13 Best High Volume Document Scanners | Which is #1 in 2023 ?

We have tested the best 13 high volume document scanners currently available on the market. The devices we picked range from high speed scanners to lower speed ones, but still fast enough to process decent volumes of documents.

Also, we have taken into account the budget some users will have. That is why we groupped them in 4 separate categories, from really expensive devices to scanners under 1000$. So I think everyone will find something that fits both his budget and his scanning needs.

We will start with a table that contains all the devices, with brief structured information, and then we will go through each one of the scanners and see what they can offer. The info is collected from our real life tests, which usually are focused around matching the rated speed and paper handling. Also, we will talk a bit about the software of the scanners.

Click here to use this easy tool to help guide you through the scanner selection process. 

As we see it, a high volume or high capacity document scanner is the device that is reliable enough to process large amounts of pages in the shortest timeframe possible. This does not mean it’s the fastest document scanner, but rather it combines consistency with a high scanning speed. 

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How we test a high speed scanner

The things we take into account when testing a fast scanner are the following, in no necessary order: Speed, Paper Handling, Reliability and Software. 

We think that for most devices, these are the 4 critical pillars everyone should look at, before buying a really expensive high volume scanner. 

If you think speed, this does not mean it has to be fastest document scanners. It should be fast enough to go through large volumes of paper, but also maintain the speed consistency during the process. This means being able to scan fast not matter the condition of the batches of documents. 

Speaking of condition of documents, paper handling is another aspect you should taking into account. If your scanner can only scan paper that has been printed a week ago, and in perfect condition, this is not a high volume scanner. It has to be versatile enough to go through different paper types, conditions and of course thickness. We prefer using our specially designed test batch which we also use when buying scanners in our office. If it can’t handle the test batch properly, the scanner won’t be bought. 

Reliability is a big thing when it comes to document scanners, especially those that will have to run all day. A top tip here, always check how easily staples or other elements from the scanner can fall trapped inside the scanner. I have come to find out that this is the most frequent scanner destroyer. Usually staples go inside the scanner and on circuit boards, which of course will short circuit and break when the staple reaches 2 electric conductors which should not meet. 

Software is also critical, and it’s critical in a sense that the better the bundled software, the less will be required to invest in other scanner software. A practical example can be Fujitsu vs Canon. On the one hand, Ricoh Fujitsu offers Paperstream Capture bundled with the scanner. Canon offers Capture on Touch, again, free with the scanner. But what will happen afterwards is that most Ricoh Fujitsu owners will use the bundled software. Canon users will have to buy either a Kofax Express or an Alaris Capture License, to have a proper capturing software. 

Best 13 high volume document scanners

The table above does a great thing in showing which scanners does what and how much it will cost you. But we will breakdown the list in that table in the paragraph to come, and you will see which high speed scanner is the best one for your budget. 

Ricoh Fujitsu Fi 7700

The first device we tested was the FI 7700. We won’t lie, this is our personal favourite. It comes with both a flatbed unit and a high speed ADF. It’s not the fastest by any means, but the versatility is second to none.

As you already know, this scanner comes with an ADF that runs at 100ppm in simplex mode and 200ppm in duplex mode. This is a very good speed, but it’s nowhere near as fast as other devices. Still, when we ran normal documents through it, we matched it quite easily. We found that the paper feeding is very reliable, although the fact that you run the scanner with the documents face down, takes a bit to get used to. When anyone asks me about this, I tell them that there is a learning curve. But in all fairness, I love that I can feed documents continuosly, always loading the ADF during scanning. I did the same in our test, and manage to run over 10.000 documents without ever stopping.

Still, none of the above make it a real high-volume document scanner. What it does though is the Flatbed unit included in the scanner. It’s so easy to run mixed batches, that not even 150ppm scanners will match the actual productivity of this device. In our test we compared it to the Panasonic KV-S8127, as we had both in the office at the same time. The Fujitsu ran flawlessly, as it was easier to either feed smaller documents through the ADF or thicker ones on the flatbed. On the Panasonic Flatbed, it took too long to move around the room, because the 8127 is so big, we had to put the flatbed on the side. Also, we had issues running them in the same job. On the Fujitsu, it somehow comes natural.

We were on this topic in the last paragraph. What I tried to scan was 2 receipts, an A5 passport and also 3 hardcover book covers. Through the fujitsu, the first two ran perfectly even through the ADF. For the hardcover ones, we had to scan them on the flatbed unit. But as mentioned before, it comes so natural, just put the cover up, place everything on the flatbed, scan and repeat. Another key aspect is the fact that you can load the document face down. This really comes in handy with fragile documents as you don’t have to fill the ADF, just put 10 and reload while scanning. The process seems to go much smoother.

There are 2 main softwares you have to install with this scanner. First of all is the driver, which tends to be a bit of a software actually. Paperstream IP is a dream to use, it will compete with Kofax VRS any day of the week. There are so many options to choose from that I think it’s probably the best one to use at the moment. My personal favourite things are the options you get even with much cheaper scanners. On the FI 7700 though, the options are so many that it has solutions to just about any scanning issue.

The other software is the Paperstream Capture solution. This is a full on capturing software where you can manage the scans as the paper comes out of the scanner. Given that it’s being bundled with the FI 7700, it’s quite nice. It’s not on par with Kofax Express, but if you don’t have a really difficult scanning job, it will be perfect. I love how you manage the scans and move them around when needed. Also stopping the scanning process and getting back to it is quite easy and very intuitive.

Canon DRG-2140

The Canon DR-G2140 is the high end document scanner that Canon currently offers. It’s a really fast scanner, at around 140 pages per minute in simplex mode. Unlike the Fujitsu, this is a classic high volume document scanner, really fast, very good paper handling and also a very robust construction.

We decided to test this scanner based on what we think are its main advantages. First of all the speed. We ran a batch of documents in landscape mode, to be able to match the rated speed. I must say that the rated speed is easily achieived, as you would expect if you have used other Canon scanners before. For example, we have tested the DRG1100 before and the paper handling, starting from pickup of the documents to running them through the scanner, it was always near flawless.

Luckily, the DRG2140 keeps this aspect and in terms of paper handling, our test proved that you can definitely estimate quite well how much you will scan on a daily basis.

In terms of this aspect, we ran torn documents through the scanner. I must say, you should probably either avoid or set the scanning resolution higher, so you can slow down the scanner. Even Canon recommend using the flatbed unit accessory for this kind of work. I can say that mostly it will work, or for example we have selected the manual feeding mode to run them.

Still, you should use the flatbed accessory, or have it connected to the main scanning unit. It just simplifies things a lot and you can be sure you are very versatile when scanning fragile documents.

I never enjoyed the Canon scanning software. It’s simple, yes, but Capture On Touch does not really offer the things Kofax Express would offer. In our case, we tested the scanner with Capture on Touch, but I was always thinking that Paper Stream Capture would do a better job. As that solution is free on Fujitsu scanners, while Kofax Express would cost a fortune for this scanner.

Still, there is one element I do like about the DRG2140, and that is the network connectivity. It just works so well if you want to scan to a remote location in your network. I also like that it increases the file transfer in comparison to using the USB.

This is a really nice scanner. It’s very quick and feeds documents very reliably. And thinking that it works through a LAN connection, it makes it great to integrate over networks.

What we don’t really like is the software, which definitely is not fit for scanning large volumes. So you will have to buy extra software for it, like the Kofax Express, which will increase your cost. At the same time, the price of the scanner is not that big, so I guess it all evens out.

Panasonic KV-S8127

Yes, I really love this device. Although Panasonic has shut down its scanner department, there are still items left on sale at different vendors. For this device, we have tested our own equipment, which we regularly use. You will definitely understand why we love this scanner.

This is a full on production scanner. It runs at 120 pages per minute and it will do this happily all day everyday. There is no beating about the bush, this scanner is built like a tank. We use it for the most difficult scanning projects we get, and we throw at it dusty documents and different scanning settings on the fly. I especially love the 750 ADF which I always insist on filling to the top. Even in our test, I insisted that our operator fill the thing with paper. Still, you can use it for lower batches, as the ADF can be lifted to 3 separate positions, low, mid, high. This makes for a bit better efficiency.

This point I must say it’s not the Panasonics biggest asset. If you want to scan fragile documents, I really suggest you buy the flatbed option. Use this scanner for large volumes of office documents and it will be happy to scan them all day. But I always saw the CIS system not the best when it comes to running crumpled paper for example. The tolerances are just a bit too narrow for fragile paper, and at some point one will get stuck. I don’t really think it will brake them, but you’ll just lose time searching for it inside the scanner.

You have probably heard of ImageCapture Plus before. This software is quite a good scanning software, with just about any function you can think of. I could say that it has probably the same functions as the Paperstream Capture Pro, but it’s just a bit less intuitive. Things are harder to set and some functions are a bit difficult to understand from the get go. Still, the functions are there, and for most scanning jobs, you can definitely use this bundled software.

Just like the other Panasonic scanners, this is a top machine. It’s built to last and will work without fault most of the time. It’s just sad that Panasonic has decided to close the scanner department, they were always bringing out very good machines.

Alaris Kodak i4250

Kodak Alaris has always been a master of handling paper, and the I4250 is no exception. We ran the scanner with a full feeder, going slightly above the 500 sheet rated capacity. It worked flawlessly. I also wanted to check the mixed batches and how it would handle that. Again, if you arrange the documents somewhat on the middle, it will be just fine. Had no issue whatsoever.

One of the things I like about the roller system on this scanner is related to the document separation. The rollers seem to work quite nice and they’re arranged in a such a way so it prevents most double feeds. Even on thinner paper, which I always check during test, the scanner performed as expected.

The software on the I4250 is quite good. I mean there isn’t much you can go wrong with the Kodak Capture Pro. There are two versions that you can use, the free version, Kodak Capture Lite and the Pro version. The first one is free to use on the I4250 and it has really nice features. For most scanning jobs, we worked in the test with the free version.

Now, if you need the more advancede features, you have to pay for the Pro model. This is licensed based on the speed of the scanner you use. In the case of the I4250 it won’t be cheap, as this is a relatively fast scanner. But you can take full advantage of the document indexing features, which will save time and effort on your part. Which in turn means less costs and if you do projects where this is required, more added value services besides scanning.

Also, what I tried in this test was the data extraction feature which works with OCR. Practically you can automatize data entry so you don’t have to resort only to human data collection. The zonal OCR is perfect for situations where you have structured documents, as the system will automatically capture data from those areas.

Canon DR-G1100

While testing the DR-G1100, one of the main things we focused on was how the rated scanning speed corelates in real life. Just like the Dr-G2140, this Canon device gets really close to the rated speed. I honestly haven’t seen any difference in practice while testing 3 different batches. So, if you are wondering how the rated speed translates in real life, I can assure you it does.

One of the other things I really like about this device is that it comes with a 500 sheet ADF. This translates to less reloads so less lost time in the scanning process. I also found that the ADF is quite reliable, the one we have in the office rarely jams during scanning.

Even for different document types, thick or thin, you can throw just about everything at it. I also wanted to scan long documents which was always an interesting application for us. Except that it feeds document quite fast, we have seen no issue with it.

This Canon is really built like a tank. You will rarely see something go wrong on it, and even if it does, it’s some plastic bit that just got old with time. So what might set you back in buying such a scanner. Well, the cost is quite high. But the cost is high in terms of actual money, relatively, this device is actually quite cheap compared to other scanners on the market. It will be cheaper than a similar Fujitsu or Kodak any day.

But there is a reason for this, as the software on the Canon is not really the best one. Still, it will let you do proper scanning, it’s just that some features might not be available, especially the more advanced ones.

One of the things I noticed while using this device is the noise level. It’s actually a bit noisier than other devices, we have a Fujitsu and a Panasonic in the office. But I guess a scanning environment is inherently noisy, so this won’t bother everyone.

Ricoh Fujitsu FI 7460

When it first came out, the FI 7460 really caught my eye. It was actually the first real A3 scanner with a relatively low footprint. So when we got it for this test, we wanted to use what is the tightest place where this scanner would fit.

We installed it in the smallest place we had in the office, which was actually a drawer, and we started scanning. First thing first was the face-down scanning. This is actually very different compared to other scanners on the market, especially A3. It’s something that Fujitsu does to perfection, see the FI 7600 or FI 7700.

Even if the ADF has only 100 sheet capacity, because of the face-down scanning, you can literally run crazy high batches. I actually tested a 5000-page batch, and never stopped the scanner for reloading. And I mean never. At one point I was worried that the software might crash, so I considered myself happy and ended the scanning process.

One thing I really love about this scanner and Fujitsu in general, is the Paperstream IP driver. The features on it are so rich, that you literally can’t tell the difference from the more famous Kofax VRS. It has everything you need, from auto color to separation features, and even smart image enhancement that can make any document look impressive.

It also comes with Paperstream Capture, a capture solution with features that are usually found on high-end scanning devices. I personally love the indexing features on it and Zonal OCR.

Now, the cost thing is relative I would say. I think that for the features it has, it’s not that bad. But you might say that 60 pages per minute is quite slow, and you would not be far from the truth. Anyway, I still rate the device quite well and it’s the only entry-level A3 scanner I would buy.

Panasonic KV-S2087

Ever since the KV-S2087 came out, I’ve been waiting to test it out. Now that I got the chance, I must say that my expectations were more or less met.

The first thing I wanted to check on the device was the scanning speed. It is rated at 85 sheets per minute, which makes it quite fast to be honest. And it really scans at that speed, no questions asked. Still, one of the things that is not really good when you have this speed is the 200-sheet ADF.

I found that even during testing, the scanner goes so fast through the bulk of documents, that every couple of minutes you have to reload it. Some might find this a bit annoying to be honest, but I guess there is a trade-off for the high scanning speed.

But besides that, the scanner eats the documents without hardly stopping. And the versatility is quite impressive, to be honest. Even with fragile or thick paper, the scanner does really well at handling what you throw at it.

One major drawback I think holding this scanner back is that it has only A4 capability. So all in all you will be scanning smaller documents, but for a bank or insurance business, this will be enough. And the fact that it only scans A4 will make the scanner smaller than other devices.

Our bottom line after testing the thing is that this device has all the positives of more expensive Panasonic scanners, but with a smaller size factor. Still, for some A4 won’t be enough, but if you can get around this, it will be more than enough.

Ricoh Fujitsu FI 7280

Now we get to cheaper scanners that we think will help you scan high volumes of documents. We will start with one of my favorite devices, the FI 7280. While this thing is small, it has quite a large scanning speed. In our tests, we hit 80 pages per minute every time, so it does work in practice like Ricoh Fujitsu says it will.

Another thing that this scanner has which in my opinion is highly interesting is the bundled flatbed. Actually, the entire devices comes as a single unit, where you can mix and match documents on the ADF and on the flatbed.

In the tests we did we ran a profile in the Paperstream Capture that also integrates the flatbed unit. I scanned some documents on the flatbed, which I thought would only work on that. But in all honesty, I also ran them through the ADF, and to my surprise it also worked very well.

Just like with the Fujitsu face down scanners, you can reload the documents while scanning. I can’t say it’s as easy as with the 7600, but with practice, it will work very well.

Now to things which we are not very fond of. I would say the first thing is that the scanner works only up to A4 in size. This is actually nothing bad, but of course, it is something to be considered when buying the device.

The second thing is the ADF capacity, which is up to 80 pages. This means every minute you will have to reload the scanner. We found this a bit tiresome during our tests, but we managed to find a work around with the loading of the ADF while it’s scanning. This was actually quite a nice balance and in the end it wasn’t that big of a deal.

Now, getting to the complexity of the software. Some people have complained about this, but in all honesty, it’s feature rich and it can do really nice things when used to its full capacity. I will never put this in the negative, so the software is more than good considering the requirements for such a scanner.

Brother PDS 6000

Compared to the FI 7280, the PDS-6000 from Brother offers the same scanning speed. We put them head to head, but I don’t know why, for me it seemed that the Fujitsu was a bit faster. Maybe it has to do with the image processing and the driver, but it went through the documents just a bit faster.

Now, both offer duplex scanning, but where the differences start to appear is the included flatbed unit. The Brother doesn’t have one and it will not be able to do thick or special documents. Still, the paper feeding was actually really reliable for most documents, so for office scanning I guess there won’t be such a difference.

In terms of ADF capacity, these scanners are similar, so you will have to reload them every minute, if you scan at full speed. The reload while scanning was not possible on the Brother, I tried it a couple of times, but got paper jams while trying it. This I must double check and see why this is happening, but I guess it has a slower learning curve. In all honesty, I think this should be possible, but it takes some time to get used to it.

The software is ok, but it’s not comparable to Paper Stream Capture. It is such a difference between them that you would choose the Fujitsu 100 times out of 100. For me, PFU has gone a long way to produce a software that is both free of charge and also be able to do things that in the past only paid software solutions would be able to do.

Still, one thing to take into account is maybe a corporate account. Brother sells a multitude of office equipment, printers, video projectors and so on. For corporate customers, there will be some bundled packages that include scanners, so I guess you could use this to your advantage.

Sometimes they will offer you free maintenance and support for the scanners when you also buy other devices from them. So in this sense, it would not be a bad purchase I guess.

Canon DR-6010C

Last in this list is the Canon DR-6010C. And we want to see how it stacks up against the first of the two scanners.

I will start with what I don’t like, even though this is not really a good approach. But first of all it’s larger and heavier than the first two. And considering it is also slower, at 60 pages per minute, it seems there is not a lot going for it.

Another thing which I tested is the software and stacked it up against the benchmark which is the Paper Stream Capture solution that Fujitsu offers. The difference is significant and I found myself during the test automatically searching for features in the Capture On Touch solution which I expected for it to have.

But in all honesty, this is because Fujitsu has done such a great job with the Paper Stream that nowadays we expect this to be case with any other scanner manufacturer.

Going back to the DR-6010C, the driver is pretty decent and most features will be available if you have simple scanning tasks. I guess most users of this scanner will have it on their desk from a corporate account and for those tasks we think it will do a good job.

But compared to the Fujitsu, it’s miles behind, and given the possibility, we would choose the FI 7280 any day of the week. Still, the stacker size is pretty decent, the scanning speed is good and it offers the reliability that pretty much every Canon Scanner offers.

Bottom line on high volume scanners

These devices are designed for larger volume scanning and should not be purchased for 3-4 office documents per day. Speed is important, but it’s not everything. As you’ve seen, our favorite device is the Ricoh Fujitsu Fi 7700, and it’s not the fastest one. It combines versatility with good speed and perfect document handling.

Also, it features an integrated flatbed unit which eases the scanning process overall. In our test it recorded a perfect score when handling our mixed batch of documents. In all honesty, we could have ran them directly through the ADF. But we wanted to also test the integrated flatbed unit, as we have promoted it so much in this article. 

But if we were to go for something without a flatbed unit, I think the Panasonic KV-S8127 would be a good candidate. The quality of the thing is highly impressive. I mean, we always sit and watch it when it runs, relatively quiet and it just never stops. Plus that it has a large ADF, which means you can prepare documents between ADF loadings. This increases the productivity significantly, as you suddenly require less operators. 

So all in all, we would go for the Fi 7700, but as we’ve mentioned, the KV-S8127 is also a very good candidate for the top volume scanner.