Colortrac Ltd Information

Colortrac SmartLF large format scanners are chosen by discerning AEC, CAD and GIS professionals for their high speed, productivity and excellent scanned image quality for wide format archiving (scan to file), copying (scan to copy) and printing (scan to print) jobs.

No large format scanner manufacturing company has introduced as many brand new wide format scanning products in the last four years, let alone ones containing as much new technology and innovative breakthroughs, as Colortrac Ltd, a British technology pioneer now widely recognised as the fastest growing large format scanner manufacturer worldwide.

Colortrac wide format scanners use the latest CCD (charge coupled device) or CIS (contact image sensor) digital colour imaging technology. As such, Colortrac is the only wide format scanner manufacturer to recognise the merits of both technologies. All other scanner manufacturers use one or the other technology only and promote it regardless of any potential unsuitability for your needs.

The issue of "which is best, CCD or CIS?" is complicated by confusing claims from both camps. As the only supplier of both CCD and CIS scanners, Colortrac gives objective advice on the best scanner for your GIS and other needs.

The essential difference between CCD and CIS imaging is the following:

CCD - has a higher colour gamut and is better suited to scanning demanding graphics colour artwork where colour fidelity is required.

CIS - is sharper and is better suited to scanning typical technical drawings and maps, etc, in monochrome (black and white) or colour.

The sharpness of CIS scanners coupled with their more reliable image stitching should be an important consideration for buyers in the GIS market. However, if the accurate capture of original colour is required, a CCD scanner will do a better job. It should also be pointed out that for the majority of GIS users the differences between CCD and CIS will be minimal. It will probably not be possible to see any differences with the naked eye. You will need to zoom in several times before the differences become apparent. At this level, the main buying consideration becomes one of price, not performance. Pricewise, CIS scanners are more affordable.

Colortrac excel at price and performance!

Colortrac SmartLF large format scanners cover the full range of professional paper sizes, from A1 / D-size scanners and smaller through to standard A0 / E-size scanners and even oversize. Wide format scanners are available in a range of image widths from 25" to 40", 42" and 56". All Colortrac large format scanners are available in m, c and e scanner models. (m - monochrome only; c - monochrome and colour; e - monochrome and fast colour). Colortrac scanners are upgradeable on-site from one model to another by email.

Colortrac scanners are fast and accurate. Colortrac SmartLF Cx 40 (CIS) scanners have 600 dpi optical resolution, higher than the industry standard, with 3600 dpi interpolated. Colortrac SmartLF Gx 25 and 42 (CCD) models scan at up to 1200 dpi optical resolution while saving 600 dpi optical and 9600 interpolated.

The introduction of 1200 dpi optical technology is just one of many innovative Colortrac "first". In fact, as the Colortrac name suggests, Colortrac pioneered large format colour scanning during the 1990s and were the first to introduce this technology. Perhaps more important to you is Price and Performance. Colortrac is fully committed to offering unrivalled price and performance benefits.

Colortrac is a pioneer in cost-effective colour and monochrome wide format scanners. Colortrac were the first manufacturer to deliver affordable, sub-£5000, A0 digital image capture for large format colour copying and wide format archiving applications for graphic arts, construction, engineering, GIS and mapping. The Colortrac SmartLF Gx 25 offers A1 colour scanning from under £4000.

Without software large format scanners would be lumps of glass and steel. Colortrac includes free SmartLF wide format scanning, copying and printing software with all its scanners. However, two outstanding low cost software products are available as paid-for options. These add a complete and unique set of professional software tools for wide format scanning, copying and printing.

ScanWorks is the only scanning software to offer "scan once, edit many" technology. This allows users to work "on-the-fly" as they do in CAD programs. Simply, the user scans the drawing once and edits it in real time as often as needed. ScanWorks is the only scanning software that does this. Rival scanning software requires repeated "rocker mode" rescanning to make edits.

Cadalyst magazine (01/04/2007) described ScanWorks thresholding - the ability to clean and remove dirty backgrounds dynamically while strengthening foreground drawing detail - as "another area in which ScanWorks excels... the adaptive threshold settings make it a joy to improve the images - and it also provides the best results".

Colortrac's CopySmart software is designed to allow quick prints to be made direct from the scanner to popular wide format printers. Recent improvements have greatly improved the quality of its colour capture and print. Demanding color graphics professionals will be pleased to discover that CopySmart supports the popular X-rite i1 spectrophotometer. This allows state-of-the-art colour accuracy in matching the print to the original. For the majority of Colortrac scanner users, however, CopySmart, even the free SmartLF, will give great scan-to-print results straight out of the box without any added complications.

If you want to invest in top class scanned image quality based on unbeatable price and performance from an acknowledged industry innovator offering the only true choice of digital imaging technology, only one company can tick all these boxes - Colortrac!

Two technologies, one concept - Colortrac SmartLF.

We hope this "advertorial" has provided you with some useful information, not just another mere sales puff! Colortrac's aim is to always provide you with a source of good advice. As the only supplier of both CCD and CIS large format scanners, we can afford to do that!