We’ve all been
vaguely aware that if we scanned the paperwork
and saved it as electronic files, we could get
rid of a lot of paper files –
specifically, those for which you don’t
need the original.
The problem is that with traditional, flatbed
scanners, you have to place each sheet individually,
close the lid, press the button, then contend with a
variety of file formats when saving the result.
The ScanSnap does away with that problem by allowing
you to scan a small pile of (loose) pages into a
single PDF document, which you may then file away on
disk, attach to an email, print, or (on Macs) file
away in your iPhoto collection. If you file it on
disk, you also have the option of having the text on
it converted to computer text through the
optical-character recognition (OCR) software that
comes with it.
Even better, it will scan both sides of pages (Duplex
mode) by just setting that in the Preferences.
The sheer speed and effortlessness of the operation
is what makes it worth every penny of the not
inconsiderable $500 cost.
Bung in the sheets into the
sheet feeder, press a button, and –
assuming it’s plugged into your USB port
and the ScanSnap Manager software is running
– it immediately scans the sheets, one by
one, and converts them into a PDF and a presents
you with a dialog of options:
Scan2Folder (file),
Scan2Email,
Scan2Print or file under
iPhoto:
If you choose to file, the
next dialog gives you a preview (of all the
scanned sheets, one page at a time, with ability
to zoom in or out), and buttons and fields for
saving it to disk. A default name is provided:
double-click it to change or add to that name,
then click on
Browse… or
History button to navigate your
hard disk (or network, or .Mac folder) to where
you want to place it. (Undocumented bug:
double-click and edit the file name first
before Browsing, because it won’t
allow you to change the default file name if you
Browse first). Click
Save, and
you’re done. Now, excuse me while I scan
and discard another mound…
Undocumented bug: double-click and edit the file
name first before Browsing, because it won’t
allow you to change the default file name if you
Browse first.
