There’s a great new scanner out there, the Canon DR-S150 scanner. Looking for a scanner that has many of the advanced features of a production scanner at a fraction of the cost? Take a look at the Canon DR-S150 scanner. Ideal for medium volume scanning. This scanner was selected due to its speed, durability, rich features, and ease of use. This mid range scanner strikes the balance between robust scanning capabilities and taking up too much space. This scanner can help your business streamline operations without going too far into the deep end.
Scanner Features
Don’t let the small size fool you. This scanner is packed with features not found on many scanners in this price range.
Built in enhancements are Double-Feed Release, Feeding Retry, and Separation Retry. Those coupled with the ultrasonic double feed sensor make for a reliable feeding system.
The Canon DR-S150 isn’t a throwaway scanner. Replace the feed rollers after they’ve won out and have a like new scanner. They are a snap to replace. Maintenance is as easy as wiping off a piece of glass every now and then.
Durability
If you want to know about a scanner, ask anyone in a medical records department. Medical records departments dish out some of the harshest punishment to scanners I’ve ever seen in my experience. They scan documents of various sizes and shapes all day long. The volume alone is enough to make most scanners die from exhaustion. Sign here stickers, EKG strips, and post it notes are sprinkled throughout documents being scanned. Those operators become experts. They can tell if a system is jamming due to poor design or just the occasional bad original. All that to say, Canon’s feed system is by far the best in the industry in my experience.
The DR-S150 can handle 4000 pages per day. It’s max width is 8.5 inches. Length can be up to 118 inches. The weight tops out at 68lbs. Which isn’t the highest in this segment. Still, heavier stock can be feed one sheet at a time if need be.
Speed and Accuracy
Scan speeds are rated at 45 ppm. Which is toward the top range for this class. A single pass will capture both sides due to dual CIS sensors. Single pass 2 sided copying is one of the best innovations to document feeders in a long time. It’s faster. As well as saving wear and tear on originals.
Of all the brands I’ve worked on Canon and Xerox scanners have the most accurate OCR. The best OCR is accomplished through the hardware. Software may process the final product but the initial data comes from the scanner. The software can only be as good as the scanner provides. OCR is a technology that always has room for improvement though.
Canon certainly packed this scanner with the latest advancements.
Standard features include Character emphasis, color dropout, and background removal. It also has advanced features such as Automatic resolution and shadow cropping. Then the DR-S150 steps it up with two levels of Advanced text enhancements.
The on board processor does a good job processing scans. Especially noticeable for searchable PDF’s. This scanner doesn’t have the speed or capacity of a production scanner. Still the DR-S150’s speed is among the top of its class.
Of course there are documents which give even the best document scanners a hard time. Yet the accuracy of searchable PDF’s from the DR-S150 is on par with the production scanners I’ve worked on.
Scanning Operations
The large color display makes daily tasks easy. Streamline tasks by creating up to 99 user profiles which then accomplish routine operations by the touch of a button. Find those perfect searchable PDF settings for that impossible document? Save it with the touch of a button.
I used my tax forms to test the scanner. My test pages scanned successfully. They were quick and legible. The OCR picked up all the lines as dashes. But other than the OCR, everything looked good to me. My test pages scanned 1.2 pages per minute faster than the specs.
The DR-S150 has quite a lot of scan settings to modify during scanning operations. Skip blank page, pre-scan, auto orientation, MultiStream™, folio and card mode are popular ones. MultiStream™ allows for the creation of three images from a single pass. Choose different scan settings settings then have three different output documents. Get color and greyscale image files from one pass. Also handy when tweaking those OCR settings for best results. Note that this only works with software that supports MultiStream™.
Other notable scan operations are Prevent Bleed-Through/Remove Background, auto resolution, Shadow Cropping, and Text Orientation Recognition.
Advanced Scan Operations
Take advantage of the advanced features found in the Canon DR-S150 scanner. Many are found in production scanners. Such as batch separation, moire reduction, and two levels of advanced text enhancements. Batch separation allows one scan job to be broken into different files. Insert a patch code sheet where you want the job to break or separate pages into different files. Similar to MultiStream™ except batch separation uses same scan settings for all output files.
Active threshold is the default setting for eliminating background stains and enhancing light text. Most scanners have this standard. Canon further adds two levels of text enhancements. Advanced text enhancement and Advanced Text enhancement II.
The first level is based on a documents background. Such as stains, patterns, or a dark background. The second level is based on the condition of the text itself, assuming an even background. Both are designed to bring out light or heavy text for better readability. They can also be used with the standard character or edge emphasis.
Moire reduction is handy for scanning glossy documents. A glare can be picked up when you scan glossy photos, passports, or driver licenses. Carrier sheets (not included) sometimes help reduce this effect. This setting will eliminate those white clouds, aka the moire effect. Not a typical feature in this segment of scanner.
Scanner Apps
In addition to the feature rich scan driver, the DR-S150 comes with a suite of apps. CaptureOnTouch is a basic mobile app. Fine for grabbing a quick scan with your phone. But not much else.
CaptureOnTouch Pro is a basic scan app for your computer. This free app has a few more features. It can scan directly to cloud apps such as Sharepoint, Dropbox, or Google drive. CaptureOnTouch Pro also does barcodes, patch codes, zone OCR, and create searchable PDFs. Patch codes are included with the DR-S150. However, barcode module software is separate.
CaptureOnTouch Pro makes scanning is as simple as 3 easy steps. First select the type of original being scanned. Then select the destination. Finally hit the scan button:
KoFax VRS is document management software. The basic version included doesn’t have half the features of CaptureOnTouch Pro. No blank page suppression, barcodes, or auto orientation for example. The licensed Elite version however can create workflows. Which can automate scanning, OCR, indexing, and filing to a database.
Although CaptureOnTouch pro and KoFax VRS are free. There exists better paid versions of scanning and document management software. Also, the DR-S150 is compatible with that robust software. I will say CaptureOnTouch pro does make use of all the scan features so is adequate.
Network Setup
The DR-S150 can be connected to your network via WiFi or wired. Once connected to the network use Canon’s app to get scans to a smartphone or tablet. The Canon app automatically searches the network for the scanner. Which makes scanning via the app a breeze. While Wifi or wired connections make for convenient scanning, the USB connection allows for faster transfer. The USB 3.2 supports 5 Gps transfer rates.
NFC communications for security cards or direct smart phone connections is optional though.
Size and Weight
In order to do a more thorough test, I used my scale and ruler to see how it measured up. My standard scale revealed a whopping 8 ounces more than 7.44 pounds.
I also used a standard ruler to test it’s dimensions. The width was accurate according to my measurements at 11.4 inches. While height was a colossal .2 inches higher by my measurement of 9.7 inches. The depth was also precise in accordance to my calculations at 9.9 inches.
Summary
The Canon DR-S150 scanner is a feature rich scanner in a small footprint. A great scanner for the mid volume scanning segment. Very durable and reliable feed system. Speedy and accurate OCR. Some features only found on production scanners. The best scanner in it’s price range.
[star4half] 4.5 Stars!
The Copier Guy, aka Dave. I’ve worked on scanners, printers, copiers, and faxes over 23 years. When I’m not fixing them I’m writing about them. Although, I’m probably better at fixing them. I have certificates from Canon, Xerox. Ricoh, Kyocera, Lexmark, HP, and Konica Minolta. My experience includes other brands as well as several types of processes. If it uses paper I’ve probably worked on one.
