The higher quality the scanner, the better the image it will produce. Accurately scanned images create less errors, so you get faster more accurate results.

If you're processing a small number of documents, it's always worth having a quick look to check for anything that might cause a problem. For example, badly distorted images, correction fluid, folded pages etc. If you're processing large batches, it's essential that you check the scanner too. A small amount of correction fluid on the glass could cause an error on every single page that you process.

This is the optimum resolution for representing a normal sized character. It provides just the right balance between accuracy and efficiency. If the resolution is too low then the characters will be difficult to recognize. If it's too high, processing time will increase and you'll use more storage space.

Some scanners have built in filters to handle photo images and text differently. Using these filters will help produce a more accurate and readable image.

Using colour or grey scale can increase the image file size by 10 to 50 times. To keep the amount of data being processed and stored to a minimum, always scan in black and white where possible.

Sectioning allows any columns in the text to be recognized and read as a column. For example, if you have three columns next to each other, rather than seeing the top line of each column as a single sentence that has been broken up into three parts, it sees it as the top line of a column and reads down accordingly. If there are any tables in the document, they will need to be read left to right. The sectioning feature will sometimes read a table as columns unless it is turned off.

Some OCR engines will suggest alternatives for each error discovered (TOCR will return up to 4 alternatives for each character found ). If you know that certain areas of the page can only contain certain characters (digits, for example) then post process to ensure the correct output.