Document Scanning
Document scanning is the process of converting physical paper documents into digital formats using specialized hardware (scanners) and software. It involves capturing images of documents, often with optical character recognition (OCR) to extract text, enabling storage, search, and processing in digital systems. This technology is essential for digitizing records, automating data entry, and improving document management workflows.
Developers should learn document scanning when building applications that require digitization of paper-based information, such as in healthcare, finance, or legal sectors for compliance and efficiency. It's crucial for creating systems that automate data extraction from forms, invoices, or contracts, reducing manual errors and enabling integration with databases or AI tools for analysis. Use cases include building document management systems, implementing OCR pipelines, or developing mobile apps for on-the-go scanning.