The best book scanning service for a library or archive scans bound volumes without damaging them, matches the method to each book’s condition, meets the imaging standard your program requires, delivers searchable files with the metadata your catalog needs, and checks every image. Smooth Solutions, a DMI company with more than 25 years of book scanning experience, uses V-cradle overhead scanners, robotic page turners and archival technicians, and delivers OCR-searchable PDFs and archival TIFFs.
Match the method to the book
- Rare, fragile or tightly bound volumes: non-destructive scanning in a V-shaped cradle, with a high-megapixel camera capturing each page from above.
- Large runs of stable volumes: robotic page-turning scanners that minimize handling.
- Books that can be unbound: semi-destructive scanning, where the binding is cut and pages run through a faster sheet-fed scanner. Only with your written approval.
What libraries and archives should ask
- Which scanners and cradles will you use for each type of volume?
- What resolution and color settings, and do they meet our imaging standard?
- Will you correct page curvature and shadowing at the spine?
- What file formats and metadata will you deliver: searchable PDF, TIFF, JPEG, bookmarks and chapter indexes?
- Is every image checked before delivery?
- How are volumes transported, stored and tracked while in your care?
What Smooth Solutions delivers
- 24-bit color or greyscale images in TIFF, JPEG or PDF
- OCR so every book is fully text-searchable, with bookmarks for chapters or sections
- Correction of curved lines and shadowing near the binding
- 100% quality control of each image
- Hosting in WebDocs, DMI’s simple, secure and affordable cloud document management system, if you need a place for patrons and staff to search
Learn more about our book scanning services, or read how book digitization supports libraries, archives and researchers.
Related: what to look for in a microfilm scanning service provider.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best book scanning services for libraries and archives?
Look for non-destructive scanning, methods matched to each volume, searchable output with metadata, and 100% quality control. Smooth Solutions provides all of these with V-cradle and robotic page-turning scanners.
Will scanning damage our books?
Not with non-destructive scanning. Bound books are scanned face-up in a V-shaped cradle by trained archival technicians.
How do we start?
Call 1-800-DMI-4210 or contact us. We can scan a free sample volume.
