VERSASCAN Series
Unmatched Performance
Flatbed Scanners
Through our partnership with SMA, interScan is excited to offer a full line of the highest-quality, German engineered flatbed scanners.
SMA flatbed scanners deliver unmatched performance for digitizing oversized materials, from A1+ to triple A0+ including maps, artwork, and historical documents. Built for demanding applications, they offer optical resolutions up to 600 × 1200 dpi in bitonal, grayscale, and color, with geometric accuracy better than 0.1%. Despite their advanced capabilities, they remain exceptionally user-friendly, featuring intuitive controls and flexible operation via touchscreen or foot pedal for effortless scanning at superior speed and quality.
VERSASCAN 2550 - A1 Flatbed Scanner By SMA
Lightweight & Ultra-Portable
- 40% Larger scanning area than standard A1
- High resolution delivers sharp, detailed image reproduction.
- Ultra-fast scanning speed boosts productivity for demanding projects.
- UV- and IR-free illumination ensures safe digitization of sensitive materials.
- V3D (Virtual 3D) Technology captures textured and reflective surfaces.
- Bidirectional scanning improves workflow efficiency by scanning in both directions.
- FADGI & ISO Compliant
- Scanning range 635 x 1270mm (25"x50")
- Optical resolution of 600dpi over the entire scanning range
- 48 bit color depth
- IP device with its individual IP address
- Roll away mount with fold up function
- Also available with motorized height adjustment
VERSASCAN 3650 - A0 Flatbed Scanner By SMA
All Around Best Flatbed Scanner
- Larger scanning area than standard A0
- High resolution delivers sharp, detailed image reproduction.
- Ultra-fast scanning speed boosts productivity for demanding projects.
- UV- and IR-free illumination ensures safe digitization of sensitive materials.
- V3D (Virtual 3D) Technology captures textured and reflective surfaces.
- Bidirectional scanning improves workflow efficiency by scanning in both directions.
- FADGI & ISO Compliant
- Scanning range 914 x 1270mm (36" x 50")
- Optical resolution of 600dpi over the entire scanning range
- 48 bit color depth
- IP device with its individual IP address
- Roll away mount with fold up function
- Also available with motorized height adjustment
VERSASCAN 36100 - Double AO Flatbed Scanner By SMA
The Ultimate XXL Flatbed Scanner
- Larger scanning area than standard 2A0
- High resolution delivers sharp, detailed image reproduction.
- Ultra-fast scanning speed boosts productivity for demanding projects.
- UV- and IR-free illumination ensures safe digitization of sensitive materials.
- V3D (Virtual 3D) Technology captures textured and reflective surfaces.
- Bidirectional scanning improves workflow efficiency by scanning in both directions.
- FADGI & ISO Certified
- Scanning range 914 x 2540mm (36" x 100")
- Optical resolution of 600dpi over the entire scanning range
- 48 bit color depth
- IP device with its individual IP address
- Roll away mount with fold up function
- Also available with motorized height adjustment
VERSASCAN 4870 - 2A0 Flatbed Scanner By SMA
Built Bigger. Engineered Better. Scanning Faster.
- Larger scanning area than standard 2A0
- High resolution delivers sharp, detailed image reproduction.
- Ultra-fast scanning speed boosts productivity for demanding projects.
- UV- and IR-free illumination ensures safe digitization of sensitive materials.
- V3D (Virtual 3D) Technology captures textured and reflective surfaces.
- Bidirectional scanning improves workflow efficiency by scanning in both directions.
- FADGI & ISO Certified
- Scanning range 1219 x 1778mm (48" x 70")
- Optical resolution of 600dpi over the entire scanning range
- 48 bit color depth
- IP device with its individual IP address
- Roll away mount with fold up function
- Also available with motorized height adjustment
Why SMA Flatbed Scanners Are Market Leaders
Wide-Format Capabilities
Available in sizes from A1+ to triple A0+, SMA flatbed scanners can digitize oversized materials such as maps, engineering drawings, newspapers, and artwork. This large-format capability eliminates the need for stitching multiple scans, streamlining workflows and ensuring accuracy.
Exceptional Image Quality
With true optical resolutions of up to 600 × 1200 dpi and 48-bit color depth, SMA flatbeds produce sharp, detailed images with outstanding color accuracy. Many models feature V3D (Virtual 3D) technology, enabling the capture of textured and reflective surfaces, like fabrics, wood, metal, coins, or embossed seals, at remarkable detail.
Safe Preservation
Specialized LED lighting provides consistent, even illumination without UV or IR radiation, protecting delicate documents from potential damage. This also ensures scanning results are unaffected by ambient lighting conditions, allowing operation in a variety of environments.
Versatile Media Handling
SMA flatbeds can handle a wide variety of originals, from fragile, single-sheet historical documents to rigid boards, textiles, and industrial materials. Their flatbed design allows for careful placement and safe digitization of delicate or irregular items without feed mechanisms that could cause wear.
Ergonomic & Portable
Many models feature fold-up, roll-away mounts for easy relocation, and optional motorized height adjustment for operator comfort. Foot pedal activation enables hands-free scanning, making it easier to position and flatten originals.
Productive & Reliable
Built for high-volume, professional workflows, SMA flatbeds offer fast scanning speeds and robust construction for long-term, maintenance-light operation. This combination of speed, safety, and durability ensures a strong return on investment for organizations managing demanding digitization projects.
Want A Demo Of Any Of Our Products?
See our scanners and software live! Whether a virtual demo or in our Las Vegas show room, we invite you to see first hand how our solutions can work in your real-world environment. Send us your documents and see the real results our scanners, and JetStream AI can do for you.
Flatbed Scanning FAQ
What is a flatbed scanner
A flatbed scanner is a type of document scanner that captures high-resolution digital images by scanning documents placed on a flat glass surface. Unlike feed-through scanners, where pages are pulled through rollers, a flatbed scanner keeps the original document completely stationary during the scan.
Why Use a Flatbed Scanner?
Flatbed scanners are ideal for:
- Delicate documents (e.g., old records, fragile photos)
- Bound items (books, magazines)
- Thick or non-standard items (passports, ID cards, textiles)
- Oversized materials (when using large-format flatbeds like the SMA VERSASCAN series)
How does a flatbed scanner work
Here’s how it works, step by step:
Document Placement
The document, photo, book, or object is placed face-down on the scanner’s flat glass platen. The lid is closed to keep it steady and reduce ambient light.
Light Source Activates
A bright LED or fluorescent light moves beneath the glass to illuminate the entire document evenly.
Sensor Movement
A motorized scan head, containing mirrors and lenses, travels from one end of the glass to the other. It captures the light reflected from the document in fine, horizontal slices.
Image Capture
The reflected light is directed through a lens and onto a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) or CIS (Contact Image Sensor), which converts the light into electrical signals essentially translating the image into digital pixels.
Image Processing
The scanner’s software processes these signals into a full digital image, correcting for color, contrast, skew, and resolution.
What does flatbed scanner mean
A flatbed scanner is a type of scanner that uses a glass surface to capture high-resolution images of physical documents, photos, books, or other flat or irregular materials. The name “flatbed” refers to its design, documents are laid flat on the glass, and a moving image sensor beneath the surface scans the item from edge to edge.
What makes a flatbed scanner different is that the original stays completely still during scanning, making it ideal for fragile, delicate, or bound documents that could be damaged in a feed-through scanner. This gentle handling is especially valuable for archives, museums, libraries, or organizations working with historical or oversized materials like blueprints, maps, and artwork.
What are flatbed scanners used for?
Flatbed scanners are most commonly used for digitizing books, photographs, artwork, fragile documents, maps, and archive material. They are especially valuable for libraries, museums, government agencies, and professional environments where preseravation quality matters.
What is the resolutin of a flatbed scanner?
Most flatbed scanners offer optional resolutions ranging from 600dpi to over 2400dpi. High-end models designed for archival or imaging purposes may deliver even higher resolutions, ensuring accurate reproduction of fine details, textures, and colors.
Can a flatbed scanner handle books and bound materials?
Yes! Flatbed scanners are particularly effective for scanning bound materials like books, magazines and eldgers. Many advanced models include book cradles or V-shaped glass plates that protect bindings and reduce distorted when scanning open volumes.
What file formats do flatbed scanners produce?
Flatbed scanners typically support mulitple file formats including TIFF, JPEG, PNG, and PDF. Advanced models also allow users to create searchable PDF/A files with embedded OCR text for long-term digital preservation and compliance.
Are flatbed scanners good for archival projects?
Absolutely! Flatbed scanners are often chosen for archival and preservation work because they deliver high-resolution, distrortion-free images while minimizing physical stress on fragile originals. They are compliant with digitization standards such as FADGI or ISO 19264-1 when paired with professional software.
Do flatbed scanners support OCR?
Yes .Most professional flatbed scanners include OCR software that converts scanned text into editable and searchable formats, such as Word documents or searchable PDFs.