The team here at Pearl Scan receive all types of scanning jobs on a daily basis – as you can imagine! As part of this, we also get a lot of large format scanning tasks too. So. if you’re here to learn about exactly what that means or what that stretches to (no pun intended), you’re in the right place. Let’s take a look at what large format documents are and how scan can be the best thing you can do with them.

For a start, these documents can be cumbersome things which makes them difficult to handle in their hard copy format. Storing them away in a wallet or filing cabinet isn’t an easy feat. More often than not, they come in bulk. Those that possess large format images such as architects and councils usually have more than one.

What is Large Format Scanning?

Large format scanning is where we take your large-format document and convert the physical document into a digital one. You’ll get the digital copy as a high-quality PDF, TIFF or JPEG file. Sometimes, if the large-format drawings are architects renderings or plans they can be converted into CAD (Computer-Aided Design) files, such as.DWG and .DXF, which work with the more popular CAD software such as AutoCAD.

All large format scan jobs need to be done using an LFD scanner. This piece of kit is a feed scanner which takes the large document slowly through its feeder collecting the data and the image as it goes. The resulting image is then converted into the format of your choice.

Sizes of Documents

Anything above A3 in size (420mm x 297mm) is usually classed as large format. Most large format document scanners, however, cannot take anything above A0 in size. But, this doesn’t stop us from getting the job done! Documents can still be scanned and pieced together using a large flatbed document scanner if required (we love a challenge at Pearl Scan). If your document is over A3 size it’s classed as a large format document.
paper-sizes
We’ve seen all kinds of documents over the years, lots in large format too. These documents have included architects drawings, children’s school projects, rare old Polish film posters, huge photographs and lots more.

The Benefits of a Large Format Scan

There are tons of benefits of having a large format scan done. For different companies, there are various reasons as to why they will choose this service:

  • We get architects contacting us because they need to make space, but want to keep hold of the documents. The most effective way to do this is to get them scanned to high-quality images then have the originals securely shredded.
  • Large format scanning makes the documents very easy to handle in digital format as they can be viewed on a computer rather than having to roll out a large document.
  • Having a large format document in digital format also means the images can be reproduced without the quality being compromised.
  • Images can be cleaned up so that the digital version is actually better quality than the original.
  • Drawings can be edited again if they have been converted to a CAD format.
  • Digital versions can be distributed and shared easily through email or made available on an online cloud system.

And there are many more benefits to having your large format documents scanned. Save money, time and space with Pearl Scan’s large-format scanning.

To find out further information on the large format scanning services that we offer our customers, get in touch with our team today by filling in the online form below.