Scanning in the firm: settings that later save OCR and portals

The best OCR engine cannot rescue a hopelessly dark scan. Document quality therefore begins at the scanner feeder - or on the phone when a site visit has no flatbed. For firms, a short mandatory scan standard beats expensive rescue work on every matter.

Baseline settings that pay

For text pages, 300 dpi is a sound default; below 200 dpi small digits and footnotes suffer. Greyscale often suffices for pleadings and judgments; keep colour when stamps, markings or photo evidence matter. Choose simplex versus duplex deliberately: blank backs inflate bundles and portal limits.

Load pages straight, remove staples, flatten heavy creases. It sounds basic and prevents half of all deskew debates.

Desk checklist

• 300 dpi default for text; higher only when needed (tiny type, plans).
• Colour only when content requires it; otherwise greyscale.
• Remove blank backs or set duplex rules.
• Apply the matter reference in the filename immediately.
• Spot-check early pages before the stack ends.
• Phone photos: parallel to the page, no heavy shadow, enough light.

Phone versus office scanner

Site visits often produce the worst sources. A short guide for clients or juniors (light, distance, avoid HDR chaos, one page per photo) improves intake. In the office, clean feed scanners regularly; stripes on every page are not a “PDF problem”.

After scanning: fix orientation, then OCR or merge. LexLogik can enhance and recognise weak sources in the browser - it does not replace a clean first scan when that was possible.

Device care and fallback paths

Dirty feed rollers create stripes no software elegantly removes. Set cleaning intervals. Define a fallback for outage days so deadlines do not hang on hardware.

Test vendor document modes on real judgment copies. Juniors should walk the scan standard once under supervision in week one.

Site visits often produce the worst sources. A short guide on light, distance and one page per photo improves intake.

Shared ownership

Assistants scan; counsel reviews substance - but quality rules belong to both. Recurring defects deserve a weekly short feedback loop, not silent frustration before the portal.

Scanner profile per source type

Define profiles for text pages, colour evidence and plans (dpi, colour/grey, duplex). Assistants pick a profile instead of free experiments. Later OCR and portal pain drops when the source is right from the start.

Glass plate and margin care

Dirty glass and tight margins create artefacts no engine reliably fixes. Weekly cleaning and a few millimetres of margin around text are boring, high-impact rules. Do not shoot problem originals at an angle on a phone when a flatbed is available. The best OCR starts at the scanner.

Calibrate scanners after service or move with a test page (fine lines, small digits, grey wedge). Without calibration, profiles drift quietly. Five minutes on a test page save hours of matter rework.

Scan settings decide OCR hits and portal readability long before upload. Adequate resolution, correct colour and clean orientation are matter quality, not tech hobbyism. Maintain profiles and you cut rework on dark copies and skewed stacks.