Should Blank Pages Be Removed When Scanning Documents?

Blank backs can make a scanned file longer to browse, but removing every page that looks empty can also remove information. Before a double-sided scanning job, agree what counts as blank, which sides must stay and how any omissions will be checked.

For a Sydney office handing over mixed paper files, the useful question is not simply whether the scanner can skip blank pages. It is whether the proposed rule preserves the records your team needs to read.

Separate scanning a side from keeping its image

Two different decisions are involved:

• Capture: which physical sides will be scanned?
• Delivery: which captured images will appear in the finished files?

Scanning only the front of each sheet cannot show whether the back held a note. Scanning both sides and then removing selected images gives a different workflow, with its own review requirements. Ask which approach is proposed rather than assuming “blank pages excluded” describes both.

Also ask whether blank sides are included in the quoted scanned-side count. A delivered PDF page count need not equal the number of sides processed. The document preparation guide explains the distinction between sheets, sides and documents.

Define blank by the information you need

Do not rely on “remove empty pages” as the whole instruction. Use a few examples from your records to distinguish these cases:

These are suggested buyer decisions, not a statement of a universal records rule. The person responsible for your records should resolve ambiguous cases. Removing a digital blank image is also separate from deciding what happens to the paper originals.

Automatic detection needs a check

Blank-page detection can misclassify pages that contain little information. PFU's PaperStream IP guidance addresses non-blank images detected as blank, including content near document edges. It describes sensitivity and margin settings and a preview method for checking the result. These are product-specific controls, not evidence that a particular provider uses them. PFU troubleshooting guidance.

PFU's ScanSnap Home 2.xx help also warns that almost-blank pages may be deleted and that its bleed-through reduction setting can increase blank-page detections. The practical buyer lesson is to assess the combined image-processing settings, not just a checkbox labelled “remove blanks”. ScanSnap blank-page guidance.

Ask the provider how proposed omissions can be reviewed before they become the final delivery. If its workflow cannot show which images were excluded, discuss retaining all captured sides for the relevant record group instead. Confirm feasibility and any additional review work before accepting that approach.

Try a small, deliberately difficult comparison

Select complete documents containing the kinds of sparse content you actually have. Include faint notes, edge stamps and unfilled forms where relevant, alongside genuinely blank backs. Do not create marks on the originals to make the test easier.

Ask for a comparison that lets your reviewer:

1. Identify each selected sheet and its front and back.
2. See the captured sides before the proposed blank-image removal.
3. See which images would be omitted and why.
4. Compare questionable images with the paper source.
5. Check the final reading order and record the approved exceptions.

If the source cannot be checked, record that limitation. A page with no OCR text is not proof of a blank original: the image may contain a stamp, drawing or text that recognition missed.

The aim is to settle a rule for this material, not claim that a small sample proves every side in the archive will be classified correctly. Use the scanning pilot guide to identify what the sample leaves untested.

Make omissions explainable at handover

Consider a fictional packet of four sheets. All eight sides are captured. Two backs are genuinely empty; another back contains a small initial. Under an agreed rule that removes only those two empty backs, the delivered file contains six images. Removing the initialled back would be an error, even if someone expected a shorter PDF.

Ask for enough information to reconcile that difference without guessing. Depending on the project, this could be a document-level count and an omission list using source-sheet and side references. The provider should confirm what it can supply; do not assume a detailed omission log is included.

For corrections, identify the document, affected side and delivery version. Recheck reading order after an image is restored. The broader scanning quality checklist covers delivery reconciliation and correction tracking.

Put the rule in the enquiry

Include these decisions when discussing a scanning job:

• Capture scope: the sides to scan and any unresolved source checks.
• Keep rules: sparse marks, unfilled forms and any required blank positions.
• Omission review: who checks candidates and how uncertainty is handled.
• Delivery evidence: how kept images and omitted sides relate to the source.
• Counting: which processed sides, review tasks and delivered images affect the quote.

Describe the document types and the kinds of marks your team needs preserved. Discuss suitability and handling before sending confidential records. Talk to Pexatech about document scanning.