Scanning has become a daily need for most offices today. And just like anything that comes daily, we want this to be fast. This is where sheet fed scanners come in. They differ from regular scanners in that they are faster at their job.
You will find this feature in scanners when looking for them as automatic document feeder or ADF. This tells you that with this scanner, you do not have to manually feed in papers.
While manually feeding papers is not that much of a tough job, it gets tougher when the volume of papers is high. With an ADF feature, you can relax while the machine does the job for you.
This is how it helps to speed up the scanning process all together. To buy the best sheetfed scanner out there, you do not have to go far. Keep on reading, and see which matches your needs just right.
Comparison chart for top 10 sheetfed scanners
Image | Name | Resolution (dpi) | Dimension (Inches) | Special Feature | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Epson WorkForce ES-50 | 600 | 1.8 x 10.7 x 1.3 | Portable | |
  | Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500 | 600 | 11.5 x 6.6 x 6.3 | 50 auto sheet feeder | |
  | Epson WorkForce ES-400 | 600 x 600 | 11.6 x 6.6 x 6.3 | 35 ppm/70 ipm | |
  | Brother ADS-2200 | 600 | 5.8 x 11.8 x 7 | 35ppm (Simplex), 70ipm (Duplex) | |
  | Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 | 600 | 11.5 x 6 x 6.3 | 30 ppm | |
  | Epson Workforce ES-200 | 600 x 600 | 11.3 x 3.5 x 2 | 25 ppm/50 ipm | |
  | Raven Original Document Scanner | Up to 600 | 12.5 x 6.7 x 7.5 | 7 inch LCD touchscreen | |
  | HP ScanJet Pro 3000 s3 | 600 | 7.8 x 12.2 x 7.5 | 30 ppm/60 ipm | |
  | Fujitsu fi-6130Z | 300 | 11.9 x 10.7 x 10.4 | 40ppm / 80ipm | |
  | Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i | Up to 600 | 15.8 x 7.8 x 5.8 | 12 ppm (mono) / up to 12 ppm (color) |
Best Sheetfed Scanner Reviews
1. Epson WorkForce ES-50- Portable Sheetfed Scanner
One of the fastest and lightest scanners out there, the Epson WorkForce ES-50 will serve you well if portability is what you seek. Great for those who have businesses outside their offices.
Sometimes you need to scan papers on the go, and there is nothing better than this. You can simply throw it in your bag and you are ready to go. Being USB powered also helps in this case.
You can connect it to any laptop you have and it will be up and working. There is no external power requirement, making it even more versatile. Even though it is small in size, it can accommodate extra-long pages and has a high speed too.
You can scan an entire page in as little as 5.5 seconds. The smart tools are here to help you fix up your scans. You can scan, then review the documents to make sure there are no errors, and finally press save.
The Nuance OCR software helps with this as well. After saving you can convert your scans into PDF files. They become searchable and editable.
This is a very helpful feature because doing this manually will take a lot of time. With the OCR you can simply look up files as you like, and edit them too, all without the hassle.
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2. Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500- Best Sheetfed Scanner For Mac
Aiming to help you de clutter your workspace, the ScanSnap iX500 from Fujitsu will convert all your papers into a digital form for ease of storage and access. From receipts to books to old photos, you can scan them all and store in an organized manner.
The scan to cloud feature helps with this as you do not run out of storage space either. Simply scan you desired documents and store them to your preferred cloud service like Google Drive or even your desktop.
This way you can access them whenever you like, all in one space. You can also create searchable files using this scanner. When scanning numerous documents and photos into one space, this feature can really come in handy.
Look up your scans using the relevant keywords, and organize them into files as you like for future use. The intelligent scan correction is here to perform a quality check on your scans.
We all make mistakes, and sometimes end up scanning blank pages amidst others, or placing the papers in a tilted manner and many more. This function on the scanner helps correct these even after you are done scanning.
It will automatically delete any blank pages, and rotate or correct any document that is not in its correct state. Lastly you also have the double sided scanning. This lets you scan both sides of a page simultaneously, and saves time.
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3. Epson WorkForce ES-400- Cheap Sheetfed Scanner
Another great find from Epson, the WorkForce ES-400 is one of the more affordable scanners out there. But just because it costs less does not mean it performs any less.
In fact you get a wide variety of features in this that students happen to love. Let us start off by talking about the single step technology. This lets you scan both sides of the page in one go.
So instead of flipping sides manually, you can have a paper’s both side scanned simultaneously, and save a lot of time. This is also great for times when you have loads of papers to scan, and manually doing so can become a hassle.
The sheetfeeder holds 50 sheets. This lets you breeze through the papers in a whiff. You can simply set it up and relax, and it will be done before you know it. The high speed of 35 pages per minute also helps in this case.
Next you also get the much needed scan to cloud feature. Thanks to the numerous cloud storage options today we can store our documents whenever we want.
With the WorkForce ES-400 you can scan and then proceed to store them in your desired cloud storage- be it Google drive or Dropbox. Lastly the TWAIN driver makes this compatible with any software out there, which makes it even more versatile.
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4. Brother ADS-2200- Best Sheetfed Photo Scanner
The ADS-2200 from Brother is a good choice if you want a duplex scanner to organize your photo collection. Even though this is designed for SMEs, this can without a doubt be used at home too.
Coming with a heap of features, this device will change your scanning experience. All you have to do is connect this to your computer using the USB interface provided.
For the finest scanning results, this device features auto deskew, auto image rotation, multi feed detection, bank page and background elimination. These are here to make the end result flawless.
Because let’s face it we all have made tiny mistakes here and there while scanning. The ADS-2200 also lets you scan both sides of a page at one go. This helps to save time for when you have got multiple two sided scans at hand.
After you are done scanning, you can easily store them away to multiple destinations using this device. This include email, your desktop or even direct print using a USB flash drive.
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5. Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500
The Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 is a scanner of the future thanks to its one-touch feature. With its quick menu, you can start and end your scan with ease. Wireless scanning is also available in this device, also through the touchscreen.
You can now scan and store your files at any cloud location of your choice. This makes remote work more convenient. You also get the optical character recognition or OCR technology that is well sought after today.
This helps you organize your scans. You can search and edit them and convert them to PDFs for ease of access. Simply enter the right keyword, and you will be able to find your files in no time.
The auto image clean up does exactly what it says. It will quickly do a check up on your scans to make sure they are perfect. From changing the contrast to automatically rotating pages or deleting blank scans and cropping images, it will do it all.
This ensures the final scan is one that is precise and clean-just the way you should have it.
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How To Choose The Sheetfed Scanner
Resolution
One of the primary features to look out for in any scanner is their resolution. This will be given in dpi or dots per inch with the respective scanner. Most modern scanners today come with a decent resolution that gives you quite good scans.
The average you will find is a 600 dpi. However you can go higher or lower depending on what you need. If you are looking to scan high quality photographs or images or intricate details, opt for a higher resolution.
You can find some up to 4800 dpi today. Some even come with a 300 dpi. While this is not the best, this will suffice if text documents in black and white are all you wish to scan.
Duplexing
Duplexing refers to scanning both sides of a paper at once. Yes, we can do this manually, but simply think of all the time you would be wasting. For a few papers at most, it is possible to manually flip the page.
However when you are scanning in larger volumes, it becomes a tedious task no one would volunteer to do. Bottom line, manually scanning both sides makes work inefficient and wastes time.
That is where this dedicated feature comes in. With this you can insert your page, and the both sides will be simultaneously scanned.
OCR Technology
Sometimes after you scan, you fail to organize your files or look them up. This OCR technology aims to solve this problem. It makes your scans searchable and editable.
So you can insert relevant keywords, and find scans. This is a great feature for offices where people scan papers all day.
So many at a time means a lot of us lose track and mix up files. With OCR you can organize your files as you like, so there is no more mix up.
Area
The area refers to how big of a paper can you scan. You will find this in the product description of every model you see. This area requirement differs from person to person, since not everyone buys for the same reason.
If you are unsure, it is recommended that you opt for a large area. With this you can scan papers of different shapes and sizes.
Whereas with a small area you might face difficulties. If you know for sure however, simply look for the area you need, or a size bigger incase.
Final Word
In this article we looked at some of the best sheetfed scanners out there in the market. Every scanner in this list comes with an ADF making them a good buy. But they all have some feature that distinguishes them from the other.
Take a few minutes to see where those lie. The comparison chart is also here to help make your decision. You can also check out the other features you should have up in a good printer given above.
These are the very basics you need. And of course you can look for more depending on what you want, and what your budget is.
