Twin Imaging Technology provides a variety of
DOCUMENT IMAGING and DIGITAL ARCHIVING solutions for business and home.

Twin Imaging Technology provides the following conversion services:

1. Convert to PDF format (Image, Normal, Image with
Searchable Text) - Recommended for most applications
• What is PDF?
• Why should I convert to PDF?
• What is PDF Image, PDF Normal,
- PDF Image with Searchable Text?

2. Convert to TIFF - Recommended for larger enterprise applications
• What is TIFF?
• Why should I convert to TIFF?

3. Convert to Editable Text (Optical Character Recognition)
• What is OCR?
• What documents require OCR?

— WHAT IS PDF? —
Portable Document Format (PDF) - The PDF format was originally created by Adobe®. Think of PDF as a file printed to your computer rather than a printer. This printed file can be exchanged between any computer (PC or Mac) and viewed using the free Adobe Acrobat® software provided as a free download from the Adobe® website. Click HERE to download a free copy.

— WHY SHOULD I CONVERT TO PDF? —
The advantage of PDF is being able to share information across different computer platforms without needing to have a specific program (other than Acrobat®) or operating system to view or print the file.

— WHAT IS PDF IMAGE? —
When a document is scanned and converted into a PDF format, the scanned image is "embedded" within the PDF file. You will be able to view and print the file.

— WHAT IS PDF NORMAL? —
When a PDF file is generated from a program such as MS Word, Excel, AutoCAD, etc., a PDF normal file is created. Text and graphics contained in the original file are also contained in the PDF file while maintaining the same look and formatting. Text searches within the document are also capable in PDF normal.

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— WHAT IS PDF IMAGE WITH SEARCHABLE TEXT? —
A PDF Image with Searchable Text file is created when a PDF image file has an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) process performed. Special software is used to perform the OCR process. Once the process is complete, the text generated by OCR is "hidden" or placed "behind" the image. Searches can be performed using the hidden text.

— WHAT IS TIFF? —
TIFF is an acronym for Tag(ged) Image File Format. It is one of the most popular and flexible of the current public domain raster file formats.

— WHY SHOULD I CONVERT TO TIFF? —
TIFF is generally smaller in size than PDF and is ideal for larger enterprise imaging needs where storage requirements are a concern. When a document is scanned and converted to a PDF format a TIFF image is embedded within the PDF file. The PDF formatting allows more functionality, but requires more file size.

— WHAT IS OCR? —
OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. OCR is performed by specialty software and is used to convert an original hard copy document into a computer file that can be edited using a Word Processor program, Spreadsheet program, etc.

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— WHAT DOCUMENTS REQUIRE OCR? —
OCR is ideal for large hard copy documents that require editing. Retyping an entire hard copy document for editing could take hours. Once the original hard copy document has been scanned, the OCR process only requires minutes to perform. It should be noted that no OCR process is 100% accurate. The condition and clarity of the original hard copy document will effect the OCR process accuracy. Twin Imaging Technology uses sophisticated and highly accurate OCR software to perform OCR.

— CAN TWIN IMAGING TECHNOLOGY SCAN ON-SITE? —
Yes - Twin Imaging Technology provides on-site scanning services for the San Diego County and Orange County areas. An on-site service premium will be charged in addition to the normal scanning charges. If you require on-site scanning services, please contact Twin Imaging Technology well in advance of your project start date to avoid scheduling conflicts.

— MY DOCUMENTS ARE PRIVATE, WHO WILL SEE THEM DURING THE SCANNING PROCESS? —
ONLY TWIN IMAGING TECHNOLOGY EMPLOYEES WILL SEE YOUR DOCUMENTS. No information and/or images contained in any documents that Twin Imaging Technology has under its custody will ever be transmitted, verbally communicated, reproduced, distrubuted, or altered in anyway without the expressed written consent of the documents owner(s). Twin Imaging Technology will maintain your complete confidentiality. Twin Imaging will not scan material considered obscene, offensive, or pornographic.

— HOW MANY DOCUMENTS CAN BE STORED ON A CD? —
This can depend on the size of the original hard copy (i.e. letter, legal, etc.). A 700 MB CD can hold up to 14,000 letter size (8.5" x 11") documents (black and white-no color). Don't confuse documents with pages; a page may be double sided which contains 2 documents (front and back sides). Additionally, a 700 MB CD can hold about 7,000 b size documents (11" x 17"; black and white-no color). A typical file cabinet holds 2500 pages. Assuming all these pages are single sided, a CD can hold over 5 file cabinets worth of documents.

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— CAN TWIN IMAGING TECHNOLOGY SCAN LAB NOTEBOOKS? —
Yes - Please specify if you want facing pages as one viewable image or each page as an individual viewable image.

— MY FACILITY IS FDA COMPLIANT, WILL I HAVE TO VALIDATE? —
Validation of the imaging process is dependent on how the imaged documents and data obtained from those documents is used. Additionally, retention requirements of the original hard copy documents will have to be considered. Twin Imaging Technology employees have over 20 years Quality Assurance/Quality Control experience in the medical device industry. Please contact Twin Imaging Technology for further information regarding validation and validation consulting services.

— IS IMAGING 21CFR PART 11 COMPLIANT? —
Part 11 compliance for imaged documents will have to be determined for specific applications and specific facilities. Twin Imaging Technology employees have over 20 years Quality Assurance/Quality Control experience in the medical device industry. Please contact Twin Imaging Technology for further information regarding Part 11 compliance for imaging.

— HOW CLEAR WILL THE SCANNED DOCUMENT APPEAR ON MY COMPUTER MONITOR? —
Most high volume document scans are black and white and thus your image will appear similar to a photocopy on your computer's monitor. This same is true for a printed version of the imaged document.

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— CAN I PRINT OUT A HARD COPY OF THE IMAGED DOCUMENT? —
Yes - printing and is simple for both PDF and TIFF images.

— HOW MUCH SPACE ON MY COMPUTER WILL THE IMAGED FILES TAKE UP? —
A typical scanned image is 50 KB (Kilobytes). An 4-drawer file cabinet containing approximately 10,000 documents will require about 500 MB of storage space. Larger and more complicated enterprise imaging solutions will require server and other sophisticated storage schemes.

— MY DOCUMENTS ARE IN COLOR, WILL THE IMAGED FILE BE IN COLOR? —
High volume production scanning typically converts documents into a black and white (bi-tonal) image. Color image files take up significantly more space and take a considerably longer time to scan. Color scanning is recommended for photo scanning and specialty requests.

— WILL I BE ABLE TO E-MAIL OR FAX THE IMAGED FILES? —
Yes - PDF and TIFF files can be attached to e-mails as any other file. Additionally, many computers have the capability to fax. The file can also be printed and then faxed.

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— CAN I CONVERT AN IMAGED FILE INTO A WORD PROCESSING OR SPREADSHEET FILE FOR EDITING? —
Yes - see "What is OCR?", and "What documents require OCR?".

— HOW CAN TWIN IMAGING TECHNOLOGY SCAN SO MANY DOCUMENTS IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME? —
Twin Imaging Technology uses commercial high-volume sheet-feed scanners. The typical consumer scanner scans about 5 pages per minute. Commercial high volume scanners range in speed from 15 pages per minute up to 90 pages per minute and even more.

— WHAT IF I LOOSE THE CD OR NEED ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THE CD? —
Twin Imagng Technology will be able to provide you with additional CDs for a small charge. Twin Imaging Technology will maintain a backup CD of your imaged documents for 5 years. Additional storage time can be requested.

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