Suggestions for alternate scanning programs?

September 20, 2009 7:38 AM

Looking for a scanner program that will allow me to set a custom size to scan and remember it for multiple scans.

I'm on Windows 7 and I'm attempting to scan in a very large number of documents (600+) that are sub-letter size (8.5"x11"). I've found the the integrated scanning program that comes with win7 is a little inadequate.

Mainly I'm looking for a scanning program that is free and will allow me to set a custom size and remember it for multiple scans (ie. 6.5"x9.25")

posted by tdreyer to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Just as a side note: you may want to use a batch scanner which handles hundres of pages (or photos for that matter) at once. Your workplace may have one, your university or the copy shop.

Scanning itself is usually handled by the scanner's driver, so you might not have much choice. The ones I know do remember settings between scans. If your scanner is not using the driver's settings for scan configuration any of the professional photo editing software can initiate the scanning and all of those have a free trial. Adobe Photoshop for example, or even the free Picasa.
posted by oxit at 8:51 AM on September 20, 2009

Oh and if the scanning itself doesn't cut them, scan them in letter size and later on batch crop them to the desired. Photoshop does that, too.
posted by oxit at 8:56 AM on September 20, 2009

Adobe Acrobat 9 has a feature that automatically detects page size and allows you to save settings. I'm not sure if the free trial version includes that feature, but we have the software at work and it's awesome. I don't know how I got along without auto-detect.
posted by lilac girl at 9:21 AM on September 20, 2009

Not free ($40-80), but I love VueScan for all my scanning needs.
posted by fief at 1:14 PM on September 20, 2009