Scanning 500->2000 documents, solutions? (Computing/Finance/Home office decluttering all in one)

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  outlander on 11/12/2016 - 12:51

  Some of the newer multifunction printers have an auto scan feeder. I have a canon mx926 that has this. Never tried it, but keen to for the same reasons as you

  Alternatively, if you have a good camera, you might not need to scan. Could be faster to go into a well lit room and snap 'em one at a time

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    hamwhisperer on 11/12/2016 - 13:05

    +1

    Thanks for the reply. I'm somewhat limited on space in my place. I googled for a similar device to what we had at work, it was like this thing.
    http://sydneyofficeequipment.com.au/Scanners/Fujitsu-scanner…

    That's got a small desktop profile, it's double sided - even if it's slow it's a nice one to just load in, scan once, no flip, no fiddling.

    I suppose I could opt for the big old MFD but I'm curious if they are any good at duplex scanning and what software would be best to scan the document and then present a simple way of saying multi-page or single and saving, quickly.

    The camera option would be bad, there's /possibly/ thousands, I'm not sure.

    • 

      outlander on 11/12/2016 - 14:20

      +1

      It !sounds! bad, because there's thousands, but I had a dslr, and it takes photos in 2 seconds, vs the scanner which takes 45 seconds to scan, process and save a picture.

      In my head, I see it as a jig, with the camera setup facing down on a well light square. You put the page on the square, press a remote, it takes the photo, and you change out the page for the next one.

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  Allan on 11/12/2016 - 13:13

  +1

  Using one of these at home (an older model) http://sydneyofficeequipment.com.au/Scanners/Fujitsu-scanner…

  Basically how it works is you just plop in the documents into feeder at top. Press 1 button and scans double sided. You can adjust settings etc through software. Only problem is it would be too slow to scan 500+ pages which if you could spread out over a few days/weeks could work out.

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    hamwhisperer on 11/12/2016 - 13:26

    How's the quality and the software? I really don't mind using the on screen Windows buttons, rather than buttons on the scanner - I just want to scan a 4 page bill quick and easily, then a 6 page, then a 9 page, without stacking the pages so to speak you know?

    • 

      Allan on 11/12/2016 - 13:46

      Using you example. Feed the 4 page document into scanner. Press button. Scans the file. Windows prompt asking do you want to scan more to the same file. If yes, add more pages and press button on scanner. If no, asks you to name file. Done.

      Add 6 page document into feeder and repeat.Quality is quite good not 100% replicated good. I haven't really played around with settings but I get about 80%+ copy quality. Not sure what you mean by stacking the pages?

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  retiredfeline on 11/12/2016 - 13:25

  I usually do these at work where they have a copier scanner. Even if you do it yourself I recommend you scan the lot into one file and use PDF splitting software to get individual files.

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    hamwhisperer on 11/12/2016 - 13:26

    Someone else told me that elsewhere, is it really that easy to manipulate a PDF - does it retain the quality?
    Just like 50x30 page batches or something?

    • 

      retiredfeline on 11/12/2016 - 13:54

      Sure, it doesn't resample, just extracts the relevant pages, along with any needed preamble.

    • 

      blitz on 11/12/2016 - 14:10

      greenpossum is right. Just scan everything first, then use PDF Split and Merge to cut up the individual document you need. There is no loss in quality. Otherwise, you'll be there all day.

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        hamwhisperer on 11/12/2016 - 14:27

        Well I must admit, when I line up a job again, access to a high speed, duplex, multi-multi page MFD wouldn't be too difficult.

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  t_c on 11/12/2016 - 13:44

  Post on Freelancer and outsource to india.

  • 

    Allan on 11/12/2016 - 13:47

    +4

    I wouldn't outsource personal files such as bank statements to India

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  RobMel on 11/12/2016 - 16:53

  Got a HP Officetjet 8600 (now 8620 I believe) scans double sided with multifeeder. Can scan from Desktop app or also automatically to network folder. Can print form Android via internet or also via email. Print cost is low, bought it based on Choice review.

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  rbrb on 11/12/2016 - 19:10

  If you don't mind spending $300-500 then I recommend an Avision scanner. Very fast, holds multiple sheets and will scan both sides at once. We have a lot of clients in the medical and finance sectors and they all use these for scanning patient records, receipts, statements, etc.

  With regards to software, never rely on what comes bundled with the scanner. Find something that suits your needs and use that. Most scanning software will work with most scanners but always grab a demo and try it out before you buy.

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  captobvious on 11/12/2016 - 19:57

  Go to the auctions and find an end of lease mfd with scanning for under $200. They can be configured to scan to network or scan to USB and some can hold up to 150 sheets in the feeder and scan duplex

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  Bystander on 11/12/2016 - 19:59

  cAUD$350 for one of these
  http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-portable-document-scan…

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  sjay on 11/12/2016 - 20:43

  Yes.

  I've scanned in thousands of documents from filing cabinets, as well as books into PDF.

  • Pixma MX 870 has a document feeder and does duplex scanning (front and back). Cannon software is great for this.

  • 1dollarscan.com for books. Excellent service and very cheap.

  I've gone nearly paperless. Hope this helps.

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  noob999 on 11/12/2016 - 22:01

  +1

  I use Fuji Xerox multifunction scanner copiers at work.
  I scan alot of documents for DRMS.

  I scan bundles of paper auto feed mix of A4/A3, 2 sided, 200dpi colour, 500 pages is about 240Mb PDF file. 500 pages (250 double sided) Takes about 12 minutes, in a couple of bundles.
  I use Acrobat Pro to edit the documents to delete blanks, rotate pages, add pages, combine PDF etc.

  I would seriously look at what your local library has, or better still goto a university library and scan then there to USB stick.

  If your documents are of various sizes, like receipts, manuals, ripped out magazine articles etc… you will have to do them manually.

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  kryptoz on 11/12/2016 - 22:40

  An MFC is a cheap option (Canon/HP/Epsom $100-150) which I have used many times for this, but after months the ink tanks will dry up even if you're not using them. At that point the MFC will just beep at you until you replace the ink.

  If you just need it for the one scanning job, that would be fine, but as an ongoing scanning tool, you might want to look at a dedicated scanner.
  I would look at Canon DR-C255 @ $400-500 depending on retailer (check www.staticice.com), with Omnipage included; Omnipage OCR is very useful, since as you scan the paper to PDF the files created with then be searchable by their text content, rather than having to name each file manually.
  Other manufacturers also may include OCR text recognition software such as Acrobat, but Omnipage is the most awarded digital document OCR tool by far and costs ~$500 if you buy it separately. I use Acrobat XI Pro at work most days for editing digitally-created PDF files, and Bluebeam for markup and distribution, but for document management Acrobat is quite cumbersome to do tasks like text recognition, while Omnipage and some other apps can do that automatically.

  These document scanners don't use a flatbed they just have an auto document feeder, so they are much more space efficient than a printer or MFC, and they can still scan up to A3 size as well as photos, clippings, etc.

  A far bit more money than MFC, but if you pricematch at Officeworks, then you can try it out for a week or so to see if it meets your needs, then return it if not.

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  theguru1 on 12/12/2016 - 07:42

  Get a dedicated document page scanner such as an Avision.

  Most scanners on MFC's are just too slow for multiple page scans.

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  [Deactivated] on 12/12/2016 - 10:09

  Pay some kids to do it

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  backpaqer on 12/12/2016 - 11:32

  +1

  I do this on a Canon MX900-series with double-sided ADF. Works well.
  You'd be doing well to remember what item you're up to if you just chucked a random bunch of documents onto the ADF if they were all random numbers of pages. I split my scan pile into single sided and double sided and process each item by simply hitting the scan buttons on the scanner. You can configure where the documents get dumped and if you have evernote sitting across the directory, you can then suck all the documents into that and you now have indexed text searching across all your documents.

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  number5 on 12/12/2016 - 12:27

  Go find some printing shop (preferably those printing CAD ones) ask them to scan and merge into one pdf for you. If you can't find one, Officeworks will do, just a bit expensive than printing shops.

  It's not worth to buy a new printer/scanner just for scanning few hundreds or thousands pages.

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    hamwhisperer on 12/12/2016 - 13:44

    I intend to keep my stuff digital, ongoing in the future, therefore I'd really need to have a device at home to do this.
    Also it's like a lot of pages, my estimation might be off but it would be 1.5 packed solid filing drawers.

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  kwiksand on 12/12/2016 - 13:18

  +1

  I did exactly this over the past 3 months' except with almost 5x as much paper (approx 12,000 pages, from a quick glance at the full, 3-ream document boxes I've got next to me, about to go to the shredders).

  For me, I used a cheapie Epson WF-4640 with a 50 page dual sided/duplex scanner and did a mix of:
  - scanning document by document getting up to feed the next document in; and
  - just feeding in the full amount (as close to 50 pages every time) and splitting/post processing the output PDF's on my Mac.

  It sounds laborious, but whilst I'd always been proud of meticulously saving/categorising documents (bank statements, receipts, bills, ID, Passport forms, etc) it was incredibly freeing to go through and reduce a whole filing cabinet down to approximately 200 sheets. And in the end I actually have better access to what I'm looking for anyway (Document management, tagging, sort by date/company/type/etc)

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    hamwhisperer on 12/12/2016 - 13:43

    I appreciate the reply, I suppose I'm being pedantic, in that I would not only like a sheet feeding job of a printer / scanner, but something compact too for desk / shelf space you know?

    Something like yours, the only place I could put it, is at around 5'9 in height (seriously) so the top of the unit would be up near the darn ceiling.

    That being said, did you use the Epson software or third party? I'm wondering what the best software is to get the job done.
    I'll do it over a few weeks / month, it'll be worth it in the end to just throw stuff away (heck, now I feel like I need a shredder…. unsure how to get rid of it fairly safely)

    How many filing cabinets did you fill to make 12000 pages? I'm only guessing, I have about 1.5 large drawers, packed solid worth.

    • 

      kwiksand on 12/12/2016 - 20:02

      Absolutely, it's bigger than a basic laser or inkjet printer, but from a quick glance, I'd say it's 30cm(height)x40cm(width)x40cm(depth), easily fits on my desk with two monitors and a laptop, but I'll probably put it in the backroom now that I've finished the bulk scanning work.

      In regards to scanning, I've used the Epson software for specialised things like needing a good quality double sided copy of passports and drivers license, but everything else has been done scanning directly to network and/or memory card. It outputs perfect (for my needs) quality PDF documents for as many pages as you scan.

      In the case where I was scanning a lot of documents at once (say 30 bank statements), I just opened the PDF in Mac Preview (standard viewer, I'm sure Acrobat reader would be the same on Windows) and exported each individually.

      Takes a while, but I reckon I'd do a good 250-300 sheets an hour and just slowly went through them. As backpaquer noted above, sorting them into single and double sided, and even type of document vastly shrunk the scanning/labelling/tagging time too.

      If only I had the dedication to start going through the ~80,000 photos of familiy/holidays/etc. 2019 maybe! :)

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  go2home on 04/01/2017 - 15:25

  You need a high speed scanner. Like: Kodak 1440i, Canon DR-9080C etc. I used a lot of them due to my work.

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  hamwhisperer on 18/01/2017 - 21:40

  Thanks all for the help, I spoke with others elsewhere and someone recommended me a very slim little Brother 1600 ADW scanner. I found one super cheap so I'm going to give it a crack . Double sided, basic sheet folder, wirelesS (besides power) - folds away.

  Now to choose a format to save into and a resolution
  Then to encrypt the damn files, because if my network is ever hacked it'd be bad enough now, but with thousands of documents like this in the wrong hands, ouch.

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  jeeg on 18/01/2017 - 23:52

  We have a Fujitsu scansnap S1500 that have served us flawlessly for the past 5 years. I cannot recommend this enough. Have scanned many many things and digitize things into PDF. Seamless integration into evernote as well. A bit pricey sure but it is a workhorse.