What are the possible file types for scanned documents? Does it depend on the type of scanner? Also, what kind of editing can be done on scanned images (text, graphs, tables and so on)? Can they be edited like Microsoft Office or Lotus SmartSuite files, or using some other word processing software?
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The file type used to store a scanned document doesn't depend on the type of scanner at all, it depends entirely on the software used. The Tif format is commonly used for scanned images of printed documents, while the Jpeg format is often used for photographs. But as document images can be acquired using image editors such as Paint Shop Pro that can save to dozens of different formats, there is no definitive answer to your first question. It's up to you and the options available when you choose File, Save As.
As for your second question, what the scanner produces is a picture of the document, so it can only be edited as if it were a picture. To scan a document into a format that can be edited in a word processor you must use OCR (optical character recognition) software, which can be bought separately although a basic package often comes with a new scanner. This will convert text into editable text, usually with less-than-perfect accuracy depending on the fonts used. However, OCR software usually cannot cope with tables or pictures that are embedded into a document.
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