If you work in an office, then it’s likely that your boss has asked you to scan a document for them. It’s also possible that they have given you the task of scanning a WHOLE book. This is tedious and time-consuming work. Thankfully, many book scanners for offices and libraries will simplify your life by scanning documents quickly and accurately.
This article will provide you with all the information and research you need to decide your purchase. It will also teach you how to use your new device. The last thing any of us want to do is wind up with an unreliable product or one that requires a lot of maintenance. Let us look into our top choices.
What is book scanning?
Book scanning is simply the scanning of books. This may be to preserve the books or digitize them. There are two types of book scanning: destructive and non-destructive.
Non-destructive book scanning
Non-destructive book scanning involves taking pictures of the pages. It thus preserves the physical structure of the original book. This is the scanning that usually takes place. Overhead, scanners are generally perfect for this type of scanning.
Destructive Scanning:
Destructive book scanning entails mechanically cutting and or breaking books into parts to scan them individually. This usually involves removing the pages from the book spine and then scanning them. Flatbed or handheld scanners do well with this type of scanning—destructive scanning results in better images with better lighting and clarity.
Factors to consider before buying a book scanner
The first thing you want to consider is how much space you have. Do you have a big office and need one large book scanner, or do you work from home and require something more compact? Your budget and the functionality of the book scanner will also come into account. Let’s look at some of the factors you need to consider
Specifications:
The specifications of a scanner are perhaps the most important. These will include its resolution, speed, durability, the size of paper it can scan, and much more. You need to consider how many books you will be scanning per day, Are they colored or black and white prints? It is also worth considering in what quality you require these prints. Last but not least, the functionality needs to be suitable for YOU. You don’t want to be stuck operating a device whose operation you dislike.
Cost:
So how much does a book scanner cost? Surely more than just $100? The most expensive ones will set you back by $4000, but affordable versions start from over $500 depending on your needs. We will give you an option in every price range, so don’t worry!
OCR:
OCR stands for optical character recognition. With this technology, the handwritten, or typed, or printed text is converted to machine-encoded text. This is the feature that every book scanner desperately needs. If you plan to digitize any and all types of content, then make sure that your book scanner has this feature! Book scanners that can recognize texts cost more than $500, though. However, it is worth it. This ensures that each and every character sprawled across the pages of your book is read accurately without any mistakes.
Many book printers have OCR technology for more than one language. This means that it can recognize characters from multiple significant languages and ensure accurate scanning of all of them.
Another reason for the popularity of OCR technology is that you can edit the images you get from this. Whether revising any text characters or cropping and editing the whole image itself, you can do it all! You can even adjust the brightness and sharpness of the picture. This will ensure that you can create a more customized version of your book. Who doesn’t want that! Take an overview of available brands of OCR scanners before making a purchase decision, so you know which one would suit you best at each level.
Software compatibility:
The book scanner should be able to convert the scanned documents into a range of different software documents. This will ensure that you can store, edit and share these files however you like. If it is not compatible, you won’t be able to share it with anyone, and you may have trouble editing or converting it to any other format. A highly incompatible book scanner can become a problem if someone else needs these files and you have no way of getting them to the attendant person! This will render your work useless as well.
Types of Documents:
We know you came here looking for a book scanner. So we guess that your primary scanning concern is for books. But what if you need to scan some other type of document someday. Will you go out and buy another scanner for it? I hope not! It is always best practice to go for a product that can support several inputs. You should have a scanner that can scan your books and your resume (for example!). Just trust us and go with the most versatile option available.
We will look at several options available and detail their features, pros, and cons demonstrating each product’s performance. We’ll also go over what people who own these products think about them so that you can make an informed decision regarding your purchase.
Best Book Scanners to buy in 2023
| BOOK SCANNERS | RATING | PRICE |
|---|---|---|
| Fujitsu Scansnap SV600 | 10/10 (Editor's Choice) | |
| CZUR Aura-B Book & Document Scanner | 9/10 | |
| IRIScan Desk 5 | 9/10 | |
| iOCHOW S3 Book & Document Scanner | 8/10 | |
| Czar ET16 Book Scannerr | 8/10 |
Fujitsu Scansnap SV600
| Pros | Cons |
| High-speed scanning | Expensive |
| Can scan up to A3 size | Software sometimes malfunctions after 100 pages |
| Flattens book curves automatically |
Fujitsu Scansnap SV600 is a professional book scanner that scans books, magazines, and other files with ease. Its versatility is one of our favorite things! It can scan up to 300 pages per hour and auto-flatten the scanned images for high-quality results.
High quality:
This is precisely the type of scanner that would last you a long while. It has a sturdy build despite being really lightweight. It has the following dimensions: 8.3 x 15.1 x 6.1 inches. Not only is its build great, but it also has an admirable scan quality. It is especially good for books, magazines, and documents. I have to point out that it uses a black background, so it has issues scanning images that have a lot of black in them. This is usually only problematic with pictures.
Great for book scanning
This scanner is excellent for scanning books. Let me tell you why. First of all, it is an overhead scanner, so books can easily be placed on its surface to scan. Moreover, it has automatic flattening features that will get rid of the curvatures of the book in scanning. If you think that’s all, then you will be pleased to know that it isn’t. It also features a very easy-to-use scanning method with just one button push. Please note that this scanner is only compatible with Windows OS. Mac users steer clear!
Can differentiate between multiple items
You will be able to scan many different objects like books, magazines, legal documents, and receipts with this. It can scan documents up to A3 size. The best part is, it can scan and differentiate between 10 images placed side by side. This means that you can set the whole book under it, and it will scan it two pages at a time. How convenient is that! Despite being expensive, this book scanner is 100% with it.
Useful Features
You will find many valuable features in this product. The first is its page-turning detection. It automatically scans whenever you turn the page, so you don’t have to worry about giving it commands every time. Moreover, you can remove any fingertip marks from the scanned images. However, you have to do this one page at a time which can be time-consuming.
CZUR Aura-B Book & Document Scanner
| Pros | Cons |
| Very portable | Cant scan very high volumes |
| Reasonable Price | Doesn’t have undo option after scanning |
| Compatible with both Mac and OS |
CZUR Aura-B Book & Document Scanner is a portable and affordable document scanner that can scan books, magazines, newspapers, documents, and even photos. It’s easy to use and fast enough to capture your ideas anywhere. With the Auto-Flatten & Deskew Powered by AI Technology, you’ll get a consistent result every time. CZUR Aura-B has a large scanning area up to A3 size. It is great overall! Let us look into some of its details.
Reliable Manufacturer
CZUR is very popular in the scanning industry. Their products are known to be premium quality but also ones that will break your bank. This is great except when it comes to price. CZUR launched this model at a very affordable price, contrary to expectations. Since the manufacturer only lets out reliable models in the market, we don’t think this model will differ. It also has a one-year warranty in case there’s an issue.
Book Curve Flattening
Flattening the curves of the books is by far the most essential feature for a book scanner to have. Despite being on the lower end of the price spectrum, this scanner automatically flattens out all the curvatures in the book to give you a smooth scan. It features three lasers that can be precise and accurate. This ensures that you don’t have to unbind your book to scan it.
Portability and Ease of Use
This sleek book scanner is by far the most portable design on the market. It can collapse into a thin form for portability. Not only can you carry it anywhere because it’s so thin and lightweight, but it is also powered by USB. How great is that!
The scanner is beyond easy to use with the click of a button, also featuring a built-in light to brighten up your scans. The light has four temperature settings and is a splendid addition. Furthermore, it has a high scanning speed, taking only about 2 seconds per page. Hundreds of pages scanned in minutes!
Features
CZUR stole our hearts by making this product compatible with zoom. With the world still alternating between remote and physical modes of communication, this scanner allows you to transmit images over zoom directly. Whether you want to share some business documents or a book as a teacher, CZUR Aura B has you covered! Moreover, this scanner is also compatible with both Mac and Windows OS.
IRIScan Desk 5
| Pros | Cons |
| Video recording feature | Not big enough |
| Cheap | Hard to scan glossy pages |
| Auto flattening |
Incompatible with mac
IRIScan Desk 5 scanner is the perfect tool for your business. With its fast and accurate scanning, Booker Scanner will save you time and energy. It can scan any paper books, magazines, receipts, and other documents into PDF or Word format files on your computer. It has a built-in Auto OCR software that converts scans to a text file or image file automatically. The Booker Scanner comes with an easy-to-use interface, which makes it very convenient to operate. You can quickly start the video recording function without any delay by using a simple button.
Personal Portable Scanner
This scanner is not to be mistaken for a professional scanner. By this, we mean that you should not expect it to scan hundreds of pages in one go. It is an excellent quality personal scanner that can scan a good amount of pages with high clarity. You can easily use it for bound books, magazines, newspapers, documents, papers, drawings, passports, receipts, and business cards. The scanner is lightweight and easy to move around with the dimensions of 10.5 x 3.34 x 2.95 inches.
Good features
IRIScan Desk 5 features a built-in OCR technology that allows you to edit your scanned documents. Not only that, but it also scans multiple scans at once. You can place receipts side to side, and it will recognize them as separate files, saving them accordingly.
Another thing I loved about this product is its AI features. It auto-scans pages when you flip them without the need for a command. This is very time-saving. It also takes about 2 seconds per page, making it reasonably fast. The auto-flattening feature for book scanning is a life-saver! Having to unbind and bind the books is such a pain. Don’t you agree!
Built-in camera
Perhaps the most innovative feature of this scanner is its video recording capability. You can easily record lectures or videos using this scanner without people complaining that they can’t see the book. This is clearly a game-changer in the scanning industry.
Price:
Compared to other [products in the market, IRIScan Desk 5 is very reasonably priced. However, this means that you will not get everything you would expect from a high-end professional scanner. Just keep that in mind!
iOCHOW S3 Book & Document Scanner
| Pros | Cons |
| Auto flattening | Hard to use software |
| MultiScan feature | Videos don’t zoom |
| Very portable |
The iOCHOW S3 Book & Document Scanner is a portable document scanner that really scans documents and books. It has a 17MP camera for crisp text and images and features auto Book Correction that automatically flattens and corrects the curve distortion of scanned books. It also removes captured fingerprints from the original document, so you don’t have to scan again; you can just edit the scanned image!. The product is an inexpensive scanner that will fit the needs of most. It will easily scan a few hundred pages of a book. But again, don’t expect it to be on par with professional book scanners.
Scan Quality
the scan quality of this scanner is pretty good. It has nine built-in LEDs for a very clear and well-lit scan. This is because the camera and scanner move together to ensure that all book parts are scanned well. The scanner also features an auto flattening feature to prevent you from unbinding books every time you need to scan them
AI features
The scanner also detects whenever you flip a page, automatically scanning the next one. Its OCR technology is also top-notch, boasting an accuracy of 95%. You can easily edit your scanned documents later.
Moreover, you can even record videos using your scanner. This is especially useful when you have a class to teach remotely. How convenient is it to record lectures with books where the children can read directly from the video without even referring to their books? It is the future of remote learning!
Portability:
This unit is lightweight with great portability. It has a collapsible design that turns into a thin sheet for you to transport easily. This means that you can take it with you anywhere you go. All in all, this product screams convenience.
MultiScan
Unlike many of its competitors, this scanner boasts a multi-scanner feature which allows you to keep multiple documents like receipts side to side and have them be scanned. Not only that, but you will be able to view these documents separately.
Czar ET16 Book Scanner
| Pros | Cons |
| Compatible with Windows and MacOS | Somewhat Expensive |
| Well lit scans | |
| Fast scanning speed |
CZUR ET16 Plus is a new generation of the multifunctional printer. It’s not only a portable all-in-one device but also an auto document flattener while scanning.
It can scan A3-size documents at a higher quality than most of its competitors. CZUR ET16 Plus is compatible with Windows and macOS, has 186 languages OCR, which makes it easy to use for business people who are always on the go. You’ll never miss any important meeting or event again! Let us look into some details.
Great Build
This portable scanner is not only beautiful and sleek, but it also has great functionality. IKt has lamps on both ends to ensure that your scanned document is well-lit. The item dimensions are 14.26 x 13.83 x 5.87 inches, and a USB cable powers it.
Very fast speed
This portable scanner is the best when it comes to speed. It takes about 3/4 of a second to scan one page. It will therefore scan hundreds of pages in just unde4r some minutes. Its fastness does not compromise quality at all, though, and you will only get scans you love!
Great features
Unlike most of its competitors, CZUR offers OCR technology in 180 languages. This ensures that you can scan and edit books in English and all other major languages of the world. How fascinating! Not only that, but it also has excellent adjustability features. Right after scanning, you can auto-crop, adjust sharpness, contrast, thickness, and many other things.
MultiScan
Unlike many other scanners today, this one has an excellent multi-scanner feature that allows users like yourself to keep multiple pieces scanned together. Not only that, but each document can be viewed in a separate window, so it’s easy for sorting and filing purposes!
Specifications of a good book scanner
A good book scanner is intuitive and easy to use. It should also handle different sizes of books, recognize text in the language that it was scanned into (if you are buying machine translation software), and have an adjustable scan resolution. Let us look into some of these factors in detail.
Scanning Resolution:
If you are scanning a book, the highest resolution possible is not necessary. A good scanner should handle resolutions ranging from 100 dpi (dots per inch) resolution up to 1200 dpi, depending on your needs.
For regular content and documents, a resolution of 200-300 dpi is acceptable. For OCR and electronic archiving. 300 dpi is more suitable. 600-1200 dpi only has to be used with high-quality digital prints etc. If your office work is nothing more than simple documents, 300 dpi should be good enough for you.
The greater the resolution, the more time your scanner will take for printing. A scanner with adjustable scan resolution will allow you to adjust the settings to find the right balance between the time taken and image quality. Different prints require different scanning resolutions for optimum results – some need higher resolution than others to work.
Scanning Quality
When you buy a book scanner, the first thing that will come to your mind is what kind of results it can deliver. Scanners now have an ‘optical resolution’ or image quality. High-quality scanners can scan in high resolution to have the perfect tone, color, and lighting. For colored printing, color accuracy and tone is the most critical factor. You don’t want your print to be lighter on some ends and darker.
Book scanners support two types of scanning – double-sided and single-sided. Single-sided scanning is most common with books because it saves a lot of time preparing the book spine after scanning the pages on one side. It also minimizes waste paper when all you need are just the pages from the book clamped.
Scanning Size
The most popular type is A4 size scanners which can scan the general A4 size used in most documents. However, it will not be able to scan anything even slightly larger than an A4 image. It is, therefore, best practice to buy a bigger book scanner than you require. If you need A4 size documents, buy a scanner that can print A3 copies. This will ensure that you aren’t left in a pinch if any document is bigger than the other.
Durability
Book scanners use high-quality materials such as metal, plastic, and glass. Metal will make your scanner long-lasting enough to outlive you. However, it is more expensive than other types of material. If you are on a tight budget but still require durability, consider looking for scanners made of plastic.
Scanner life expectancy also depends on the number of pages they can scan. Your manufacturer usually provides this number. Some boast more than 5 million scanning copies.
Productivity
How fast can a digital scanner copy pages? A scanner needs to be quick to get the document scanned and saved on the computer’s hard drive as soon as possible. This happens when an automated scanner with a feeder is used to copy books or documents. It takes only minutes for such a machine to scan several hundred pages, depending on how well put together it is, how large its bed area is, whether or not it uses duplex scanning capability, etc. Therefore, if you need your book scans quickly, this is the kind of scanner you’ll want to use.
The fastest ones on our list can scan 100 pages per minute. However, most only manage 20-40 pages. You may think that automatic scanners are quicker than manual ones. However, this is not the case. Automated scanners are slower when scanning damaged documents.
Why should anyone scan books?
Two main reasons will answer this question: 1, digitizing for storage purposes, 2, digitizing for use online. In addition to these, there are many other purposes (advertisement, for instance), but we did not think they deserved specific categorization as a particular reason, in our opinion.
What are the Types of Book scanners?
There are three main types of scanners to choose from. Each one has its benefits and drawbacks, so you should know what each type can offer before making your choice. These are flatbed, overhead, and handheld options. When choosing a book scanner, you need to figure out what will work best for your situation.
Flatbed book scanners tend to be the most expensive, but they are also the easiest to use and produce the highest-quality scans. Overhead book scanners are on a track and are very easy to position accurately over books or other materials that need to be scanned. Handheld book scanners are, of course, handheld and can easily travel with you anywhere where you might need them.
Why use an overhead scanner for books?
The overhead scanners are the best book scanners mainly because of their versatility. The models on this list span quite a few price ranges and should fit into any setup.
Removing dust and dirt from books with an overhead scanner is easy. It is also easy to turn pages and get the pages adjusted for scanning under these overhead scanners.
How to use a book scanner?
Have your document open on the scanner bed.
Next, start the scan and move slowly over the book. The scanner will illuminate each page with a green light that can be seen through the pages of a book. This way, you will quickly see where to turn the next page to get it scanned properly. Keep moving slowly while scanning your document until it has been thoroughly scanned.
This process may vary with the different scanners that you use. You should look into the directions and type of each scanner. The process will significantly vary if the scanner is automatic or manual.
What happens after book scanning has taken place?
Once every page is scanned, a thorough quality check is implemented. This quality check involves examining every page of the book to make sure that it is readable. If one page has been passed over and not scanned, or if a mistake occurs during this process, your book would be rendered useless.
Once the scan is complete, you can upload it onto a computer or device for storage. You can also decide to print out specific pages using a printer. Many individuals do this because they want their copy of the book on paper rather than on a screen for easy viewing later on down the road.
Using an automatic scanner with high-quality settings, nonphoto blue background paper, and clean books with no writing in them will yield great results. With all these factors in place, you will get excellent scans.
The scanned version can be provided in many file options, including
- iBooks
- Microsoft Word
- Searchable PDF
- HTML
- JPG
- TIFF
Conclusion
There are many book scanners on the market today, and it can be tough to choose which one is right for you. We’ve reviewed each product in-depth so that your decision is easier. I hope our findings of what makes these products stand out from one another and some other things to consider when deciding which scanner will work best for you were helpful. Which of these scanners would be a perfect fit for your needs? Have you had any experience with them? Let us know in the comments below!
