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Scanning is a modern technology with a wide variety of applications, from the checkout line at the supermarket to making a copy of a photo so it can be manipulated by a computer. While some people have been formally educated on scanning technology and understand how it works in detail, the layman just wants to know how to make it run. Here, we will study the basics.

All scanners use some manner of optic device to “see” an image. This can be as simple as detecting when a laser is broken. Motions sensors do this, but also the scanners at the supermarket. A weak laser is drawn over a bar code, and senses the white areas as broken by black lines. The length of each white area is represents a figure which supplies alphanumeric data to a computer, which is then checked against a database. As the transaction proceeds, a purchase is registered and inventory count is corrected.

Those who work in a store will be shown how to use each device by the manager. The process is generally automated; the cashier must simply run the bar code clearly across the laser and make sure the bar code itself is not scratched or torn. This of course is just a supermarket scanner, although it is one of the first scanners to become commonplace.

Most folks today have used a computer scanner. Even copiers now use digital reading. The principle is the same as a market scanner, except the optic device and the volume of data involved are much more complex. Rather than a laser, a photo scanner uses an intense beam of white light, which an iris reads. The same device used in a digital camera documents the image as the light passes over it, and compiles the data into a complete picture. The process is a more complete duplication of a document than is possible with a camera under the influence of ambient light.

The use of a computer scanner is straightforward, although it might require understanding of the software requesting the scan. For more information, check out about.com.