So you have two things: 1) A ScanSnap iX500, S1500/M, or ScanSnap S1100, and 2) a document that is too wide to fit in the ScanSnap’s document feeder. How the heck do you scan it?
One option is to use a Carrier Sheet. The ScanSnap iX500[1] comes with one, or you can buy a 5-pack on Amazon.
These carrier sheets are handy for scanning small, oddly-shaped, or delicate documents, but what is less known is the ScanSnap’s built-in ability to let you fold a document, put it in the carrier sheet, and have it automatically stitch the PDF back together.
Let’s see how it works.
Set The ScanSnap Carrier Sheet Settings
You probably don’t need to do anything to get all this to work. The ScanSnap Manager software detects when you are using the Carrier Sheet and should act appropriately.
However, if you want to have some control, go into your ScanSnap Manager Profile, and go to the Paper tab.
You’ll see a button titled Carrier Sheet Settings…. Click it.
A pop-up window will appear, and it will guide you through the rest of the way.
For our purposes, in the Save as drop-down, we will choose one double-page spread image, which will stitch together the two sides of our folded document.
If you are scanning delicate or small documents, you will probably want the other setting. That’s not what we’re doing here.
You can also adjust the paper size if you need to. I just leave it at Automatic detection myself.
Fold, Insert, Scan
Once we have our ScanSnap settings sorted out, it is time to get started.
I have this document that is too wide to scan.[2]
I folded it in half, and slid it in the Carrier Sheet that came with my iX500.
The trick with this is to have the folded edge as far up at the top and to the right as possible.
I then put it in my ScanSnap and hit the Scan button.[3]
You can see the resulting PDF here.
I am personally impressed with how it stitched the two halves together. You’ll notice that there is a slight line down the center. This will be more or less pronounced depending on how good you are at lining things up on the right-hand side.
I suspect that many ScanSnap owners leave that Carrier Sheet sitting in the box. I recommend that you play around with it if you have a scanner that supports it. It is quite handy.
