(Archived) Need help buying a scanner

[rick@rickwsmith.com 0]

I have used Neat for years and have the small candy bar type printer. It has been good for what it is, but we are having a baby (I saw we, I mean my wife is having a baby!) and I'm trying to scan thousands of documents, and then shred them. Tax stuff, receipts, legal papers, credit reports, etc...

I tried doing that with the small Neat scanner, and it took me about 5 hours to do less then 100 items. I was curious if you guys could suggest a better option. I am an Evernote premium member. I would like to get a scanner that I could put documents in, hit scan, walk away, forget about it. I know the scansnaps are nice, but they are SOOO costly. Are there any other scanning options that aren't as pricy? Perhaps an older model, or some other duplex printer?

Also, I"m assuming that the NEAT desk scanner isn't anywhere near as good as the scansnaps.

One last thing...I've aways used Everynote for webclippings, but never for personal info like receipts, etc. This is probably a dumb question, but do you think Evernote is a better option then neat? What service has better OCR? (For making the text searchable?) Is this depending on the scanner I buy (the scansnap, the small neat one, the neat desk version, etc) or the software - Neat's software, Evernote's software, etc...or a combo of both?

I'm looking for a good digital filing system where I can search doc's, find receipts that I've scanned in, etc. It's not a good idea (i don't think) to use Neat and Evernote in the long run. It's probably better to have have everything in one place.

I'm sort of new to this whole paperless office thing, and it's hard to not have "hard copies" of stuff, but it sure feels great getting rid of so much stuff!

I'm open to any ideas, suggestions!

Thanks!

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I'm not Mac, but I've used Neat(Receipts/Works) for several years & have the same scanner. It's a good scanner but also slow when used with Neat b/c Neat OCRs the receipt. If you use the scanner with other software that just scans, it's not as slow.

I have a love/hate relationship with Neat. When it works, it's great. But the software can be VERY finicky. I still prefer to use it for thermal type receipts. For non-thermal, IE bank or credit card statements, I prefer to use a Xerox Documate 510. I've had it ~2 1/2 years so I don't know how available it is now. It's not duplex but it has a document feeder. And the software that came with it (Paperport) allows you to scan a stack of papers & then flip them over & scan the other side. The software assembles the digital document correctly. It's VERY good at this & a lot faster than using the Neat scanner b/c it's not OCR'ing and b/c I think it's just a faster scanner. Point being, you don't necessarily need a duplex scanner, since that can be accomplished with software. But a document feeder is essential (IMO) if you're going to be scanning documents that are multiple pages. One scanner I'd take a look at if I was in the market for a new one is the Scantini. (Canon P150.) I heard about it in one of the more recent Evernote podcasts. (I don't recall which one.) Apparently, it's the first product to have the Evernote logo on the box! More info here.

One thing I've done is after an entire year's worth of receipts are scanned into Neat, I'll print them all out to a PDF that then gets dumped into Evernote. If the PDF is too big for an Evernote note, you may have to break it down to first quarter, second quarter, etc or something like that.

[jbenson2 2,149]

I have a similar set up to BurgerNFries - I have a Neat scanner for the thermal receipts and a Fujitsu ScanSnap for everything else.

The ScanSnap is fast and does not take up much space on my desk.

It can scan multiple pages, one side or duplex.

It can also OCR the documents.

For filing and searching purposes, I use a very strict naming policy for every document I scan into Evernote.

YYYY MM DD / State / City / Subject / Person / TimeCode

This format makes the INTITLE search very powerful.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

For filing and searching purposes, I use a very strict naming policy for every document I scan into Evernote.

YYYY MM DD / State / City / Subject / Person / TimeCode

This format makes the INTITLE search very powerful.

I'm also diligent about adding an accurate title for things that go into Evernote (and usually preface the title with YYYYMMDD as jbenson2 does) as well as things I don't put in Evernote. IE, I don't put bank/credit card statements in Evernote. But they are stored in accurate folder names like so:

Bills --> 2010 --> Credit Cards --> AMEX_husband --> AMEX_20100402

Bills --> 2010 --> Credit Cards --> AMEX_husband --> AMEX_20100502

Bills --> 2010 --> Credit Cards --> AMEX_husband --> AMEX_20100602

Bills --> 2010 --> Credit Cards --> AMEX_wife --> AMEX_20100416

Bills --> 2010 --> Credit Cards --> AMEX_wife --> AMEX_20100516

Bills --> 2010 --> Credit Cards --> AMEX_wife --> AMEX_20100616

insurance_policies --> cars --> car1 --> Farmers_20100228

insurance_policies --> cars --> car2 --> Farmers_20100228

For

[sterlingz 7]

I have been using the ScanSnap S1300 since around May and absolutely love it! It's probably my single favorite way of getting content into Evernote. It's has a small footprint and is pretty darn fast (though obviously not as fast as its bigger brother). I use it for everything from multi-page documents to receipts to business cards - it handles them all perfectly. I love the bundled software - it's super simple to create different profiles including send to Evernote, Dropbox, my wife's Dropbox, etc. The interface to the software is great, and makes configuration a snap (pardon the pun). I don't know what I would do without it! Swim in a sea of paper.

[sterlingz 7]

IE, I don't put bank/credit card statements in Evernote.

I still use Evernote for more sensitive, confidential documents like bank statements, but store them in offline notebooks on my primary desktop. That way, I can still access them in the same search queries within Evernote, and they are backed up via local methods such as disk cloning and Time Machine, but they never hit Evernote's servers.

It just takes a little attention to change the Notebook immediately when the note is created after the scan.

[rick@rickwsmith.com 0]

I think all I really need is a auto document feeder.

I have tons of paper to scan. doing it one by one is taking SOOO long.

What would you suggest for just a decent scanner with an auto document feeder? I have a nice Canon flatbed scanner, I'm assuming there is no way to add an auto document feeder to a flat bed scanner...?

If not, any other ideas where on another scanner? Even an older one? I don't need anything fancy. Just something that will allow me to do more then one page at a time scanning...

Thanks!

[sterlingz 7]

I think all I really need is a auto document feeder.

I have tons of paper to scan. doing it one by one is taking SOOO long.

That's the whole advantage of the ScanSnap - it allows you to do bulk scans of double-sided letter documents. On the S1300 you can load at least 20 sheets to scan both sides automatically without intervention. The larger version (can't remember the model number) allows you to put even more sheets, and is faster. The software assembles a single PDF from the scanned sheets, and does its own OCR prior to the note even being uploaded to Evernote. So if you decide at some point in future to manage that document outside of Evernote, it will have its own OCR inside the file.

[rick@rickwsmith.com 0]

Thanks for the info....

So are these scan snap scanners the only ones that do this sort of thing?

Also you say it makes one pdf...I'd rather have different images for each item in ever note. If I'm scanning 20 different receipts, I'd like them to be treated as 20 different receipts, not one....is there no option to do this?

[RobLewis 26]

I've had a ScanSnap S510M for a couple of years, and though it's nice and fast, for me the multipage document feeder isn't very dependable. I'd say that more than half of the multipage documents I try to scan have problems with more than one page feeding at a time. Re-scans add greatly to the time required.

I sure wish I knew what I'm doing wrong, since apparently some people enjoy trouble-free feeding. On some documents that are slightly curled, I've found it works better to scan them backside first. I even replaced the rather expensive feed rollers on schedule, even though the scanner has had only light use.

[JMichaelTest 19]

. . . I would like to get a scanner that I could put documents in, hit scan, walk away, forget about it. I know the scansnaps are nice, but they are SOOO costly. Are there any other scanning options that aren't as pricy? Perhaps an older model, or some other duplex printer?

I'm not sure this forum is the best place to ask for advice on scanners in general.

If you want to know about using a scanner with EN, then this is the place.

I'd suggest using the usual Web product research tools:

• 
  [*:1jmpknwe]Google
  [*:1jmpknwe]Consumer reviews like Consumer Reports
  [*:1jmpknwe]Reviews by sites like MacWorld, ZDNet, Toms Hardware, etc.
  [*:1jmpknwe]Pricegrabber.com

If you need to do volume scanning then you need to understand this will require a more capable, and thus more expensive, scanner than you might need for scanning one or two pages at a time.

No matter which scanner you select you can easily make it work with EN simply by setting up the EN Import files folder.

If you have no idea which brand you prefer, then I'd start with a Google search on "scanner reviews".

You can use both Google Shopping and Pricegrabber to get the best price.

HTH.

[sterlingz 7]

No matter which scanner you select you can easily make it work with EN simply by setting up the EN Import files folder.

If you have no idea which brand you prefer, then I'd start with a Google search on "scanner reviews".

You can use both Google Shopping and Pricegrabber to get the best price.

HTH.

Good point - I've used several different scanners with Evernote; it all works pretty much the same. Using the Image Capture app on the Mac desktop, it's really easy to set Evernote as a destination for any brand of scanner.

When searching, you might research different document feeders to see which one is best since that's your primary application. There are a lot of different scanners with different strengths.

[Docj 0]

I love the duplex Scansnap scanner. converts receipts to pdf, puts in evernote application. Evernote reads the pdf so if I search for a specific receipts it is available. Much faster than Neat.

[cinthia 1]

I had the larger ScanSnap but traded it in for the smaller S1300 because - I realized my old HP Photosmart AIO device has an auto doc feeder and will scan to a usb stick. It's very fast and I can scan large batches or one receipt. I leave the usb stick in the HP AIO and when I have time, just move the usb stick to my MacBook Pro and copy the files.

I haven't figured out whether it's worth using OCR software or to just drop them into Evernote's and use it's OCR (advice appreciated) but at least the files are scanned, easy and FAST and I can shred the darned paper.

My problem is organizing them. (again, advice appreciated) I find that tagging takes longer than scanning and is easily confusing. Why no SUB FOLDERS? With tagging, If I forget to capitalize the first letter I've got an entirely different tag group. SO time consuming! Without Evernote sub-folders I'm forced to choose between 3,000 separate notebooks or 3,000 receipts in the same folder. Maybe Evernote isn't meant to be a long term digital filing cabinet. If not, I sure wish I could find one.

[jbenson2 2,149]

I haven't figured out whether it's worth using OCR software or to just drop them into Evernote's and use it's OCR (advice appreciated) but at least the files are scanned, easy and FAST and I can shred the darned paper.

Virtually 99.9% of my PDF's are OCR'd by Scansnap before I send them to Evernote. It takes 30 seconds longer, but I get a quality searchable PDF.

I am not fond of the 2 document PDF system that Evernote uses. see example at:

http://forum.evernote.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=24599&p=105876&hilit=quarterly#p105876

My problem is organizing them. (again, advice appreciated) I find that tagging takes longer than scanning and is easily confusing.

Develop a strong and consistent naming convention for your titles.

I use the following format for my titles:

• YYYY MM DD State City Subject Person
  2011 04 10 MN Rogers Home Depot lawn fertilizer receipt JLB
  

[jefito 5,598]

My problem is organizing them. (again, advice appreciated) I find that tagging takes longer than scanning and is easily confusing. Why no SUB FOLDERS?

No subnotebooks is the way that the Evernote note storage system is designed. Notes are stored in notebooks; notebooks can be stored in stacks (to one level deep). Notes can have multiple tags, and tags can apply to multiple notes.

With tagging, If I forget to capitalize the first letter I've got an entirely different tag group.

??? Tags are case-independent, as far as I know.

SO time consuming! Without Evernote sub-folders I'm forced to choose between 3,000 separate notebooks or 3,000 receipts in the same folder. Maybe Evernote isn't meant to be a long term digital filing cabinet. If not, I sure wish I could find one.

Evernote is actually designed to be long-term storage, but you almost certainly need to come to terms with tagging to make it so.