(Archived) Bit disappointed in Scansnap workflow

[sddawson 1]

Just got myself a Scansnap, and want to use it with Evernote. It's easy to set it up so it scans directly to Evernote, but it leaves behind the pdf in whatever folder you nominate in the Scansnap software. If I'm scanning something into Evernote, I don't want another copy of the pdf that I have to clean up manually. Anyone come across a workaround for this? It would be great it Evernote had an option to delete after import!

Also, like others, I'm struggling with Evernote having no per-notebook or per-note encryption. I want to keep tax records etc, and don't want them living un-encrypted. But I do want to be able to search! Not sure what the ultimate answer to this is. Maybe EN can figure out the search terms before it encrypts for the first time...

In the meantime, I have to store things like this in a local notebook, but get no syncing. I also have to get Scansnap to do the OCR'ing rather than EN.

Nothing's perfect I guess, but I hope EN gets closer! Any ideas welcome...

[Guern 1]

I wondered about this too. I agree with the issue here but have an additional question.

My scansnap saves the file in one location; is Evernote saving it in another location on my local computer? I could not find anything in the documentation. I don't mind "cleaning up" every so often but don't want to delete the only copy of something I have scanned. What is your understanding of "where the Evernote scan is?"

Thank you for your response.

[kkingmd 0]

Just got myself a Scansnap, and want to use it with Evernote. It's easy to set it up so it scans directly to Evernote, but it leaves behind the pdf in whatever folder you nominate in the Scansnap software. If I'm scanning something into Evernote, I don't want another copy of the pdf that I have to clean up manually. Anyone come across a workaround for this? It would be great it Evernote had an option to delete after import!

I also have to get Scansnap to do the OCR'ing rather than EN.

Nothing's perfect I guess, but I hope EN gets closer! Any ideas welcome...

This is not an issue with Evernote. The way the ScanSnap software works is that it creates a document in the folder you specify in ScanSnap Manager then sends it on to the software you are using. You'll note this behavior if you use the ScanSnap to send an emailed document, or a card to Cardiris, etc.

I too have no need for two copies. So I have SSM do its thing and drop the files it creates into a folder that nothing else goes into (for me it is ~/Pictures/Scanner Temp). I use a little utility called Hazel by Noodlesoft (http://www.noodlesoft.com) to automatically delete any file in that folder that is older than one week old. Hazel isn't a one-trick pony, it does bunches of other things as well, so check it out. No, I don't work for Noodlesoft.

The ScanSnap OCRing is quite slow, on my machine (a 2007 MacBook Pro with 4GB and a 2.2 Duo processor) it takes about 15-30 seconds per page. By uploading and having EN do the OCR, it is much faster. However, EN OCR is set up to provide the best search results, not necessarily provide a document I would want to import for editing. And it occurs offline without chewing up your computer time.

Hope that helps.

Kevin

[Veritrope 3]

For what it's worth --

Instead of using an "Evernote Profile" in the ScanSnap Manager, my ScanSnap/Evernote workflow makes use of a folder that I've created on my Desktop named "@EVERNOTE":

For good measure (and easy access), I've also added a shortcut to it in my "Places" within the Finder sidebar:

Anyhow, I've attached a "folder action" to the @EVERNOTE folder that runs a special import script on any file I scan, save, or drop into this folder (but you could easily use Hazel to do the same type of thing!). The script contains a variation of a tagging and sorting subroutine that I use in many of my AppleScripts for Evernote -- and this lets me tag and place items into specific Notebooks as soon as a new items are saved to the folder:

Once the import into Evernote is complete, the files are automatically put into the Trash.

I personally prefer this workflow approach because it allows me (and my clients) to start to think of Evernote as an extension of the Mac OS File System itself and not "just another note-taking app".... sort of like a super-searchable Dropbox.

I also like this approach to ScanSnapping because that import dialog box forces me to not be lazy and to tag and sort things on their way in!

(Not that any of you would forget to do that...)

There's even more you can do with Folder Actions, Hazel, and Evernote.... and I'll take the time to write it up as a blog post if enough people are interested and think it would be helpful.

[sddawson 1]

@Veritrope

Would a blog post be useful? You bet! I'm sure there are many people who would find this useful.

Your approach is just what I'm looking for. Can I get the script from anywhere? I'd be happy to donate.

Hazel sounds like an interesting little app too. I think your script would be better though, with its ability to tag etc. on the fly.

@Guern

It seems to me that EN saves PDFs in its own database. As soon as it's done the import, you can safely delete the original.

@kkingmd

Thanks for the tip about Hazel. I'll definitely look into it. Not sure what you mean by "However, EN OCR is set up to provide the best search results, not necessarily provide a document I would want to import for editing". Can you elaborate?

Thanks everyone!

[Veritrope 3]

Well, I'll certainly write it up if a few more people raise their hands.... (and donations are always happily accepted on my script pages!)

In the interim, you could take a look at Geech 's post on folder actions in case you want to start tinkering around on your own:

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=7812

[sddawson 1]

Is the script you use on your page? Couldn't see it.

[Veritrope 3]

No -- I use a script and workflow of my own that I'll write up if sufficient interest exists.

Geech's post and script will give you a sense of how these things work and are set up in OS X.... Just included it in case you were interested in learning more.

[sddawson 1]

I've read the other post and understand how it all hangs together. But I'd much rather use your script because if its ability to set notebook, tag etc. and to delete the original file. Will you consider making it available on your page? I know how much work is put into these things, and the way you do it is fine by me - donate if you find it useful (& I will!).

[Veritrope 3]

Want to be clear:

I'm totally going to do a post on this (and publish my personal workflow) if more people express an interest... but I have a number of other posts/scripts in the pipeline, so I'll want to gauge the interest level here before deciding if/when to do so.

[sddawson 1]

Ok, guess I'll just have to sit tight then!

[kkingmd 0]

l.

@kkingmd

Thanks for the tip about Hazel. I'll definitely look into it. Not sure what you mean by "However, EN OCR is set up to provide the best search results, not necessarily provide a document I would want to import for editing". Can you elaborate?

Thanks everyone!

I may be totally wrong on this, speaking out my posterior, as it were...

I heard/read recently that EN designed their OCR to maximize search results returns -- e.g. give you the best chance of finding the document you are searching for rather than giving you a high-fidelity editable copy of something. Now that I think about it, I heard that on the most recent podcast and I think EN was referring to their .jpg search results. Oh well.

I have limited experience opening OCR'd PDFs from EN. They are serviceable, but if there is any special formatting/graphics embedded in your document, the formatting of the OCR PDF is a bit messy. However, you can certainly use them.

Bottom line, though: EN premium is ~$5 per month. Try out the EN OCR and the SN OCR and see what meets your workflow/OCR needs the best. I'm loving the EN OCR, you may not.

Hope that is somewhat helpful.

KK

[sddawson 1]

Forgive me if I'm missing something here. I'm pretty new to EN. I've tried dragging a variety of PDFs to EN. They always display in EN exactly the same as the original. There are no formatting differences at all. I can right-click the contents of a PDF note and save it as a PDF. It looks exactly the same. I thought EN just OCRd the PDF to make it searchable, but left the original intact.

[kkingmd 0]

If you right click on a PDF after EN had OCRd it (I think you have to be a premium member) you will see an option to save the searchable PDF. The searchable PDfs look pretty funny, in my experience. So if EDITING a PDF is not high on your list of things to do, then the EN OCR will probably work.

Kevin

[sddawson 1]

OK, now I understand. All the PDFs I had been adding must have already been searchable ones - created via Pages and from other external sources. I created a non-searchable one and can see the save searchable option after an EN sync. And it looks pretty funny! But you always have the Save As option if you want a copy of the original (albeit non-searchable) one, right?

[Veritrope 3]

For anyone who might be interested, I've posted my Scansnap workflow here:

http://veritrope.com/tips/evernote-desktop-folder/