For Immediate Release


            Contact:Annmarie Gordon (860) 645-7878/email: agordon@scanoptics.com
                         Susan Lucek (860) 645-7878/email: slucek@scanoptics.com

                      Scan-Optics Announces Appointment of
                    Paul M. Yantus as Chief Executive Officer


         Manchester, CT - May 18, 2005 - Following a meeting of the Board of
Directors on May 16, 2005, Scan-Optics, Inc. (SOCR.OB) announced that Mr. Logan
Clarke, Jr. will step aside as Acting Chief Executive Officer and President of
the Corporation, and Mr. Paul M. Yantus will assume the role of Chief Executive
Officer and President of the Corporation, effective May 17, 2005.
         In March 2005, Mr. Yantus joined Scan-Optics to serve as Chief
Operating Officer. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Yantus was a founder and
President of Espire Marketing, Inc., a web-based solutions provider
headquartered in Rochester, Michigan. At Espire, Mr. Yantus developed the
company's business strategy, oversaw product development and secured key
contracts.
         Prior to founding Espire, Mr. Yantus served in various positions at MSX
International, a company specializing in business process outsourcing and
staffing, including Senior Vice President--Business Process Outsourcing and IT
(2002-2003), Vice President--Business and Technology Services (2001-2002), and
General Manager--Integrated Information Solutions (1999-2001). In these
positions, Mr. Yantus established sales organizations, commercialized new
products, restructured the company's information technology organization and had
other management responsibilities. Prior to his employment with MSX
International, Mr. Yantus held senior positions at Danka and Lason Systems and
Eastman Kodak.
         Commenting on Mr. Yantus' appointment, Mr. Clarke, as outgoing Acting
Chief Executive Officer and President, stated, "Over the past several months,
Mr. Yantus has demonstrated qualities of energy and leadership that I feel
certain will move Scan-Optics towards renewed success." Mr. Clarke will continue
to serve as a director of the Corporation as he has done for the past 24 years.
         "Scan-Optics has world-class technology that can be leveraged into both
products and business services," said Mr. Yantus. "I believe that Scan-Optics
has great potential and I look forward to leading the company over the coming
years."





         Scan-Optics, Inc., with headquarters in Manchester, Connecticut, is
recognized internationally as an innovator and solution provider in the
information management and imaging business. It designs, manufactures and
services products and systems for character recognition, image processing and
display, data capture, data entry, and multi-user business computers.
Scan-Optics systems and software are marketed worldwide to commercial and
government customers directly and through distributors. Scan-Optics also
provides business process outsourcing services to customers. The Company has
sales and service offices located throughout the United States and abroad.
Additional information is available at www.scanoptics.com.
         Statements about the Company's future expectations, including future
revenues and earnings, and all other statements in this press release other than
historical facts are "forward-looking statements" made under safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve a
number of risks and uncertainties that could materially affect future results.
Among these risk factors are changes in general economic and business conditions
in the United States and foreign markets, which impact capital investments by
customers, the cyclical nature of funding within federal and state government
agencies, further adverse changes in the Company's banking, lending and
financing relationship, insufficient cash resources, increased competition from
similar products, the implementation of other technologies which may provide
alternative solutions, ability to complete projects in a timely manner, and
other risk factors and cautionary statements listed from time to time in the
Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including but not limited to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2004 and the 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31,
2005.
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