Before home scanners were made commonplace in many homes, it was common to receive faxes that you had to sign and send off for important business matters. While fax machines are still in use for many businesses, this practice has long since been replaced by the scanner in homes. It is very hard to find a printer available on the market that doesn’t have an all-in-one scanning feature. Most people know how to scan a document, but here is a brief overview for those of you that are new to this process.

If you do have this type of printer, it’s very easy to scan a document. Likely you have some software that came with the laser printer, so you will need to install it if you haven’t done so already. If you cannot find the CD for your printer, then head to the manufacturer’s website to look for drivers for the make and model of your printer. Most printers available are HP or Canon, though Lexmark and Epson printers are common. If you still can’t find the drivers, Windows Vista or 7 might be able to locate them for you if you plug in the printer.

If you already have the drivers installed, then you’re ready to scan. Simply open the lid on the printer and place the document you need to scan face down on the glass. Close the lid and press the “Scan” button. It will take a moment for the lamp of your scanner to heat up, but once it does, you should see the light going across the printer. Once the scan process is complete, you’ll be presented with the image on your computer.

When the image is on your computer, you can then crop or rotate it as you see fit, and either email it or save it for printing. It’s a great way for regular home users to get documents to where they need to be, without having to worry about finding a fax machine to send copies of something.

Tags: , , , , ,