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REVIEW:

Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40 large format scanner

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First Impressions


The Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40
fits on small worktables in
small messy offices.


The Ci 40 with its lid open,
exposing its single long white
roller.

The Colortrac SmartLF Ci 40 is compact and light to carry - in fact it is the lightest scanner currently available, at just 49 lbs / 22 kg. As with the other scanners we have reviewed, we placed the Ci 40 on a small workspace in our cramped office. It has an unobtrusive presence in a small space.

The Ci 40 is supplied with all necessary cables, calibration sheet, software and a printed Installation and Operation Manual. Using the Installation and Operation Manual we were able to easily set the scanner up and install the scanner drivers.

To raise the lid for cleaning purposes two buttons at either end of the Ci 40's hood must be pressed down first, hard. In the pre-production unit we received, the lid was quite difficult to open and close again. In its production (for sale) model, Colortrac has redesigned the lid opening mechanism to make this much easier.

When opened, the lid peels back behind the scanner, exposing the Ci 40's single, long large diameter roller. This gives rise to Colortrac's description of it as a "clamshell design". Documents are fed into the front of the scanner, fed around the roller, and ejected back out of the front of the scanner. This mode of paper transport - a throwback to the ANA Tech Eagle 3840 scanner of the late 1990s - is unique among today's scanners. (ANA Tech was acquired by Colortrac in 1999.)

The Ci 40's front paper exit is particularly handy when it is placed on a workspace with a wall behind it and with no real space for a drawing exiting from the rear of a scanner to go. Front paper exit also makes for more effortless document collection as there is no need to reach behind the scanner.

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