Johnny McClung

I looked over their products and would just love having one. I just can't justify spending that much money on a scanner that I really don't need.

I have a brother mfc-j430w three-in-one printer/scanner/fax. I have the control panel to scan the document into a PDF. Then I must open Nuance Paper Port, right-click on the PDF and save as searchable PDF. I have yet to figure out how to do this straight from the scanning process. If I scan to an image and use Evernote's OCR then I do not have to open Nuanve Paper Port. After I scan, I just drag the PNG file into Evenote. I do understand about making a searchable PDF being "future proof" not relying on Evernote's OCR. I might start doing it even thought it involves an extra step. I'm not redoing all the PDFs already in Evernote.

As I am trying to go paperless, I was wondering what format would it be best to scan in. At first, I was scanning to PDF, but then realized that I when viewed on the web, I do not see the document. Instead I must open a new window to view the PDF. Also Evernote's OCR only does PDFs if you are a paid member. So I choose to scan my files into image format so that I can see the file on the web without opening a new window. I choose the PNG file format for its lower file size compared to the JPG. Recently, I learned about searchable PDF's which have a hidden text layer within the PDF which makes them searchable without Evernote's OCR. I can make these, but it takes more time and steps then just simply scanning the file. So, which should I scan my documents into: PDF, image, or searchable PDF? Thank you.