Canon Imageformula R40
Speed: 40 ppm (black and white), 30 ppm (Color) | Sheet feeder capacity: 60 sheets | Resolution: 600 dpi | Two-sided scanning: Yes | Connection: USB 2.0 | Software: Canon Capture OneTouch, Readiris PDF, Cardiris business card reader.
Best for: General scanning and having a useful set of features in your home office.
The Canon Imageformula R40 holds up to 60 sheets of paper in the built-in sheet feeder and can scan them at up to 600 dots per inch (dpi) resolution in color or greyscale. The scans are sent over via USB connection to Canon’s own CaptureOneTouch software, which can save scans directly to cloud services like Google Drive or Dropbox. Also included is the PDF creator app Readiris, which can also convert the image into text with OCR and save both to a PDF file. The scanner also includes the Cardiris software to read business cards and import them into your contacts app.
The R40 is a fast scanner. Canon claims it can scan up to 40 pages per minute in black and white mode, or 30 ppm in color mode, and the reviews by both users and pros show that this is a realistic number. What it can’t do is work with a phone or tablet, because there is no Wi-Fi and very few controls on the device itself: you can stop or start a scanning job, but everything else (including scanning mode and where the scans go) is controlled from the included apps for Windows or MacOS.
What the reviews say: “This was my first high capacity scanner (I had only used printer scanners previously),” says one B&H customer. “I love this scanner! It has made document retention a heck of a lot easier for me. The scan quality is great, the speed is great and the feeder tray capacity works great for my needs.”
Pros:
- Fast, speedy scans
- Canon software brings extra, useful features for optimizing your scans
Cons:
- No Wi-Fi connection
- Can’t work with a tablet or phone
Best Value Document Scanner
A Simple, Cheap Scanner At A Low Price
Epson Workforce ES-50
Speed: 10 ppm (black and white and color) | Sheet feeder capacity: None | Resolution: 600 dpi | Two-sided scanning: No | Connection: USB 2.0 | Software: Epson ScanSmart with Nuance OCR
Best for: An affordable option if you’re scanning a few pages at a time.
If you are looking for value for money, you can’t go wrong with the Epson Workforce ES-50. Well, as long as you don’t mind the compromises of this budget-friendly scanner, that is. It is much slower than its larger counterparts, managing only 10 pages per minute. It lacks the wireless features of its more expensive sibling, the ES60W, so you have to plug in both a power and a USB cable. There is no sheet feeder: you’ll have to feed sheets in page by page. Still, it’s a great scanner, offering 600 dpi for detailed scans in both greyscale and color.
The ES-50 includes software to save scans, and the Epson ScanSmart software supports OCR to convert images into text. It’s also a very small and light scanner, at just 10.7 inches long and 1.4 inches high and weighing about a pound. So, it’s also considered a portable scanner that you can pack in your bags for on-the-go work, too.
What the reviews say: “This thing is great. It’s easy to setup and use, lightweight and portable and the ScanSmart software gives you some good options. If all you need is a small little scanner for personal use, this is money well spent,” says one happy Amazon customer.
Pros:
- Small and portable
- Detailed resolution in both greyscale and color
- Affordable
Cons:
- Scans one page at a time
- No double-sided scanning
Best High-Speed Document Scanner
For Larger Volumes Of Paper And Sharing
Brother ADS-4900W
Speed: 60 ppm (black and white and color) | Sheet feeder capacity: 100 sheets | Resolution: 600 dpi | Two-sided scanning: Yes | Connection: Wi-Fi a/b/g/n (2.4 & 5Ghz), USB 3.0 | Software: Brother Scan Essentials
Best for: Scanning high volumes of documents in your home office.
If you regularly need to scan longer documents or need a scanner to share with your small business, the Brother ADS-4900W may be a more expensive document scanner, but it’s fast and can handle high volumes of documents. The 100-sheet document feeder and speeds up to 60 pages per minute mean it can upload your pages quickly.
The scans can also be sent to more places than most: It has built-in 2.4 and 5GHz Wi-Fi, so it can connect to your office network for wireless use. It can also connect to cell phones and tablets with the Brother Mobile Connect app. For laptops, it can scan directly into apps like Excel and PowerPoint. It can also send documents directly to file servers, email or cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox or save them to a USB drive. The flat scan path of this scanner means it can also handle thicker documents; photos and laminated materials will fit through here and can be scanned, so you can archive family photos as well as marketing materials or worksheets. Overall, it’s a great pick for an office that needs a flexible scanner that can be shared among multiple users.
What the reviews say: “It took a lot of downloading to get the scanner to do what we needed it to do for work, but once we got past all of that, this machine flies when loading documents. I have never seen a scanner go that fast! It does not jam and it sends the documents to the destination within seconds. It is heavy duty and very efficient,” says a B&H customer.
Pros:
- High volume load capacity
- Built-in Wi-Fi for a wireless connection
- Scans directly into programs like Excel and PowerPoint
Cons:
- Expensive
Best Portable Document Scanner
Scanning Performance In A Portable Package With Wi-Fi
Epson Workforce ES-60W
Speed: 15 ppm (black and white and color) | Sheet feeder capacity: None | Resolution: 600 dpi | Two-sided scanning: No | Connection: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n (2.4GHz) USB 2.0 | Software: Epson ScanSmart with Nuance OCR
Best for: Taking your scanning on the go.
If your business takes you on the road, you need a scanner that is both portable and flexible. The Epson Workforce ES60W, which measures just over 10 inches long and 1.4 inches high. That’s small enough to stash in your laptop bag, but it has some pretty decent scanning chops, with built-in Wi-Fi to connect to your laptop, tablet or phone and scan to any of them. It can run off battery or USB power, and the included Epson SmartScan software includes OCR to convert images to text.
It doesn’t include a sheet feeder, though, so you have to feed multiple page documents in one by one. It can’t do double-sided scanning, and at 15 pages per minute scanning speed, it is on the slow side. Still, it comes in such a portable and convenient package that these compromises are worth it if you regularly need to do simple scanning jobs like receipts or business cards on the road.
What the reviews say: One Amazon customer loves how easy it is to use the Epson Workforce ES-60W, saying, “The software is super easy to manage and the scanner itself is so powerful and quick. It’s a pretty high dpi for such a small thing. It only fits one standard page of paper at a time, so if you are trying to scan something outside of the dimensions of a normal page, you might get away with being able to scan it lengthwise. But if not you will not be able to scan it without jamming the scanner or damaging the document. I use mine for archival research; if you’re using this for home use (like scanning important documents) you should be fine. It’s super light and easy to transport.”
Pros:
- Lightweight and portable
- Reasonably fast scanning speed
- Intuitive software
Cons:
- No double-sided scanning
- Pricey
Why Trust Forbes Vetted
How We Chose The Best Document Scanners
We are all about the digital life here at Forbes Vetted, but there are times when you can’t get away from paper. We’ve tested plenty of home printers, scanners and all-in-one devices, so we applied our decades of expertise to pick the best document scanners. We evaluated many different models, read reviews from experts and users and consulted industry experts for insight on the most important features.
For our picks, we focused on stand-alone document scanners that produce quality PDFs and images, scanning and converting the result into searchable images. If you are just scanning the odd page, consider an all-in-one printer that combines a printer, scanner and even a fax machine.
We considered the speed of the stand-alone scanners, how they transfer the image to your computer and what features they offer to make this easier. We picked a best overall model, a high-volume option for those who need to scan a lot of paper, a portable model for use on the road and a value model for those on a tight budget.
