Epidemiologic Studies

Los Alamos National Laboratory

According to the American National Standards Institute and the Association for Information and Image Management's Publication MS52-1991, "Recommended Practice for the Requirements and Characteristics of Documents Intended for Optical Scanning," the following guidelines apply when determining suitability for scanning:

• Paper Sizes Oversize (greater than 11" x 14") or odd size documents pose special problems for scanners with automatic feed mechanisms and should be noted.



• Orientation The preferred orientation for image scanning is with the lines of print parallel to the edge with the longer dimension. Therefore, documents, especially charts and graphs, should be noted as posing special problems.



• Paper Color The preferred color is white. Colored papers must appear as white for the scanner to see it. This will vary from one scanner to the next. The presence of colored paper should be noted.



• Ink Color The color of the ink should be black or one that appears black to the scanner. This will also vary from one scanner to the next. The use of light colored ink or pencil should be noted.



• Color Combinations Additional problems may arise if the contrast between ink and paper color is not distinctive. For example, the use of blue ink on blue paper should be noted because some scanners would be unable to see the text.



• Smoothness (texture, finish) Rough textured papers may jam scanners and the image may appear broken. Scanners also have difficulty seeing papers with a very high gloss (including some types of thermal fax papers). The presence of these types of papers should be noted.



• Thickness Extremely thin (onion skin or tissue copies) or thick (card stock) papers may not feed properly through some scanner feed mechanisms. These types of papers should be noted.



• Dot Matrix Printing Some Optical Character Recognition scanners may not recognize dot matrix printing. Others may produce characters which have a broken appearance. Use of these printers in production of documents should be noted.



• Type Style Many, if not most, Optical Character Recognition scanners will recognize only a limited number of fonts. Stylized type or script typefaces should be noted.



• Margins Information placed too close to the edge of a document may be ignored by some scanners. Documents with very narrow margins (less than 0.25 inch) or containing margin notes should be noted.



• Photographs Photographs, especially color photographs, scan poorly on some machines. These should be noted.



• Forms Most scanners can read forms if the areas to be filled in are free of anything which might obscure the handwritten information, and if the contrast is sufficient between the paper and the inks used. The presence of forms should be noted.