Jenny Evans advises us:

>You will need to make sure scanning is
>undertaken to the highest quality possible to ensure all information is
>captured from the plan? Not only to the highest quality but you need to
>establish quality controls and to capture the necessary metadata about the
>engineering drawings themselves.
This is sound advice from Jenny.
Be careful not to confuse highest quality with highest DPI as the two are
not necessarily compatible.
I strongly recommend adherence to the advice provided in the ANSI/IIM
Standard - MS 44-1988 [REVISED 1993] titled "Recommended Practice for
Quality Control of Image Scanners".
I sell Resolution Test Targets here in Australia to support the process
detailed in the Standard - MS 44-1988 and I have had occasion to advise
clients that higher DPI setting do not necessarily produce improved Quality.
In some tests we did on a clients scanner produced the following results
based on the testing process recommended in the Standard - MS 44-1988.
DPI Setting used while scanning a Photographic Resolution Test Target for
Scanners.
1.       @ 75 DPI = Lousy results
2.       @ 150 DPI = Improved and possibly acceptable results
3.       @ 200 DPI = Improved and acceptable results
4.       @ 300 DPI = Similar result to the 200 DPI file
5.       @ 600 DPI = A much poorer result with characters imploding and
building in on themselves and a generally totally unacceptable result.
Outcome of the test was that the higher the DPI setting did not necessarily
provide an improved result.
My advice TEST- TEST & TEST first before you make a decision on the setting
for scanning any document or engineering drawing.
Also remember DPI is only one factor in the scanning equation.
Regards, Laurie

Mr Daniel Lawrance [Laurie] Varendorff, ARMA
Member of the Western Australian Government - State Records Commission (SRC)
- Digital Records Working Group (DRWG).
Specialist Technical Writer on Records and Information Management (RIM) and
related subjects, available for hire.
Published Articles available @ http://www.microfilm.net.au/articles.shtml
A Records Management Professional, and proud of the fact!
Consultant/Trainer/Tutor/Presenter: Records and Information Management
Imaging and Micrographic Specialist: 31 years experience

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