NEW SCANNER:
Colortrac's SmartLF Ci 24 brings a unique new benefit to desktop scanning
The non-invasive SmartLF Ci 24 uses
no more desk space than its footprint.
See the clear desk space behind it!
Colortrac has released the SmartLF Ci 24, a 24" wide large format desktop scanner based on the successful SmartLF Ci 40, rated 4.5 Star "Outstanding" and "Best in Class" by BERTL, the US wide format systems evaluator.
With several large format scanners recently receiving BERTL 4.5 Star ratings, it is very easy to assume that 1]. a BERTL 4.5 Stars rating is the new wide format scanner average and that 2]. there is little to distinguish one make and model of large format scanner from another.
So, we wonder, does the new SmartLF Ci 24, a 24" wide format scanning device which BERTL has not yet evaluated, bring any innovation to desktop scanning, especially benefits unavailable in other A1 / D-size devices?
Our answer is a loud and definite "YES!"
First, a bit about desktop scanning and the alternatives
Light, portable and small,
the Colortrac SmartLF Ci 24
Graphtec has a very expensive 24" scanner. As it is not widely available, we won't confuse you with it as an option. Contex and Colortrac desktop scanning solutions are the only real considerations.
Contex, the wide format scanner industry leader, recently introduced a 24" wide desktop scanner, the XD2490. This is also based on a successful wider stablemate, the SD Series, which also has a BERTL 4.5 Star "Outstanding" award. In fact, Contex was the first to receive this distinction.
In the past, A1 / D-size desktop scanners did not exist except as flatbed scanners i.e. ones where you raise the lid and lay the document face down on the scan glass. With Contex now pushing the XD2490 as a dedicated desktop scanning solution, (it has no floorstand), the concept of a large format scanner on your desk could begin to take off.
Contex is promoting desktop scanning in general and the XD2490's "communications" capability in particular, all at an aggressive price. The XD2490 employs a typical wide format scanner design that uses a straight-through, rear-exiting media path. This places some limits on its practical use as a wide format scanner when sitting on the average office desk.
The Big Question with the Contex XD2490, indeed all rear exiting scanners that sit on your desk, is "where does the paper go?". As the scanned drawing must come out the back, does it go all over the desk? If yes, the desk must be cleared before using the scanner. Alternatively, some special positioning is needed. Either way, the XD2490's style of desktop scanning is neither as simple nor as straightforward as you might want it to be.
The SmartLF Ci 24 works quite differently. Like Contex's XD2490, it uses CIS optical imaging technology, the standard for scanning technical drawings today. However, it employs this technology in a completely different "clamshell" design. Here the significant difference lies in a front-exiting media path, a Colortrac innovation that breaks with all other large format scanner designs to bring a new benefit to desktop scanning, one where positioning and paper exit are unnecessary considerations.
Great advances seldom come without issue. This is indeed the case with the SmartLF Ci 24 which does have one small issue, the relative thickness and flexibility of the media it will accept. Although it can be forcefully argued that this "issue" is an irrelevancy for most CAD users, we would be failing you if we did not draw your attention it.
Easy come, easy go large format desktop scanning
EDITOR'S NOTE: The images shown on the right below are not drawn to size and scale. As a result, they may be slightly misleading in terms of the actual size of desks, scanners and A1 / D-size documents. Nevertheless, they provide a reasonable insight into space-related problems of using a rear exiting scanner on the average office desk.
Rear exiting media
occupies a swathe of
the deskstop. Where
else can it go?
The A1 / D-size SmartLF Ci 24 offers the same technical specs of 600 dpi optical resolution, instant-on, energy-saving ENERGY STAR compliance and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity as its older A0 / E-size stablemate, the SmartLF Ci 40. TheSmartLF Ci 24's light weight and compact size make it easy to transport to different office or site locations and use on any available level surface.
Most readers will be familiar with small format flatbed desktop scanners. While there are some very expensive large format flatbeds that work in the same way, the emerging, affordable 24" desktop scanners from Contex and Colortrac capture the document quite differently using roller feed mechanisms. Both feed the document in at the front. What happens next is the essential difference between them.
Contex SD Series and XD2490 wide format scanners use a straight-through, rear exiting media path. The document goes in at the front, is gripped by multiple rollers top and bottom and is fed out at the back where it can be released, held or returned to the front. With Colortrac's SmartLF Ci Series large format scanners the document goes in at the front, is gripped by a single solid roller and fed out at the front.
Front or back exit, that's the big difference. With apparently so little in it, you may well ask "where's the benefit in any of this for me?"
A solution is to have the rear exiting
media feed down the back of the desk - but
this frees up very little space however you do it.
In any traditional straight-through media large format scanner that stands on a floorstand, rear exiting media is easily accommodated by dropping it down behind the scanner. A1 / D-size scanners that sit on your desk can't do this. The scanned document must either come out of the back of a rear-exiting media scanner and travel straight across your desk or, if you have positioned the scanner especially, drop down the edge of the desk.
So, there's the issue.
Do you clear your desk every time before scanning or do you make a special arrangement to position the scanner and accomodate its rear-exiting media by having it drop down the table or desk at the back? It is a practical working consideration!
It is for exactly this reason that most large format scanners are supported by floorstands. When a desktop scanner ejects a large and cumbersome drawing out the back it can cause disruption to anything standing in its way - watch that coffee cup! When dropped down the back of the desk it requires special positioning which may not make the optimal use of space.
Either way, rear exiting media in desktop scanners takes up more space and or requires some special positioning.
Front-feed, front exit allows the
SmartLF Ci 24 to use up no more
desk space than its footprint,
leaving clear desk space behind.
The easy come, easy go SmartLF Ci 24's front exiting media path gives it a practical advantage as a desktop scanner. The document does not go out the back but is returned to where the operator is standing. It can be placed and used almost anywhere with minimal disruption. If placed at the more accessible front edge of a desk or table, rather than in the middle or near the back edge, your scanning activities occupy no more space than its footprint, the smallest of all 24" scanners. Wherever you put it, the desk space immediately behind the SmartLF Ci 24 is always clear and usable.
In the SmartLF Ci24's cleverer desktop scanning design there's no disruption to your desktop and no inconvenient need to position it anywhere other than where its most productive to use. It's our experience that front exiting media makes desktop scanning much more practical. In fact, we will stick our necks out and say that it is the future of large format desktop scanning. It is the more sensible design.
Despite providing the most practical argument yet for A1 / D-size desktop scanning, Colortrac has seen fit to support its the SmartLF Ci24 with a floorstand which gives buyers the option to use it as both a desktop scanner and or a stand-mounted one. Our guess is that most people buying it will choose to save some money and use it without a floorstand. However you decide to use it, front-exiting media makes this technical document scanner hugely practical. We have few reservations about endorsing the SmartLF Ci 24 but before you buy one, we draw you attention to the following.....
The pong of roses
There is a small but real issue with the SmartLF Ci Series' clamshell design which we must to some extent exaggerate in order to be seen to be objective and fair.
Colortrac SmartLF Ci 24's "clamshell" design
only accepts standard, flexible media capable
of being rolled around the drum.
The SmartLF Ci Series are what Colortrac call "technical document scanners" i.e. they are designed to scan your typical AEC, CAD, CAM, GIS drawings, maps and site plans as found on a range of standard CAD media like paper, film, vellum, mylar and even linen.
Because the scanner's "clamshell" design requires documents to be rolled around a drum, inflexible and stiff media cannot be scanned. This rules out scanning technical drawings on very stiff card and or rigid board. To do that, you are looking at a traditional straight-through media scanner.
Only flexible technical document media with a paper thickness of 0.012" (0.3mm) or 270gsm can pass through the scanner. On the face of it, this may look alarmingly thin but it is well within the range of almost all CAD drafting media.
Some questions - and vague answers
The natural question to ask yourself is "What if I need to scan drawings which are thicker than this, what will I do then?" Well, the answer to that question is another one! "How likely are you to need to scan drawings which are thicker than this?" The answer to this is "we don't know but if you are scanning CAD media, we guess not very often, if ever!"
It's true that 0.012" (0.3mm) appears to look mighty thin until you consider that the average weight of paper used for CAD technical drawings and maps lies between about 75gsm to 90gsm for most standard papers going up to about 260gsm. Please check the gsm thickness on your plotter paper if you question this.
The SmartLF Ci 24's
front-feed (top)
front exit (underneath)
media path accepts thin,
flexible media only.
The fact is that if your mainstream scanning is technical drawings on paper you are very unlikely to get drawings too thick for the SmartLF Ci Series. Having used the SmartLF Ci 40, we have not yet found a technical document drawn on standard drafting media that was too thick for it to scan. So, surprisingly, 0.012" (0.3mm) thickness or 270gsm covers all the CAD drawings we have, even those on mylar, film, vellum and linen.
Readers have every right to be cautious about this issue. However, we must point out that Xerox badge the SmartLF Ci 24's 40" wide stablemate under licence and sell it as part of a scanning and copying system suitable for AEC and CAD documents. Given their reputation as an leading solutions provider, Xerox would not have accepted the SmartLF Ci 40 had they thought its maximum media thickness too thin for the AEC and CAD market.
Finally, it must be added that the paper feed mechanism in the SmartLF Ci Series' clamshell design provides excellent grip of the media being scanned, contibuting significantly to its image accuracy.
What else does it do?
Well, as stated, except for its size the SmartLF Ci 24 shares all the features and benefits of its older, wider stablemate, the SmartLF Ci 40 range, Colortrac's fourth generation of CIS (contact image sensor) large format scanners. Internally, the SmartLF Ci 24 uses just three staggered CIS arrays to cover the 24" scan width.
Take the SmartLF Ci 24
to the documents, say
US distributor GEI - but
you wouldn't want to do it
like this!
The SmartLF Ci 24's maximum 600 dpi optical resolution offers all the sharpness needed for your scanning activities, from the 200/300dpi needed for low resolution archiving, copying and scan-to-PDF through to the more demanding needs of automatic raster to vector conversion, usually in the range of 200/400 dpi. Speedwise, against competing devices, the SmartLF Ci 24 is more than capable of holding its own even when scanning at 600dpi.
The maximum size of the document which can be fed through the SmartLF Ci 24 is 25" / 635 mm.) Being 16" shorter in media width and 43" overall, the SmartLF Ci 24 is a lot smaller and lighter than the SmartLF Ci 40. Weighing just 25 lbs or 11.2 kg, the SmartLF Ci 24's size and weight allows it to be easily carried. Colortrac are not pushing its portability, although some of its resellers are (see right).
Price
Desktop scanning is now a competitive market. The SmartLF Ci 24 Series reserves its most attractive price for those needing a monochrome (black and white) capability only.
Like all Colortrac scanners, the SmartLF Ci 24 range comprises three 24" wide models, monochrome (m), color (c - slow color) and color (e - enhanced or faster color). The Ci 24m and Ci24c models are upgradeable by email to any other model up. This will suit those on a budget for whom color is an infrequent need.
The SmartLF Ci 24m (monochrome) has the lowest price in black-and-white A1 / D-size large format scanning. The cost of a SmartLF Ci 24c (slow color) is the equivalent of Contex's XD2490 with faster color. The top-of-the-range SmartLF Ci 24e (enhanced or faster color) costs a little more than Contex's XD2490, Colortrac's only real rival in the 24" scanning market.
| MODEL | CAPABILITY | UK PRICE | US PRICE | UPGRADEABLE |
| SmartLF Ci 24m | Monochrome | £2495 | $3650 | to 24c or 24e |
| SmartLF Ci 24c | Color | £2695 | $3950 | to 24e |
| SmartLF Ci 24e | Fast Color | £2895 | $4250 | N/A |
Colortrac's upgrade structure allows you to spend less now while retaining the option to upgrade to color or enhanced color at any time in future should this become a requirement. As your electronic SmartLF upgrade key must be emailed to you from the UK during business hours, US and other users might experience a delay of some 12 - 24 hours before receiving it.
Included Software
All SmartLF Ci 24 models are supplied with SmartLF All-in-One scanning software which includes scan-to-file, scan-to-copy and scan-to-email options.
Options
Buyers have the option to purchase ScanWorks (Colortrac's acclaimed scan once-edit many scanning software) or CopySmart (colour copying software).
A floorstand is available at an extra cost of GBP £345 / USD $500. At present, no professional MFP (multi-function peripheral) high stand option is available to link the SmartLF Ci 24 to wide format printers. Some distributors may provide their own MFP stand solution.
Conclusion
The historic problem with A1 / D-size scanners has been finding a use for them. Their big downside is that they limit the user to scanning smaller drawing sizes only.
Larger A0 / E-size scanners sell in greater numbers because they provide a more comprehensive scanning solution to more CAD professionals. For this reason, potential large format desktop scanner buyers should consider their needs carefully.
Contex is making a case for its XD2490 as a desktop communications tool, a sort-of modern day fax machine for sending revisions back and forth as PDF files. It is underpinning its argument with a very attractive price. While the SmartLF Ci 24 offers a similar scan-to-PDF capability, Colortrac has not indentifed a similar niche application. It is simply promoting the SmartLF Ci 24 as a good, affordable desktop scanner with a real and unique benefit in its front-exiting media.
Readers wanting a desktop scanner need to define what their real scanning needs will be and how they think they will be using it on a daily basis. Simple, practical everyday benefits like front-media exit may be worth more than you know in offices where space is limited and desks are invariably as cluttered as mine. In my opinion, this simple but brilliant feature represents the future of desktop scanning.
For further information, please contact Colortrac:
www.colortrac.com
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