Abstract: A large-format scanner having an imaging element and connected to a PC by a standard interface of predetermined maximum bandwidth is provided with a variable-speed document feeder and with a device upstream of the imaging element for detecting the width transverse to the feed direction of a document being moved through the apparatus by the feeder. As soon as the document width is detected and before the document reaches the imaging element, any sensors of the imaging element that will not confront the document are turned off and the document speed is adjusted so that the sensors left on produce a data output of a bandwidth close to but below the maximum bandwidth of the interface, with wide documents being fed faster than narrow documents.

Abstract: A method for scanning large-format documents by way of a large-format scanner, which is connected to a PC (11) via a standard interface (10), is to be further developed, so as to omit prescans, to optimize the scanning rate, to significantly increase productivity between the application of the document and the storage of the data on the PC, and to obtain cost-efficient scans.