What is document preparation for scanning? and why does it matter?
If you’re considering digitising your paper records, you may have come across the term document preparation. At Data Solutions Group, we get this question all the time.
In this blog post, we’ll walk you through what document preparation involves, why it’s a crucial step in the scanning process, and how we handle it to ensure high-quality digital results, saving you time, stress, and unnecessary costs.
What Is Document Preparation?
Document preparation is the process of getting your physical documents ready to be digitised. This includes everything from removing staples and paperclips to sorting, flattening, and organising files for accurate and efficient scanning.
It’s a vital part of our workflow because clean, well-prepared documents scan more smoothly, ensuring better image quality and reducing the risk of errors like paper jams, misfeeds, or missed pages.
Why It Matters to You
As a trusted document scanning company, our goal is to deliver clean, clear, and fully searchable digital files. Proper preparation ensures:
- Fewer scanning errors and rescans
- Faster turnaround times
- Better quality digital images
- Accurate file organisation and indexing
- Long-term data reliability
In short, document prep helps us give you a final product that’s easier to search, store, and share whether you’re digitising financial records, HR files, legal documents, or patient records.
What Does Our Document Preparation Process Include?
When you work with Data Solutions Group, you don’t have to worry about the details, we take care of everything. Here’s how we prepare your documents for scanning:
- Removing Fasteners: Staples, paperclips, binder clips, and rubber bands are removed to ensure smooth page feeding.
- Page Repair and Flattening: We flatten folded corners and repair torn pages to maintain image clarity.
- Sorting and Organising: Documents are grouped by type, department, or date as needed for logical order.
- Size and Orientation Adjustment: Mixed-size documents are batched properly and scanned in the right orientation.
- Blank Page Removal: We identify and remove unnecessary blank pages to save space.
- Double-Sided Identification: Duplex scanning is applied where needed to capture both sides of a page.
Can You Prepare Your Own Documents?
Yes, but it’s not always necessary.
Some clients choose to do the preparation themselves, but it is more efficient to let our trained team handle it. We have the tools, experience, and quality control processes to do it right the first time saving hours of manual work.
Why Choose Data Solutions Group?
We’ve helped hundreds of businesses and organisations transition to digital with secure, high-speed scanning and meticulous document prep. Whether you’re a small office or a large enterprise, we tailor our process to fit your needs.
With us, you get:
- Professional document preparation included in your project
- High-resolution scanning with OCR (searchable PDFs)
- Secure handling of sensitive or confidential information
- Organised digital files delivered exactly how you want them
Ready to Go Paperless?
Now that you know what document preparation involves, you can see why it’s such a key part of any successful digitisation project. Let Data Solutions Group handle the hard work so you can focus on what matters, your business.
Contact us today for a free quote or consultation. We’ll be happy to walk you through the process and help you find the best solution for your documents.