Thick Is In

Scanning large-format original documents makes it easier for companies to edit and distribute electronic copies, as well as save them to digital archives -- but many types of documents and objects, such as mounted maps, legal booklets, engineering drawing, architectural renditions, and posters that companies want to scan are too thick for traditional wide-format scanners.

"Architects, construction engineers and others have thick original large-format documents -- they need to be big enough to be readable in all conditions," noted John Gallow, Low Volume Product Marketing manager, Wide Format Printing Systems Division for Océ North America. "Graphic artists deal with things of all sizes."

To address these needs for reprographic, government and other users, Océ N.V. announced its new TCS4XT, a high-quality color scanner that supports thick and rigid originals that are up to .6 inches thick. The TCS4XT has all the features of Océ's TC4 wide-format color scanner, plus the new thick-original capability.

"Océ has a good track record for making products that solve problems in their reprographics customer base," said Tim Greene, director, Wide Format Consulting Services, InfoTrends. "They know this market -- high-speed scanning and production in the reprographics business."

Like Océ's TC4 scanner, the TCS4XT scanner does high-quality, high-speed, full-color and monochrome scanning. According to Océ, the TCS4XT can scan documents at more than 16 feet per minute in black and white at 600dpi, and at an exact 1:1 ratio, without any user intervention. To support the originals, the Océ TCS4XT scanner includes a flat 10-inch feeding table in front of the scanner, and a retractable 30-inch receiving table at the rear. A lever in the top cover of the TCS4XT lets users adjust for originals thicker than .12 inches.

Océ's new TCS4XT thick original scanner works with the company's TDS 450 low volume black and white, mid-volume TDS 700 black and white and TCS 500 color ink-jet multifunction systems, according to Gallow. "It can be added to these, or replace a non-thick original scanner. We may decide to release the TCS4XT later as a standalone device," Gallow noted.

"By having the ability to scan thick originals, companies are less likely to need to outsource scanning of thick originals, which saves time and money," said Gallow. "For service bureaus, being able to scan thick originals creates a new revenue stream opportunity," added Gallow.