Large format originals are documents larger than DIN A3 (420 x 297 mm) such as maps, construction plans, technical drawings, advertisments and posters. That kind of originals cannot be reproduced with a photocopier or a flatbed scanner. They require special solutions.

The non-digital copy technology is just not good enough. The blueprint can achive outstanding copies but yet only in black and white. You also need a lot of space for the installation of blueprints and expensive ventilation systems. Analog copy systems that can handle documents larger than A3 are not available. 

The solution for this problem is digital copying. For this purpose, you need a large fomat scanner, a large format printer and a PC with copy software such as our Colorado software.

The scanner captures the original and forms the graphical information into digital data. Large format scanners must be wide enough to at least read an A3-original. Most large format scanners have a minimum scan width of 26" (660 mm) - far more than A3. Current scanners can handle documents with a maximal width of 54" (1320 mm).  

Apart from the size a large format scanner differs from a flat bed scanner in the way that the original is not placed on a glass plate but mechanically pulled through, where the neon-tube illuminates the original and cameras inside the scanner capture the light to convert them into digital data. Therefore the length of a document is irrelevant.

At the end of the digital copy chain stands the output device, the large format printer (formerly known as plotter). This device makes the copy by putting the digital data formed by the scanner back to paper or a different printable substance. The inkjet is nowadays predominant: From very small nozzles tiny ink-drops are squirted onto the paper. Current printers have a maximum print-width between 36" and 60" and can finish a line drawing of size A0 within less than two minutes.

The centre of a digital copy solution is the PC with the software that activates the scanner and transfers the digital data to the printer. Additionally to this, a professional copy software gives you wide possibilities to manipulate the original. These are just a few examples of what you can do with your copy: enlarge or scale, intensify contrast, adjust colors, create a picture frame, arrange the amount of copies,...

The technical term to scan a document and directly print it is "scan-to-print". You can also scan a document and save the data on your hard-drive without making a copy of it. This is called "scan-to-file". In this case the software compresses the data in a certain format such as TIFF, GIF or JPEG2000. After that, the data can be archived, sent by email or can be copied on a CD. Of course, the data may be printed out at any time - this is called "file-to-print".

The advantages of digital copy systems are multifarious: They are easy to use and give you high productivity with very low work expence. They put copyshops and service organizations in a position to print out large format assignements to increase their profit. Reprographic departments in industrial companies or authorities have now got the possibility to do their copy jobs in-house without the expences of time and costs.