Scanning

Most organizations that are intent on implementing GIS technology have data of their own that needs to be converted to a format that is compatible with the system under development. Much of this data is normally in hard copy format. As-built drawings include not only the locations of features that need to be vectorized, but also attribute data that needs to be incorporated into the dataset. There are really two reasons to scan available hard copy sources. First, it is common to scan documents in order to preserve them from further deterioration. Often these scans can be and should be linked to the features that are depicted thereon. Scans can be done in binary, grayscale or full color at a variety of resolutions depending on the quality of the original and the intended use in the system.

Second, documents that are scanned can be "registered" to the selected coordinate system of the GIS. When this is done, the scanned image can be overlaid on the remainder of the base data in the GIS and can often be used as a source from which vectorization and attribution can be accomplished. A secondary benefit from this is that the registered raster image can be preserved in a format that is readily accessible in the GIS.

Spatial Systems has been scanning documents for these purposes for fourteen years. We offer scanning of all size documents in binary, grayscale, and full color at resolutions ranging from 50 to over 400 dpi. We also offer registration of the resulting raster images as necessary. We also offer scanning of smaller scale documents, including film (aperture cards) based document storage systems, and letter or legal sized paper.