Help With Scanning Documents

September 25, 2006 10:30 AM

How can I easily build a simple (read cheap) scanning system?

I have a need to scan a large number of documents that require a flatbed scanner, and some that can use automatic document feeder (ADF).

For each document/series of documents I would like to be prompted to associate a ID# (that has a lookup table). For sake of description lets call it SSN (it isnt). I should be able to enter 123-5677-3443 and it will populate (from a SQL source or otherwise) Name, etc.

It should prompt for date.

It should have a dropdown of 4 options.

The file would then be saved (as TIFF/PDF) as ssn#_date_dropdown-option-selected.type.

I would like to have an option to either scan a single document, or link them into a single TIFF/PDF. This single file might have elements that were scanned flatbed and ADF.

There should also be a preview so you can tell the document was correctly scanned.

A product that I know can do this is LaserFiche's quickfields addon. LaserFiche costs ~$6,000 for a single user install, and is more complex than my current needs.

Any ideas?

posted by SirStan to computers & internet (3 comments total)

Scan them into pdf with Acrobat, tag them with the ID (filename?). If you need lookup, just use a database browser.

Write a script that reads the ID, then populates from a DB the rest of the info into the pdf.
posted by mphuie at 11:07 AM on September 25, 2006

I need something a tad more automated. Most scanning applications have a 4-5 step process to simply scan documents in. I want no options, just to scan the document.

Paperport 11 for example, prompts 3 times to scan a document. Then you need to manually name it, etc.

I want something very automated.
posted by SirStan at 11:31 AM on September 25, 2006

DocuLex is the legal industry's standard for document management. Doculex Capture does everything you want. But it's also in the price range you say is too high. Maybe you need to adjust your price range or lower your requirements.
posted by scalefree at 8:03 AM on September 26, 2006