When planning a document scanning service, you’ll need to calculate the number of documents you have to scan in order to get a picture of the size and costs of your project.
The most common methods used to estimate your papers is by the number of bankers boxes or file boxes you have, or how many sheets of paper per inch you have in a filing cabinet or shelf.
We usually start by asking you how many boxes you have to store or scan, but here’s some more specific information on how you can calculate that number to receive an accurate quote.
How Much Paper Can Fit In a Standard Bankers Box or Copy Box
A standard banker/copy box is usually 12.5” W x 15.5” D x 10.5” H.
Depending on the type of paper and the amount of file folders you have in each box, you can fit approximately 2,000–2,500 sheets of paper in a standard bankers box.
How Much Paper Can Fit In a Large File Box
A large file box is usually 15” W x 24” D x 10.5” H.
Depending on the type of paper and the amount of file folders that you have in each box, you can fit approximately 4,000–4,500 sheets of paper in a large file box.
How to Measure Your Documents Per Inch
The number of documents per inch on a shelf or in a filing cabinet depends on how tightly the papers are packed together.
On average, you can figure that you’ll have around 150–200 sheets per inch of space on your shelf or cabinet.
To estimate how many boxes of documents you have, consider this:
- If your documents aren’t packed tightly and you have 150 sheets per inch, then you need 1 standard bankers box for every 13–16 inches of space on your shelves.
- If you can’t fit one more piece of paper on your shelf, you’re probably closer to 200 sheets per inch. In that case, you’ll need 1 standard bankers box for every 10–12 inches of space on your shelves.
Although this is an approximate number, it will give you an idea of how many boxes you have, or approximately how many actual documents that you need to scan.
