Advice needed regarding best scanner for Evernote

[idoc 400]

I am thinking of replacing my clunky old scanner (which is not duplex) with a fujitsu snapscan. There are 3 models and I was thinking of the S1500. I assume that I would not use the rack2filer software since I would be scanning directly into Evernote. If that's the case I would not need to get the "bundled package". I was wondering if others felt that S1500 was the best choice and if there is any directed advice about using it with Evernote. I suppose that one limitation of the Fujitsu is that it is not twain compliant but I'm not sure if that's a big obstacle or not. I do not need to scan thousands of documents at a time so I know that any of the 3 top models of Fujitsu snapscan would probably do fine, but I am leaning towards the best one available.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

There have been a few threads on scanners, including Fujitsu models. I suggest you take a look at those.

[Owyn 457]

Moved to Paperless forum.

[ClutterBGone 152]

I have been using ScanSnap S1300 for two years now and have pumped over 2000 documents through it and never a hick up. So, I am sure the S1500 would be ever better. The switch to PDF or JPG, single or duplex is just a button way. Go for it, I do not work for ScanSnap, just a happy user.

David in Wichita

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

scansnap 300 here. wonderful device. as long as you have double sided scanning, you're fine. twain? those days are gone. don't worry about it. scansnap manager is the way to go with this scanner.

[idoc 400]

Thanks,

I've just purchased the Fujitsu snapscan s1500 and am quite excited about it. I am giving some deep thought as how to organize and categorize my scans so that I don't have to overhaul the organization in the future. I am reading through the forums for ideas and trying to think about what kind of search terms I would be using to bring up what I need. It's frustrating to spend a lot of time organizing things and then not to be able to instantly find what you need because it's buried in a mountain of other data. I am also looking into accessory tools such as a way to take bound pages and make them available for scanning.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

1. here is a suggestion. http://www.princeton.edu/~cmayo/evernoteresearch.html it is a minimalist approach to organization, to be sure, but it works independently of any other fiendishly complex system you can come up with. in other words, it is just a way of titling notes, and most people don't make much use of this field anyhow, so you won't be impinging on the rules for any other organizational system. if it works for you, great! if not, no worries

2. use your hands to tear apart books (it's actually quite easy if you do 20 or 30 pages at a time. locate or acquire a guillotine paper cutter like this http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=guillotine+cutter&ix=sea&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1280&bih=702&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=14148316458912069534&sa=X&ei=o4xQT_WzBOHu0gGh0oTiDQ&ved=0CH8Q8gIwAQ for trimming off the gluey and uneven edges, and you are all set. i have dismembered and scanned many hundreds of bound materials this way.

[Owyn 457]

Yeah. I second GM's suggestion with one amendment.

GM and I disagree about the use of date in title.

He uses it as a redundant form of creation date.

I use it as an additional meaningfull date. e.g.

- Publish date for scanned or clipped materials

- Transaction date for journal, financial, etc documents

In many cases, e.g. current news articles, the dates are the same.

In many other, e.g. topic research, the dates are all over the place.

Some of my dates go way back (e.g. 19110607 for a scan of my mother's birth certificate).

[Owyn 457]

PS: Not sure what I would do if I was a classical historian with digital copies of really original source materials. Prefix dates with BC?

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

PS: Not sure what I would do if I was a classical historian with digital copies of really original source materials. Prefix dates with BC?

i consider my date to be both meaningful and redundant

but, to your question about sources:

1. primary sources get titles without dates, usually with the name of the source collection and identification number used for it in that particular archive. many of the sources i use date from the sixteenth century, and because they come from japan and china, they carry no gregorian dates. in addition, they are often partially or completely undated, so we often debate the dating. i put the bibliographical data in the content of the note, along with my comments on the dating, but the title is just the source identification.

2. secondary sources are given names with publication dates. the idea behind this is that it is not memorable to me at all when i put them into evernote. i experimented with putting dates on them anyhow as a kind of foolish consistency, but over time, i drove that hobgoblin of my little mind out and just made this exception. as for what is a "source," i am pretty rigid about this, and just use the format for things with isbn numbers (meaning that they got published by someone "officially"). this leaves out a lot of literature, unpublished works of scholars, websites, etc., but i am ok with that. the distinction is more for the sake of convenience, because i don't want to fritter away my time thinking about whether something was written in 2002 or 2003.

[Bipedal Hominid 0]

I am looking for a scanner to use primarily with Evernote and Microsoft OneNote - my HP MFP is a great flatbed scanner but is hopeless for bulk scanning so I really do need a reliable duplex fast scanner. Looking at the scanners recommended by Evernote the Fujitsu S1500 seems to lead the pack. However I have a few questions summarised from a great deal of Amazon customer reviews. Some people are just prone to complaining but I still need to know. Overall the S1500 seems to be well regarded and appears to be the only <$1000 option.

1) Jam prone ADF (intermittent inconsistent reports)

2) Dodgy PSU and poor customer service (some complaints about warranty claim issues and out-of-warranty issues)

3) Short warranty (1 year, is extended warranty available from Amazon or in Australia?)

4) Very average scan quality at same DPI setting as competitors products

5) No TWAIN support so you're stuck with the supplied software and can't use the scanner with anything else such as OneNote, Adobe, etc - could this be an issue if Fujitsu drop support too?

6) Because of (5) you're stuck with the average supplied OCR software

However...

1) It's recommended by Evernote so (5) and (6) are moot? This is primarily for using with Evernote and OneNote for me.

2) It's fast and duplex one pass

3) Overall does the job to reduce those mountains of paper we all have cluttering our lives? The mythical 'paperless office' just never seems to arrive.

4) Generally well regarded

I'll be using it for a range of applications from standard utility bills and statements to laundry and supermarket receipts. I may also experiment with scanning books I seldom reference but may want in the future.

As for Evernote, on another note (sic), I back that up to multiple hard drives with occasional full exports, and also to Acronis offsite backup. Any thoughts on backing up Evernote? As we put our entire life through this I am interested in what people have to say about privacy protection and reliability.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

have not used the s1500. have another version.

i have heard people complain about the lack of twain support. i figure, who cares? i thought this was a 90s issue and no one cared anymore, but you still get twain fans on amazon reviews. you get excellent software from fujitsu, the scans look great, and after three years mine is still running like the day i got it. one of the best investments in techery that i have ever made.

[Bipedal Hominid 0]

So lack of TWAIN support is not an issue then. Is that hardware or software related? So you definitely do need the supplied Fujitsu drivers to drive the scanner and nothing else will work? I'm receiving the impression that for day to day SOHO use this is a non issue. I suppose it's the same with my HP MFP when I think about it, except that it also came with first class Linux / Ubuntu drivers so cross platform Win 7 / Ubuntu support was never an issue.

Three years running strong? Is yours the S1500? How come scanners don't change that much? You'd think after three years they'd have a new model out but I suppose if it works well, why change it?

Any problems or drawbacks? Apart from photos which I think is silly as this is a document scanner, and one should get a high resolution flatbed scanner for images if that's an issue.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

i have the s300 (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=s300+fujitsu&hl=en&prmd=imvns&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=944&bih=532&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=9871719594936627791&sa=X&ei=BU5lT5GBH8Tf0QHUm_mACA&ved=0CGcQ8wIwAA). there are new models out, and i have certainly considered upgrading, but the thing just won't die! i've scanned many, many thousands of pages, and much of my personal library with it

twain has to do with the protocols devices use to deal with images. a pdf (or jpg) from scansnap is exactly the same as one from a flatbed scanner that is twain compliant. the only difference is that you have to go through fujitsu software to do it with the scansnap. i love the software (rare to be able to say that) and have no issues. if you have an uncommon setup (ubuntu) i don't know how it will do, but on mac and windows no worries.

no real drawbacks that i know of...

[Bipedal Hominid 0]

Well seems Fujitsu have a good reputation in Evernote compatible scanners then...

I tend to buy products to last a long time though - I believe in buy it once - buy well - and get better value over many years than a few shoddy half baked products.

So if Fujitsu is good maybe I should invest another $400 in to the next model up and set myself up for growth in my business.

Fujitsu fi-6130Z Sheet-Fed Scanner

http://www.amazon.co..._hu-rd_add_1_dp

These are $1,100 in Australia, which is insane considering the Australian dollar is now worth more than the US Dollar by a good margin, so I have no idea why it is up to $400 cheaper from the USA. I wonder if that could present any warranty issues though if I purchase through Amazon USA.

-- Edit --

Amazon won't ship that to Australia. I really hate this - even though the Australian Dollar is at record levels - we are forced to pay old prices for magazines, electronics and so on. The price for this from Australian retailers is at least US$1300, and US$900 or so from the USA.

I'll look in to it and see if the big difference and hassle is worth it or if the S1500 will do fine.

[idoc 400]

I love the Fujitsu. Don't think too hard about it. It's the best one out there.

[ClutterBGone 152]

Just took a break after running about 10 trade magazine, each with 26 pages through ScanSanp 1300, using duplex. Very fast, my biggest problem was that when I loaded the first magazine into the scanner, it was done before I could remove the staples and cut the center of the second magazine. What a problem to have!!

David in Wichita

[Bipedal Hominid 0]

Done... thanks everyone.. A Fujitsu S1500 is being express delivered across the Pacific Ocean as we speak. Can't get here fast enough. I have a pile of receipts here that I just can't bring myself to scan with the flatbed scanner any more.

Item(s) Subtotal: AUD 448.11

Shipping & Handling: AUD 108.84

-----

Total Before Tax: AUD 556.95

Estimated Tax To Be Collected: AUD 0.00

-----

Grand Total: AUD 556.95

Includes bag and extra long cable.

[idoc 400]

Here's some general advice to those getting the Fujitsu S1500 (or any other like scanner). When you first get it, take a document that's about 20 pages and scan it in many different ways. Try scanning with B&W instead of color, high compression vs. low, "excellent" resolution vs. "normal", OCR vs. not etc. Put the documents side by side in Evernote as different notes and carefully compare. You may be surprised to find that you can get very acceptable scans with the "compromised" settings at vastly lower file sizes. You may also be surprised that some settings will quintuple the file size but leave the image only 10% "nicer". Best thing is to play with these settings at the get go before scanning in your entire life.

[Bipedal Hominid 0]

This is good advice, thank you. I understand OCR requires at least 300dpi though.

[GHall 12]

Here's some general advice to those getting the Fujitsu S1500 (or any other like scanner). When you first get it, take a document that's about 20 pages and scan it in many different ways. Try scanning with B&W instead of color, high compression vs. low, "excellent" resolution vs. "normal", OCR vs. not etc. Put the documents side by side in Evernote as different notes and carefully compare. You may be surprised to find that you can get very acceptable scans with the "compromised" settings at vastly lower file sizes. You may also be surprised that some settings will quintuple the file size but leave the image only 10% "nicer". Best thing is to play with these settings at the get go before scanning in your entire life.

I agree with this approach whole heartedly. Best to know your equipment and how it responds. Sometimes you will need to modify your settings to scan a "difficult case" so to speak.

I have the ScanSnap S1500M, as I have a MacBook Pro. This version of ScanSnap shipped with Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro, which works great with Lion by the way if all the updates are installed. I scan my documents at the "Best" (300dpi/600dpi) setting with the auto color detection and duplex scanning. This generates a large file. Then I run batch OCR using Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro. The resulting file is about 1/5 of the original. I then run PDF Optimizer, which further reduces the file size by 50%. So the resulting files are nice quality, fully searchable and 1/10 of the original.

[idoc 400]

GHall,

Could you clarify your comments for me? I usually find that pdf optimizer will decrease the size by about 25%. However, what is "batch OCR". I have acrobat 10 standard and I have not found this feature. I thought that pdf optimizer is what acrobat uses to make it searchable. I also noticed that Acrobat has an option to "make file size smaller"; I tried it and it did not seem to make the file size any smaller at all. Please explain how you you reduce your pdf's by 90% (I can't replicate this).

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

hi idoc. adobe acrobat pro has batch ocr (ocr multiple files at once). it also allows you to optimize files, which sometimes (not always) gives a nice reduction in file size. this is sometimes accompanied by an unacceptable loss in quality.

[GHall 12]

GHall,

Could you clarify your comments for me? I usually find that pdf optimizer will decrease the size by about 25%. However, what is "batch OCR". I have acrobat 10 standard and I have not found this feature. I thought that pdf optimizer is what acrobat uses to make it searchable. I also noticed that Acrobat has an option to "make file size smaller"; I tried it and it did not seem to make the file size any smaller at all. Please explain how you you reduce your pdf's by 90% (I can't replicate this).

Let me clarify, I process the standard PDF's to PDF's with OCR in batches, using the function in Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro located in the program menu as follows:

"Document - OCR Text Recognition - Recognize Text in Multiple Files Using OCR..."

Technically, this is not using the batch function. My meaning is that I process the files in batches or groups. I convert multiple files rather than one at a time. Sorry for confusion.

As far as optimizing my files, I do not use the "Document - Reduce File Size..." command. Instead, I use "PDF Optimizer" located in the program menu:

"Advanced - PDF Optimizer"

There is Youtube video showing the basics of using PDF Optimizer, including how to use the "Audit Space Usage" function within PDF Optimizer. From my experience simply changing the file to be compatible with Acrobat 9.0 or later will greatly reduce the file size. This is because the newer versions of Acrobat have much better compression algorithms.

Here's the URL for the video:

[idoc 400]

thanks. I realize that I do not have the pro version and therefore do not have the batch OCR option. I may want to upgrade my software. Just as an aside: how do you batch your OCR's. Do you scan them all into one folder, batch OCR scan and then upload them into Evernote via your import folder? Currently, I OCR every document as I'm scanning it into the system. After it's OCR's I simply save it into the import folder and it goes straight to Evernote.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

thanks. I realize that I do not have the pro version and therefore do not have the batch OCR option. I may want to upgrade my software. Just as an aside: how do you batch your OCR's. Do you scan them all into one folder, batch OCR scan and then upload them into Evernote via your import folder? Currently, I OCR every document as I'm scanning it into the system. After it's OCR's I simply save it into the import folder and it goes straight to Evernote.

i rarely do multiple files at once. i suppose i could, but i tend to scan everything in, and then open a file, do ocr, and name it appropriately based on its content. one thing that this avoids, especially if you are doing several hundred pages at once, is a crash in the middle of the process (surprisingly frequent on both Windows and Mac). it's best to do in "little" (under 400 pages or so) chunks at a time. i don't think this really adds more than a few seconds to the process.

[GHall 12]

thanks. I realize that I do not have the pro version and therefore do not have the batch OCR option. I may want to upgrade my software. Just as an aside: how do you batch your OCR's. Do you scan them all into one folder, batch OCR scan and then upload them into Evernote via your import folder? Currently, I OCR every document as I'm scanning it into the system. After it's OCR's I simply save it into the import folder and it goes straight to Evernote.

All my files get scanned to PDF and saved by default in a folder named something like "ScanSnap Temp". After 10-15 PDF files are completed and located in this temp folder, each file is renamed according to a uniform naming scheme for that files content. Then the files are OCR'd using Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro. The output folder where the named and newly OCR'd files are saved is called something like "OCR Files". Not very original but it helps me keep things straight. At this point the files in the folder "OCR Files" get run through the PDF Optimizer and saved by overwriting the file. Then all these PDF's in the OCR Files folder get moved to a folder called something like "OCR & IN EVERNOTE". This is where you would want to keep a permanent storage of those files outside of Evernote. This way if you decide to leave Evernote, you do not have to pull out all your documents, since they are saved on your hard drive outside Evernote. The final step is to copy these files to Evernote.

This process can sound lengthy but is very short really and fast. I'm planning to automate this process using scripts when I do my next bulk scanning.

[idoc 400]

thanks. I realize that I do not have the pro version and therefore do not have the batch OCR option. I may want to upgrade my software. Just as an aside: how do you batch your OCR's. Do you scan them all into one folder, batch OCR scan and then upload them into Evernote via your import folder? Currently, I OCR every document as I'm scanning it into the system. After it's OCR's I simply save it into the import folder and it goes straight to Evernote.

Then all these PDF's in the OCR Files folder get moved to a folder called something like "OCR & IN EVERNOTE". This is where you would want to keep a permanent storage of those files outside of Evernote. This way if you decide to leave Evernote, you do not have to pull out all your documents, since they are saved on your hard drive outside Evernote. The final step is to copy these files to Evernote.

This process can sound lengthy but is very short really and fast. I'm planning to automate this process using scripts when I do my next bulk scanning.

You bring up a good point regarding what to do if you have to pull out all your pdf's from EN. I am a bit concerned about this and am therefore backing up my Evernote import folder (which is the gateway to most of the pdf's that I currently have in EN). Are you aware if there is a more direct way of extracting all the pdf's from EN in one fell swoop and backing them up to another folder? I realize that I can search for resource:application/pdf and this gives me a list of all the pdf's in EN but there is no way to get them all out at the same time.

[GHall 12]

thanks. I realize that I do not have the pro version and therefore do not have the batch OCR option. I may want to upgrade my software. Just as an aside: how do you batch your OCR's. Do you scan them all into one folder, batch OCR scan and then upload them into Evernote via your import folder? Currently, I OCR every document as I'm scanning it into the system. After it's OCR's I simply save it into the import folder and it goes straight to Evernote.

Then all these PDF's in the OCR Files folder get moved to a folder called something like "OCR & IN EVERNOTE". This is where you would want to keep a permanent storage of those files outside of Evernote. This way if you decide to leave Evernote, you do not have to pull out all your documents, since they are saved on your hard drive outside Evernote. The final step is to copy these files to Evernote.

This process can sound lengthy but is very short really and fast. I'm planning to automate this process using scripts when I do my next bulk scanning.

You bring up a good point regarding what to do if you have to pull out all your pdf's from EN. I am a bit concerned about this and am therefore backing up my Evernote import folder (which is the gateway to most of the pdf's that I currently have in EN). Are you aware if there is a more direct way of extracting all the pdf's from EN in one fell swoop and backing them up to another folder? I realize that I can search for resource:application/pdf and this gives me a list of all the pdf's in EN but there is no way to get them all out at the same time.

My understanding of EN client is that you can export the data as either an EN database file, which can be re-imported to EN client or export the data to HTML. Exporting to HTML will preserve the directory structure of the notes and documents but will force you to dig into a folder for each note to pull out the documents. That is how I understand it.

Another option to pull out a specific document (one at a time) is to right click on the document in the note and perform "save as" on your local computer. Or you could right click on the document and perform "open with" Adobe Acrobat, etc. And then from the program, save a copy to the local machine. The later workflow is helpful if wanting to make a change prior to saving locally.

I would like the option to pull out just all the files into a local folder.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Ok, idoc, GM & ClutterB/David, you've raved about the Fujitsu S1300 or S1500 so much I added an S1500 to my scanner fleet.

WOW...

The most expensive scanner I've purchased but yes, indeedy, at the end of day one, I'd have to say probably (one of) the best. As a self proclaimed digital hoarder (term swiped from GM), I still have a lot of my own stuff to scan. Then I recently inherited a pile more of papers to scan with more to come b/c of a family issue. Setup/installation was very simple. I'm using default values. I checked & when looking at the PDFs at 100%, they are very clear & I also prefer to scan in color & the colors look good. I had a stack of larger, double sided docs that had accumulated & I blasted through those babies in pretty much no time at all. I've been known to have three scanners running at once, but it can get a bit confusing, so I try to stick with two. I've already figured out the Xerox flatbed with ADF will be relegated to 1-2 page docs and/or things that need to be scanned on a flatbed such as greeting cards, bound books/brochures, etc. Those hefty and/or double sided docs are going to be assigned to the S1500.

Seriously, this scanner is amazingly fast. It scans both sides (duplex) in about the same time the Xerox scans one side (simplex). It scans both sides in about half (or less) time than the Canon P150 (Scantini) scans both sides (duplex). You can load up to 50 pages in the ADF.

Great scanner for those who are serious about going paperless.

[idoc 400]

Excellent move BNF! This is truly one of the no-brainers of the paperless life. I may have flinched once or twice at the price when I bought my first one (less than 6 weeks ago), and then wound up buying a second one two weeks later (for my office). It's been less than 6 weeks and I'm pretty much paperless both at home and at the office (except for toilet paper).

[ClutterBGone 152]

Lets all have a scanning party!!

David in Wichita

[LauraB 0]

http://www.costco.ca...32074%252b12144

Which should I get? Is there a significant compromise here for the portability of the S1100? Need to digitize thousands of photo prints. If I invest in the heavy hitter eg. the 1500, can I still load photos into that in addition to blasting through reams of papers? Help!

[ClutterBGone 152]

http://www.costco.ca...32074%252b12144

Which should I get? Is there a significant compromise here for the portability of the S1100? Need to digitize thousands of photo prints. If I invest in the heavy hitter eg. the 1500, can I still load photos into that in addition to blasting through reams of papers? Help!

Been using the S1300 for the past two years and last week upgraded to the new iX500 ScanSnap. WOW, talk about fast and easy to use, it is the only way to go. When you see how fast the paper zips through, you wonder if anything is really happening?? Yes, it is just amazing. If you want to scan, this one is the only way to go. I do not work for ScanSnap.

Regards,

David in Wichita

[LauraB 0]

Thanks David. Can you scan photos with that. I see a lot of talk about documents but not photos. I have a flatbed scanner for super high res (Epson) but it's not practical to digitize 40 years worth of photos.

[ClutterBGone 152]

Thanks David. Can you scan photos with that. I see a lot of talk about documents but not photos. I have a flatbed scanner for super high res (Epson) but it's not practical to digitize 40 years worth of photos.

It loves photos! I have scanned photos and paper documents together, put them through and saved the outcome as a PDF file.

Regards,

David in Wichita