Update: This post is now slightly out of date as I now use the ScanSnap S1300. You may want to sign up for my free 7 part e-Course while will more comprehensively take you through the steps to go paperless.
This is Part 1 of the My ScanSnap Setup And Workflow series. Make sure to check out Part 2 – ScanSnap Post-Scan Processing.
I recently moved and have taken the opportunity to do a massive scan-and-purge-a-thon. Almost every piece of paper from my filing cabinet, and every piece of paper that comes into the house gets fed to my trusty Fujitsu ScanSnap S300M and, if appropriate, shredded.
After 2060 sheets scanned so far, I’ve settled on a workflow and some settings, so I thought I would post it here. While they’re for my S300M they should apply for any model.
Profiles
I have four profiles set up in ScanSnap Manager. A profile is basically a collection of settings that you want to use, normally associated with the type of paper that you are scanning.
To create a new profile, go to ScanSnap Manager | Settings, click in the “Select A Profile” dropdown box, and choose Add Profile.
The four profiles I have set up are:
- Standard – Double sided pages, all in one PDF
- Stack Of Double – Double sided pages, one PDF per sheet
- Stack of Single – Single sided pages, one PDF per sheet
- Single All In One – Single sided pages, all in one PDF
Common Settings
There are some settings I have that are common to all 4 profiles:
Application Tab
I have all my profiles set to just scan to a file instead of an application. I will touch on that more in a bit.
Save Tab
The files get saved to a ToProcess folder with the standard filename.
Scanning Tab
To slightly increase the quality without compromising on speed too much, I have Image Quality set to “Better”, with Auto Color Detection.
In addition to the common settings, I have some settings set specifically for each profile
Standard Profile
On the Scanning tab, I have it set to Duplex Scan so that it scans both sides. On the File Option tab, I clicked the Option button and chose “Multipage PDF”. This puts everything in the batch in one PDF file instead of splitting it up.
I also have “Continue scanning after current scan is finished” checked. This is because sometimes I will have large stacks that I want put in one file, but the stack is larger than the ScanSnap 300M can take in one run. By checking this, it will wait and keep adding to the same file after each scan (until I hit Finished).
Stack Of Double Profile
The Stack of Double profile is handy when I have a stack of double sided pages, but i want each page in a separate file. It uses Duplex scanning like in the Standard Profile with two differences:
- I have “Continue scanning after current scan is finished” unchecked on the Scanning tab
- In File Options | Options, I have it set to Generate one PDF file per 2 pages.
Stack of Single Profile
The Stack of Single profile is the same as the Stack of Double, except I have Scanning Side set to Simplex (Single Sided) on the sca nning tab, and “Generate one PDF file per 1 page” set on the File Option | Options screen.
Single All In One Profile
The Single All In One profile has Simplex and “Continue Scanning” set on the Scanning tab and Multipage PDF set in File Options | Options.
Why bother with a Single All In One profile when the ScanSnap removes blank pages? The ScanSnap is great at removing blank pages, but sometimes documents have markings or heavy creases on the back, and the ScanSnap doesn’t pick those up as blanks. Having a Single All In One profile saves me from deleting pages later.
Next time I will cover using OCR software and document management software to actually do something with these newly minted PDFs.
Do you have any other profiles or workflows that you use? Let us know in the comments.
