PDF technology. Most individuals have encountered
the PDF
format when downloading electronic tax forms from the IRS.
PDF format has been a de facto Internet standard. It guarantees that the
image seen by
the viewer is congruent across all platforms. While PDF requires a viewer,
it is readily
available as freeware called Adobe Acrobat Reader.
PDF files have metadata,
such as XML tables of content and links, making images more
useful to end users. PDF files support security privileges, watermarking
and signing,
resulting in tools that exist to protect intellectual capital. Also, PDF
files can be streamed
by page, providing the responsiveness that browser users expect.
One significant attribute of the PDF format is the superior appearance
of the printed copy when reproduced using a high quality printer. Image
and text characteristics of PDF files
tend to reproduce very well under most display and output configurations.
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4. What is Acrobat?
Acrobat is the name for a family of document interchange products written
by Adobe
Systems, Inc. The underlying file format is the Portable Document Format
(PDF). The
idea is that any document you would normally print, you can now instead
turn into PDF,
which represents the exact appearance of the printed document. The PDF
file can then
be viewed by anyone with an Acrobat Reader. Text can be cut out of a PDF
file in Rich
Text Format (RTF) but the document cannot be edited in any real sense.
Since PDF is platform-independent, and reading and writing software
is available for a
variety of platforms (Windows, Macintosh, various flavors of UNIX), documents
can be
exchanged freely between users of those platforms.
As well as representing
the printed pages of your docu Acrobat supports additional
navigational aids such as hyperlinks, bookmarks and thumbnail views.
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5. What is TIFF?
TIFF (Tag Image File Format) is a common format for exchanging raster
graphics
(bitmap) images between applications programs, including those used for
scanner
images. A TIFF file can be identified as a file with a ".tiff" or ".tiff" file
name suffix.
The TIFF format was developed in 1986 by an industry committee chaired
by the Aldus
Corporation (now part of Adobe Software). Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard
were among
the contributors to the format. One of the most common graphic image formats,
TIFF
files are commonly used in desktop publishing, faxing, 3-D applications,
and medical
imaging applications.
Tiff Group IV is the image compression format most widely used in document
imaging
today.
TIFF files can be in any of several classes, including gray scale, color
palette, or RGB
full color, and can include files with JPEG, LZW, or CCITT Group 4 standard
run-length
image compression.
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6. TIFF Format vs. PDF Format?
TIFF and PDF are both "image" file formats. Many litigation
software products use
TIFF as well as many service bureaus. PDF is also a growing standard,
especially with
the U.S. government. So....which one?
Actually, either one. In fact, it's fair to analogize the connection
between TIFF and PDF
as similar to Word and WordPerfect files. TIFF files can be easily converted
into PDF
files, and vice-versa. Both formats will stand the test of time and be
universally
accepted.
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7. What are the legal issues surrounding document scanning and
imaging?
If done properly, the courts have upheld that imaging and scanning are
just as legally
binding as paper. Legal acceptability of document images depends on the
operation or
the business process used to create the documents. Aud ls are recommend
and are
used to prove that a transaction was properly processed by the organization.
Audit trails
also help insure document integrity and prove that the image is a true
representation of
the original. *OCR can create issues due to accuracy. OCR – SEE OCR information
attached.
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8. Are the digital images compliant with SOX, FACTA, Graham-
Bliley-Leach, along with other state and federal requirements for
document retention?
YES –Our Corporate Compliance Officer keeps our team up-to-date on federal
and
state regulations.
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9. Do you store the documents on CD, DVD, Hard drives, or
Customer Network Server?
ImageDoc USA Inc stores electronic documents on CD-R, DVD-R or external
hard
drives or will FTP to client’s internal network server, depending on clients
preferences,
needs, or policy.
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10. Are there any hardware and software requirements?
A computer with a CD-ROM, or DVD drive capable of reading disks.
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11. What electronic formats do you offer and can the data integrate
with our current software?
Yes.
ImageDoc USA Inc offers the following formats:
- Adobe Acrobat (PDF)
- JPG Images Only
- Microsoft Office formats: MS Word, MS Excel
- Single-Page TIFF Images
- Multi-Page TIFF Image
If the format you need is not listed, please contact us.
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12. How many documents can fit on one CD, DVD, Hard Drive or
Network Server?
Approximately 12,000 letter-sized, black and white pages will fit on a
single CD. A DVD
holds approximately 8 times the data of a CD. Hard drives limits depends
on the size of
the hard drive. The same for a network server.
Color documents and photos can also be scanned, but because they require
more
memory, fewer will fit.
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13. Can I add notes to the scanned documents?
Not directly onto the disk. By its nature it is a read-only medium. This
feature keeps
others from deleting or changing your originals and is usually required
if the images are
to be used for legal purposes. You can annotate or otherwise edit the
documents once
you copy them to your hard drive or other read/write media.
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14. Do I need special training to use a document disk?
No special training is required to view or print the d ments when using
intuitive
software such as "Imaging". Most computer users are able to
get results in just a few
minutes.
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15. What if I want to add more documents to my disk that I had made last
year?
We can create a new disk as required with the new files on them. When
we add new disk, we create a new directory disk update your file mation.
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16. What if I want another copy of my document disk later?
ImageDoc USA Inc can create as many copies as required for a minimal fee.
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17. What if I buy a new computer? Will it be able to read the disk?
The disks can be read by PCs and Mac equipped with CD or DVD drives, and
most new
systems have the drives included. Computer manufacturers have made their
CD Players compatible by having industry standards, which were established
by Sony and
Phillips over 10 years ago.
Some older CD-ROM readers (more than 4 years old) may need firmware
updates to
properly read CD-R media.
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18. Will my disk work in a DVD (digital versatile disc) player?
Most DVD players on the market are designed to read all standard disks.
Check manufacturer’s specifications to see if the DVD drive will read
CD-Recordable (CD-R).
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19. What if new technology should happen five years from now?
Will I be able to use my disk?
If you keep your CD or DVD player - no problem. ImageDoc USA Inc. will
keep up with
any widely-used superior technology and will offer conversion services
if and when
required for our customers. The format on the disks is generic enough
that the electronic
industry will be able to convert or use them for the foreseeable future.
If and when the
technology changes, you will have adequate time to convert them.
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20. How much does your service cost?
Pricing for scanning and indexing services is highly variable due to the
volume of
documents to be scanned, the nature of the original paper documents and
the additional
services requested. ImageDoc offers some of the industries best pricing -- call us for more information 1-888-570-1176.
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21. How do I make my documents "scan ready"?
Pack your documents into boxes the same way you would pack them for storage.
Tape your boxes with secure packing tape and we will deliver!
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22. How fast can we get our documents converted to CD?
Turn around time depends on the volume of documents, advanced notice,
and our
current job queue. Our goal is 10-20 business days unless other arrangements
have
been made.
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23. Do you OCR documents as well? Can you convert the scanned
files in Microsoft Word® format? What is the accuracy?
ImageDoc USA Inc does not recommend OCR, but can provide OCR upon request.
Accuracy is entirely dependent on the quality of the original. Claims
by OCR software vendors for uncorrected documents are 99.7% accuracy
with a high-quality original but expect average of 95-99% based on industry
experience. A document produced by a laser printer or printing press
with standard fonts on white paper is considered a highquality original.
Photocopies, low-resolution printouts, documents with non-standard fonts
such as script, and documents with poor contrast due to similar colors
of paper and ink, are all considered low-quality for the purposes of
OCR and will probably require
extensive manual processing to improve accuracy.
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24. What type of quality
control do the images undergo?
Images go through extensive quality control through our in-house Q.C.
department
before images are recorded to CD.
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25. Do you offer a searchable database of my documents?
A searchable database can be supplied in excel format. Our database (indexing)
consists of three to four search fields. Our goal is to mimic the way
you store the
documents in paper format. If you need extensive indexing, please contact
us.
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26. Do you return the original documents?
Yes we can upon request. All transportation costs are paid for by the
customer. But in
most cases, the documents are shredded.
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27. Can you upload the image files
to our server?
Yes. Please contact us for more information.
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28. Can you Bates Label?
Yes. ImageDoc USA Inc. uses third-party Bates labeling software.
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29. Does ImageDoc USA Inc. have a disaster prevention program?
Yes. ImageDoc USA Inc. keeps copies of all work performed on secure vaulted
hard
drives for 7-years.
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30. Once my documents are imaged, how does ImageDoc
US Inc. handle document destruction?
Our documents are shredded under AAA NAID certification. The highest
security
clearance in the shredding industry through the United States. Documents
are kept for
10-20 business days after imaging with a letter of destru proval signed
off by the
customer prior to shredding.
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