[gis_info] OWRD looking for information on large format scanners

[Flori, Joe]

Bob, first of October, we purchased a Cannon IPF825 MFP (44" plotter & 40"
scanner) mainly for archiving our maps, plats and survey records.
Extremely please with quality & output of the plotter (goodbye HP!!!!) and
even more so, the scanner.
I have good news and disappointing news but, despite all, *I would highly
recommend* this equipment.
Unfortunately, Cannon only makes the plotter and it appears the subcontract
the scanner, software and MFP linkage out to a company called Colortrac.
Colortrac makes the "SmartWorks" MFP & editing software for the images
retrieved from scanner and supplies a an Acer mini-PC they spec'd and comes
with a beautiful Viewsonic TD2220 touch screen display.
1) Costs you another $600 to acquire SmartWorks Pro which mainly:
   gives you the ability to scan documents longer than 8-9 feet (up to
30'±);
   allows you to create multi-page PDFs as you scan and edit;
   allows you to create a PDF/A file (archival PDF file) type;
   allows RGB color adjustment in image retrieval preview;
   lets you open & print non-SmartWorks MFP PDF files using direct print &
share (????); no display stand other than on top of the plotter.
2) *all* of the vendors we approached gave us bad information,
pre-purchase, which implies they were all badly misled as to the
capabilities of the hardware and software,  i.e.: we were told you could
put the scanner in a different location than the plotter but the reality is
you MUST stay tethered by a USB 2.0 connection to the plotter; you can load
the SmartWorks Pro software on multiple PCs but no one new you need a USB
software key to run the software; the supplied PC only allows you to
retrieve an occasional few images from the scanner, beyond that either
significantly beef it up or throw it away and get a more powerful one such
as Multnomah County did.

All of our frustration came from the software Pro version and the PC and
was caused mainly by intermittent USB header failures on the mainboard and
a bad USB 3.0 printer/scanner cable. (Acer replaced the PC in 3 days!)
If you do not need to scan documents longer than 8-9 feet nor create
multi-page PDFs on the fly, save yourself a lot of frustration and money by
sticking with the supplied SmarWorks software and not acquiring the Pro
version. Plenty of other, including free-ware, software will allow you to
take single page PDFs and create multi-page PDFs. If you intend more than
occasional scanning, the supplied Acer PC with Win 7 and an Intel Q87
mainboard provide a good base, stick your money into increasing the 2 GB of
RAM and if needed replacing the Intel socket LGA-1150 G3220 processor with
something a little more powerful. For $300-400, you could have a PC that
far surpasses these MFP needs!
Play with the image editing software and you will be very pleased with the
results but, for the price, why couldn't Colortrac save us some time and
provide a comprehensive manual for the tools?
     (P.S.: 44" plotter, LOL, where do you get a roll of 44" paper, LOL)
Sorry for being so long winded,

Joe Flori
Chief Cartographer
Columbia County Assessor's Office
230 Strand St, St Helens, OR 97051
6:30 AM to 4:30 PM M-W, to 4 PM Thurs out Fri
503-397-2240 x8419
joe.flori at co.columbia.or.us



On Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 5:17 PM, DENOUDEN Bob * DAS <Bob.DENOUDEN at oregon.gov
> wrote:

>  Forwarding Bob Harmon’s inquiry:
>
> *From:* HARMON Bob C [mailto:robert.c.harmon at state.or.us]
> *Sent:* Tuesday, November 25, 2014 12:41 PM
> *To:* GIS_list (gis_info at listsmart.osl.state.or.us)
> *Subject:* Large format scanner?
>
>
>
> Has anyone purchased a large format (~40”) scanner recently (< 1 year)?
> Anything good or bad about what you have?
>
>
>
> We may be replacing a Graphtec scanner that has served us well for a
> decade.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bob
>
>
>
>
>
> --
>
> Robert Harmon, GISP
>
> GIS Coordinator | Oregon Water Resources Dept.
>
> 725 Summer St. NE, Suite A | Salem, OR  97301-1266
>
> 503.986.0866 | robert.c.harmon at wrd.state.or.us |
> http://www.wrd.state.or.us
>
>
>
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