Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Can someone recommend an auto-sheed feed scanner that doesn't suck?

This is topic Can someone recommend an auto-sheed feed scanner that doesn't suck? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=006502

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-25-2011, 12:14 AM:

I've been using mostly HP scanners and it isn't their quality of manufacturing, it is their software, their evil software!

Has anyone used a scanner that can accept a stack of, say 30 pages, and scan them to pdf without ANY "auto cropping" nonsense?

I want to scan 8.5 x 11 inch pieces of paper, and I want the scan to reflect that, not where some silly un-defeatable software THINKS the scan should be cropped.

Mucho gracias. [Cool]

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-25-2011, 12:21 AM:

I don't know about specific models but I can tell you that the software in the Epson scanner I have will do everything or nothing -- you can configure it very easily. I've had 2 previous HP scanners and hated them both.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 08-25-2011, 02:30 AM:

Another vote for Epson scanners here, though I've never tried doing what you want to do (presumably to scan porn mags ooops I mean manuals for the warehouse).

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 08-25-2011, 09:17 AM:

If you're ok with using linux, this'll be easy no matter what your particular scanner is since you'd use the same scanning software regardless.

You'd open up xsane (a gui scanner controller). On the main options page it'll have an icon that looks like a flatbed scanner opening and next to it says flatbed; click on that option and choose automatic feeder. Then on the top of the page it says "viewer" which means it defaults to opening up a viewer to make changes to the scanned image. Click on it and choose multipage. That brings up a window for managing your multipage project; you change the name/location to whatever you want, click create, and it should default to using pdf. After that it should work just clicking "scan."

It'll start scanning each page and sticking an image of the page into the project's window. When you're done, click save multipage file. It definitely didn't do any nonsense here like deciding that you really didn't want the thing to be the whole page (even when I was scanning one page that had lots of text on it and another that had almost none).

Posted by Jeff Kane (Member # 6372) on 08-25-2011, 12:01 PM:

Scan to PDF? Fujitsu ScanSnap. Awesome support and the scanners rock and are very very fast.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-25-2011, 04:35 PM:

It's great that the scanners rock, but do they do ANY auto-cropping of the page?

Also, I am only looking for an auto-sheet feed scanner. I don't have the time to lay one page down on the flatbed at a time. Does anyone have a specific model to recommend? And no Chris I'm not going to setup a Linux computer just for this.

Posted by Sean Weitzel (Member # 244) on 08-25-2011, 10:36 PM:

We're using a Xerox Documate 510. My wife uses it most of the time and when I asked her, she swears that the Visioneer software bundled with it will scan completely un cropped if you set it not to. Bonus that it has twain drivers which will allow it to be used directly with Adobe products if you don't like the bundled software.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 08-25-2011, 10:53 PM:

I've got a Brother MFC machine that is still running like a champ after 6+ years. I've had very good luck with Brothers.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-26-2011, 01:02 AM:

I'm going to quote someone from this thread for Justin.

quote: Brad Miller
It's great that the scanners rock, but do they do ANY auto-cropping of the page?

So far the only recommendation is for the Xerox Documate 510 because Sean answered the question regarding the evil, EVIL auto-cropping. Justin? Jeff? Joe?

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 08-26-2011, 02:03 AM:

Ok, you got me Brad. I did not read every last word of your question. However, I did a couple test scans and it appears that it does in fact scan as 8½x11 edge to edge. Of course it will not print edge to edge because it had an unprintable margin of about 1/8". However, the printed document does fit the page the same way the original fit the page. I can lay the copy over the original and it lines up virtually perfectly.

I know you will already know this, but I will state the fact anyways: your scans and copies will never be precisely the same as the original. There will always be a small deviation caused by the optics of the machine - especially when using a document feeder.

I'll also add that this is a Brother MFC-8440 b/w purchased about June 2005. Using the ControlCenter 2.0 software.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-26-2011, 02:36 AM:

What I just looooooove about my HP scanner is that I can throw a stack of 30 pages in it and maybe half will come out edge to edge, some will "zoom in" for no good reason (but not cutting anything off), a couple will be transformed into beautiful streaks and then at least one will chop half the page off. Lovely.

Did you try scanning a stack to see if it could scan, for example, 20 pages in a row without cropping on any of the pages? That has proven to be the real test for me.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 08-26-2011, 02:47 AM:

We scanned a 35-40 page legal document a few weeks ago and it went through fine. At lot of that has to do with making sure your pages are in good condition and your document feeder is clean.

I routinely scan stacks of 10-15 pages when I'm sending monthly bills to corporate. The only problem I ever have is with the thin NCR paper or with papers than have folded corners.

Posted by Jeff Kane (Member # 6372) on 08-26-2011, 11:30 AM:

We've never had cropping issues but I contacted support anyway. Fujitsu only autocrops if you have it on 'auto'. If you select the paper size it doesn't.

We rarely if ever have misfeeds and in those cases someone's got 30 sheets of wrinkled logs they're trying to scan. Otherwise the thing does a great job of only pulling one page at a time and spitting out what's put in.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-26-2011, 05:30 PM:

At work, we have one of these gorillas as a shared photocopier/scanner/fax.

I have run a pile of papers through it using the 'whole platter' setting (i.e. it scans the whole glass surface without cropping, which is slightly bigger than A3 size), and it then emails the result to you as a TIF or PDF file. You can select any of the common US or European paper sizes, any resolution you like up to 600dpi, and it is very fast (goes through a pile of 50 pages in a couple fo minutes). The model we have is b/w only, but I think they do make colour versions.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 08-26-2011, 08:11 PM:

We have the same make -- a Konica here but only a BIGGER unit. I am sure it's not what Brad is looking to invest in for this job. And it definately DOES NOT crop. It scans edge to edge --like any normal person would want and expect. It may have some auto thing, but I have never run into anyone needing such a sucky feature so I never investigated if it has one. Why HP would included it with no way to easily disable it is just stupid.

But as I said, this is much bigger than I am sure you are looking for, Brad. I am convinced everything in this trailer may go airborn in the storm, but this Konica will not move. It's the size of a golf cart and just as heavy.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-26-2011, 09:36 PM:

Agreed completely - it's a heavy duty machine designed for an office with a couple of dozen people working in it, not a home or small business.

Minolta might do a smaller scale unit but with the same, crop-free scanning software, though.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-26-2011, 09:57 PM:

quote: Frank Angel
It scans edge to edge --like any normal person would want and expect.

Nice to know I'm not the only person that feels this way. [Razz]

Yeah that's overkill for the quantity of scanning I actually do, but when I do need to scan, it is almost always a stack of paper to pdf.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-26-2011, 10:15 PM:

Since you basically like the scanner but hate the software, why don't you look for better software to run the scanner?

I have a Canon flatbed scanner which I like but I virtually never use the company's software. I use VueScan.

http://www.hamrick.com/

I'm not 100% sure it will work with your scanner(s) but, from what I read on the website, it can operate some sheet feeders.

I know that VueScan has automatic AND manual cropping or you can select "Maximum" for no cropping to scan the whole platen.

Check it out. Download the trial version. If you don't like it; "No harm, no foul."

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-26-2011, 11:36 PM:

Not the most user friendly software I've seen, but after futzing with it for a few minutes I was able to get it to scan the ENTIRE sheet without any cropping to pdf. Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a test workout and if all goes well I'll buy it.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-27-2011, 08:31 AM:

Well, VueScan wasn't designed for general purpose scanning. It was meant for more technical work like scanning photos or slides. It's strong points are exposure and color balance, etc., but because it gives the user more control over the scanner, I thought it would work well for your purpose.

There are other scanning programs out there, for example, SilverFast but they are more expensive. For getting good scans of images on film, VueScan gives a better bang for the buck than the pricier programs.

I agree that VueScan isn't as user friendly for the casual user but, if you do a lot of scanning it's worth taking time to learn it.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-27-2011, 10:14 AM:

Randy - you beat me to it!

A software option occurred to me, to. When running Windows, my Epson scanner works with its Epson-written driver. That includes a lot of flashy graphics, auto-cropping (though you can disable it) and about 50 other features I virtually never use. However, when I'm booted into the Ubuntu partition, it uses a barebones driver that comes as part of the operating system, and I don't think it crops at all - you have to do that on whatever program you're scanning into (e.g. GIMP). I'm away from home at the moment and so can't experiment, but I guess one free option might be to investigate if this approach could work (e.g. booting a Linux distro from a USB stick whenever you want to scan).

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 08-27-2011, 11:30 AM:

I enjoy using Linux and I think that there are plenty of things that make Linux better than most operating systems but, for occasional use, the amount of work it takes to get a Linux system up and running the way you want it to might not be worth the benefit.

While I have computers with Linux already set up so that I can switch to it and use it when I want to, many people just don't have the fortitude.

VueScan only costs $39.95 for the Standard version and $79.95 for the Professional version. Even at $80.00 the Pro version is well worth the money if you want to do any kind of scanning on a regular basis. Yes, it takes time to tackle the learning curve but I think it's better.

I'm the kind of guy who drives a car with a stick shift, doesn't use digital cameras and regularly cooks his own meals in the kitchen rather than eat microwave dinners. I like having control over my technology and I'm willing to spend some extra time to understand how to operate my equipment in the way that suits me best.

I don't see programs like VueScan or SilverFast to be too difficult to use and, like Brad, I really freakin' HATE it when computer programs make decisions for me without letting me override them when I want to.

You could look into SilverFast. It also has some great features but the Standard edition is $10.00 more than VueScan and the Pro version is nearly $300.00.

As such, I think VueScan is the best solution.