Document Scanning Project Plan: What to Include Before Conversion

A document scanning project plan helps an organization decide what to digitize, how the resulting files should be organized, and what must happen to the original records after conversion. Without that planning, a scanning project can produce thousands of digital files that are technically complete but difficult for employees to search, manage, or use.

The most important decisions often happen before the first page is scanned. Your organization must identify which records are included, who needs access, how files should be named or indexed, what quality standards apply, and where the completed information will be stored.

A well-defined plan also gives prospective scanning providers enough information to recommend an appropriate process and prepare a more accurate project scope. For organizations considering KDI’s scanning and conversion services through our IMR Digital division, this preparation can help determine whether the project calls for backfile scanning, day-forward scanning, specialty document conversion, scan-on-demand services, or a phased approach.

The following steps will help your team prepare for a more organized scanning and conversion project.

What Should a Document Scanning Project Accomplish?

Begin by defining the business outcome, not the scanning technology.

Scanning documents is a means of making information more accessible and manageable. It is not the final objective. Your organization should be able to explain what will improve after the records become digital.

Common project goals include:

• Making archived records easier to retrieve
• Reducing dependence on physical filing rooms
• Supporting an office relocation or space-reduction project
• Preserving fragile or historically significant materials
• Preparing documents for an enterprise content management system
• Making approved records available to remote or distributed employees
• Reducing the time employees spend looking through boxes and file cabinets
• Creating a day-forward process for newly received documents
• Supporting a broader workflow automation initiative

A project may have more than one goal, but those goals should be prioritized. A legal department digitizing closed case files may care most about retrieval accuracy and retention controls. An engineering firm converting drawings may place more emphasis on image detail, dimensions, and file organization. A municipality digitizing public records may need to consider access requests, department-level indexing, and long-term records management.

Identify who will use the converted records

The intended users should influence nearly every planning decision.

Ask which employees, departments, or authorized external parties will need access. Determine how frequently they retrieve the records and what information they normally know when searching.

For example, an employee may look for a file by:

• Client or customer name
• Account number
• Employee name
• Property address
• Case number
• Project number
• Document type
• Service date
• Invoice number
• Year or date range

These common search behaviors can help define file names, folders, metadata fields, and indexing requirements.

A records archive that is rarely accessed may need a relatively simple structure. Active operational documents may require more detailed indexing so employees can locate information quickly and consistently.

Separate immediate needs from future workflow goals

Your immediate goal may be to convert stored paper, but the digitized information could later support other processes.

For example, scanned documents may eventually be imported into an enterprise content management system, connected to an approval process, or incorporated into automated document workflows.

Discussing future plans early can prevent decisions that limit the usefulness of the converted files. Your organization may not be ready to automate a workflow today, but it can still select file formats, indexing fields, and folder structures that support future growth.

What a Document Scanning Project Plan Should Include

A document scanning project plan defines what will be digitized, how files will be organized, which quality requirements will apply, and how the completed records will be delivered and used.

The plan does not need to be a lengthy technical document. A clear project brief, representative document samples, and an initial inventory may be enough to begin a productive scoping conversation.

Include the following seven components.

1. The project objective

State the main reason for the project in one or two sentences.

A useful objective might be:

“Our organization needs to digitize inactive personnel files so authorized staff can retrieve them by employee name and identification number without requesting paper folders from storage.”

This is more actionable than simply stating that the organization wants to go paperless.

2. The records included in the project

Identify the departments, record series, document categories, and date ranges involved.

Avoid treating every stored document as one undifferentiated collection. A single box may contain contracts, correspondence, forms, reports, handwritten notes, photographs, or oversized materials. Those document types may require different preparation, scanning, or indexing methods.

Create an inventory that records:

• Department or record owner
• Record category
• Approximate date range
• Storage location
• Number of boxes, folders, binders, rolls, or volumes
• Typical number of pages per folder
• Presence of staples, clips, bindings, or damaged pages
• Presence of color, photographs, handwriting, or double-sided pages
• Confidentiality or access restrictions
• Required retention period, when known

You do not need to count every page before requesting an initial assessment. Box counts, folder counts, representative samples, and reasonable estimates can help establish a starting point.

3. Source formats and physical condition

Standard office paper is only one type of material that can be converted.

IMR Digital’s document scanning and conversion services include support for backfile and day-forward records, microfilm, microfiche, aperture cards, blueprints, maps, engineering drawings, newspapers, bound materials, and other specialty formats.

Document condition also matters. Torn pages, fading, wrinkles, adhesives, fragile bindings, mixed page sizes, and handwritten annotations may affect preparation and handling.

Identify unusual materials early so the scanning provider can evaluate them separately instead of discovering them after production begins.

4. Required digital file formats

The correct output format depends on how the information will be accessed, retained, exchanged, or imported into another system.

Common considerations include:

• Whether each page, document, folder, or record should become a separate file
• Whether users need searchable text
• Whether the file must preserve color
• Whether a master archival file and a smaller access copy are needed
• Whether files will be uploaded to an existing repository
• Whether the organization has internal format requirements
• Whether long-term preservation is part of the project objective

Do not choose a format solely because it is familiar. Confirm that the selected format is compatible with the intended repository, employee workflows, retention requirements, and future use.

5. File naming and indexing requirements

Decide how employees will identify and retrieve digital records.

A file name may contain one or more meaningful fields, while an indexing structure may capture several searchable values independently. The appropriate method depends on the volume of documents, the consistency of the source files, and how users search.

For example, a human resources record might be indexed by employee name, employee number, document category, and effective date. An engineering drawing might be indexed by project number, drawing type, location, revision date, and sheet number.

Use fields that employees already understand. Creating a complex new classification scheme during the scanning project can lead to inconsistent decisions and make validation more difficult.

6. Retention and disposition instructions

The project plan should explain what happens to source documents after conversion.

Possible outcomes include:

• Returning all paper records
• Returning selected originals
• Retaining materials for a defined review period
• Moving records to another approved storage location
• Destroying eligible source documents after validation and authorization
• Preserving records with historical, legal, or intrinsic value

Digitization does not automatically authorize destruction. Retention and disposition decisions should follow the organization’s approved records schedules, legal requirements, contractual obligations, and internal policies.

The National Archives and Records Administration’s digitization resources illustrate why digitization, validation, records management, metadata, and disposition should be considered together rather than as isolated activities. Although federal requirements do not apply to every private or local organization, the framework highlights useful planning questions for any records conversion project.

Consult the appropriate records management, legal, compliance, privacy, or regulatory professionals before authorizing the destruction of source records.

7. Delivery and acceptance requirements

Define how the completed files will be delivered and what your organization must review before accepting them.

Questions to answer include:

• Where should the digital files be placed?
• Will files be transferred in phases or at the end of the project?
• Does the destination system require a specific folder structure or metadata file?
• Who will confirm that files can be opened and retrieved?
• How will missing pages, illegible images, or indexing discrepancies be reported?
• How long will the organization have to complete acceptance testing?
• Who has authority to approve the final deliverables?

Clear acceptance criteria help both parties understand when a project or project phase is complete.

How to Set Scanning, Indexing, and Quality Requirements

A successful scanning project must produce information that is complete, legible, organized, and suitable for its intended use.

Scanning every page is not enough if files are upside down, divided incorrectly, assigned to the wrong folder, or indexed under inconsistent names.

Decide how searchable the files need to be

Searchability can be created in several ways.

A basic project might place files into clearly labeled folders. Another project might use descriptive file names. More complex collections may require document-level indexing, searchable text, or data that can be imported into a content management system.

Optical character recognition, commonly called OCR, converts text within a digital image into machine-readable text. OCR can make documents searchable and may support data extraction, but its usefulness depends on the source material.

Clean, typed pages generally present fewer recognition challenges than faded copies, handwriting, unusual layouts, low-contrast documents, or damaged originals. OCR results should therefore be evaluated in the context of the project rather than treated as a guarantee of perfect text recognition.

KDI’s information about OCR and intelligent data capture explains how organizations can move beyond basic document images by classifying content, extracting information, and routing it into business systems.

Define document boundaries

A scanning team needs clear rules for determining where one document ends and the next begins.

Physical folders, separator sheets, barcodes, form types, dates, or other recognizable characteristics may be used to identify boundaries. The best approach depends on the collection.

For example, should a 20-page employee folder become one file, or should the application, tax forms, performance reviews, and benefits documents become separate files? Should supporting correspondence be attached to the primary document or stored independently?

These decisions affect file counts, indexing effort, review procedures, and the user experience after delivery.

Establish image-quality expectations

Image quality should be based on the source material and intended use.

The project team should consider:

• Text legibility
• Fine lines and small details
• Color significance
• Photographs and illustrations
• Marks on the front and back of a page
• Page orientation
• Cropping and borders
• Blank-page handling
• Foldouts and oversized inserts
• Stamps, seals, signatures, or annotations
• Faded, stained, or damaged originals

The Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative’s technical guidelines emphasize defining the source-material category, digitization objective, image specifications, performance measures, and quality-management methods. These principles are especially useful for projects involving archival documents, photographs, maps, drawings, or other materials where visual detail must be preserved.

Not every business scanning project requires archival imaging specifications. The important point is to define a level of quality that is appropriate for the records instead of applying one setting to every collection without review.

Create a quality-control process

Quality assurance establishes the procedures intended to produce consistent results. Quality control checks whether the resulting files meet those requirements.

A quality-control plan may include:

• Verifying that the correct number of documents was received
• Confirming that all expected pages were captured
• Reviewing image clarity and orientation
• Checking that pages appear in the correct order
• Confirming that double-sided content was not omitted
• Testing file names and metadata values
• Comparing selected digital files with source documents
• Recording and correcting exceptions
• Confirming that deliverables open correctly in the destination environment

The project does not necessarily require a manual review of every field on every page. Sampling methods, automated checks, exception reporting, and risk-based reviews may be appropriate depending on the collection and its importance.

High-risk or legally significant records may justify more extensive validation than low-risk convenience copies. Define the method before production begins so that expectations are shared.

Build Security and Records Decisions Into the Document Scanning Project Plan

A document scanning project plan should address the entire custody and information lifecycle, not only the moment when paper is converted into an image.

Sensitive records may contain personal information, financial data, health information, legal material, personnel records, customer details, or confidential business information. Your organization should identify those risks and establish handling requirements before records leave their current location.

Document custody and transportation requirements

Ask how records will be collected, packed, labeled, transported, received, stored, and returned.

The plan should identify:

• Who may handle source materials
• Who may authorize pickup or transfer
• How boxes or containers will be identified
• Whether tamper-evident controls are required
• How receipt will be documented
• Where records will be stored during conversion
• How retrieval requests will be handled while scanning is underway
• How records will be returned or prepared for authorized disposition

Organizations with frequently requested files may not be able to send an entire archive away for an extended period. A phased schedule or scan-on-demand process may help maintain access during conversion.

Define digital access and transfer controls

The project team should also decide how working files and final deliverables will be accessed.

Discuss:

• Authorized project personnel
• User permissions
• File-transfer methods
• Encryption requirements
• Storage locations
• Backup expectations
• Temporary working files
• Retention of production copies
• Deletion or return procedures after acceptance
• Logging or documentation requirements

These decisions should reflect the organization’s internal security policies and the sensitivity of the records.

Scanning can support information-management and compliance efforts, but it does not guarantee security or compliance by itself. The converted files must continue to be governed through appropriate access controls, retention policies, system administration, employee procedures, and professional oversight.

Decide how retrieval requests will work during production

Records do not always become inactive simply because they are awaiting conversion.

Employees, auditors, attorneys, customers, patients, citizens, or other authorized parties may request information while the source files are being processed. The project plan should establish a retrieval process before the records are transferred.

Specify:

• Who may submit a request
• What identifying information is required
• How urgent requests are prioritized
• Whether the requested document will be scanned and delivered digitally
• Whether the physical file must be returned
• How the request will be documented
• Whether the file should rejoin the normal conversion workflow afterward

This process can reduce disruption and avoid informal requests that are difficult to track.

Confirm retention and destruction authority

Before any source record is destroyed, the organization should verify that:

• The records are covered by an approved retention schedule
• The required retention period has been satisfied or transferred to the digital version
• The digital files passed the agreed validation process
• Required metadata and documentation are complete
• No litigation hold, audit, investigation, public-records request, or other restriction applies
• The appropriate person has authorized disposition
• Destruction can be documented when required

These are organizational and legal decisions, not merely production preferences. IMR Digital can follow approved project instructions, but the record owner should establish the authority and conditions for disposition.

Prepare for a scoping conversation 

Once the initial plan is complete, gather the information that will help IMR Digital evaluate the project.

Prepare:

• A concise statement of the project goal
• An inventory of boxes, folders, volumes, rolls, or other materials
• Representative document samples
• A list of unusual or fragile formats
• Expected indexing fields
• Preferred output formats
• The intended destination for digital files
• Security and custody requirements
• Retrieval expectations during production
• Retention and disposition instructions
• A desired schedule or sequence of priorities
• The names of internal decision-makers

The project may not require every answer before the first conversation. Identifying unresolved questions is also useful because it shows where additional review is needed.

Depending on the records and operational requirements, IMR Digital may help the organization evaluate bulk backfile conversion, day-forward scanning, specialty scanning, scan-on-demand access, or a phased Scan-to-Zero strategy.

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurately do we need to estimate document volume?

An initial estimate should be detailed enough to establish the project’s general size and complexity, but organizations do not always need an exact page count before requesting an assessment.

Begin with box counts, folder counts, date ranges, record categories, and representative samples. Note whether boxes are full, partially filled, or packed with unusually thick folders. A scanning provider can use that information to help refine the estimate.

Should we scan every document in storage?

Not necessarily. Review retention requirements, duplicate records, convenience copies, expired materials, and documents that no longer have operational, historical, or legal value.

Removing materials that are eligible for authorized disposition may reduce unnecessary scanning. However, employees should not make informal destruction decisions simply to reduce project volume. Use approved retention policies and involve the appropriate records or legal professionals.

What is the difference between OCR and document indexing?

OCR makes text within a scanned image electronically searchable or available for further processing. Indexing assigns structured descriptive values, such as a customer name, account number, document type, or date, to help users categorize and retrieve a file.

A project may use OCR, indexing, both methods, or neither. The right approach depends on the source materials and how users need to search.

Can a project include microfilm, blueprints, and bound records?

Yes. IMR Digital handles several specialty formats, including microfilm, microfiche, aperture cards, blueprints, maps, engineering drawings, publications, bound volumes, and other nonstandard materials.

These formats should be identified during planning because their preparation, handling, imaging, and output requirements may differ from ordinary office paper.

Can IMR Digital support scanning projects in the Philadelphia region?

KDI and IMR Digital support organizations considering scanning and conversion services across the region. Project requirements, record locations, pickup needs, and delivery arrangements should be discussed during the initial assessment.

Organizations in Philadelphia, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware can contact the team to review the scope and determine an appropriate approach.

Turn a File Inventory Into a Practical Conversion Strategy

The best scanning projects begin with clear decisions about people, records, and business needs. Before selecting file formats or establishing a production schedule, define why the records are being digitized, who will use them, how they need to be found, and what must happen after conversion.

Your first project plan does not have to resolve every technical detail. It should create a shared understanding of the collection, identify important risks, and give internal stakeholders and the scanning provider a reliable basis for further decisions.

A representative sample, an initial inventory, and a list of required outcomes can turn a room of boxes into a manageable project. From there, your organization can establish an appropriate conversion sequence, indexing structure, quality-control method, and acceptance process.

To develop a document scanning project plan and explore IMR Digital’s scanning and conversion services for your organization in Philadelphia, eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, or Delaware, contact the KDI team to discuss your records and project requirements.