Free Software to scan and organize

[robrpb]

I was wondering if there is a free software program that I can use to scan receipts, bills, etc. and then organize them to access them if I need to? Thanks.

[EzyStvy]

It wouldn't hurt to mention the make and model number of your scanner...

You could easily create folders like ELECTRIC BILLS and copy the scanned doc there.

[robrpb]

I'm sorry about that. It is a Lexmark x2650 printer, scanner, copier. I am running Windows 7 Home Premium with 4 GB of RAM.

When I create the folders what would be the best way to scan the documents there? I read in a post about scanning to pdf. Is that a good way and is there a free programs that I could use or do you recommend a better or different way to scan the documents? Thanks.

[Nuclear Krusader]

What software did your scanner come with?

[robrpb]

I don't know as I haven't connected it yet. It was a gift and I didn't need it as a printer because I have a laser printer. It came with Vista drivers and so I will download the Windows 7 software and check it out.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Just see which programs it comes with. Don't install them. One has to be careful with what one installs nowadays.

Some of this software may do what you need. But until you tell us what it is we won't know.

[glc]

I don't see anything free, but I see plenty of shareware when I google "scan to PDF". Shareware will have a free trial, usually 30 days.

[dale_t44]

Try taking a look at Evernote. It might have what you want. They have a free ana paid
version.

[Preston]

Try IRFANVIEW. This little gem is in my top 3 freebies of all time.

I use it for scanning receipts, and I use the heck out of it for image manipulation...

I second what EzyStvy said. Rather than have a piece of software organize stuff, do it yourself. Create folders by date or catagory or both. Then stick the scans where you want them.

[robrpb]

I mentioned to a friend what I would like to do and liked the idea. He has a small business and would like to scan his invoices, receipts, and bills as well. It seems like creating folders would be a good way to go especially for him because he could start with a folder by year and have sub folders from there. Thanks everyone for your input.

I used Windows Explorer and on the DVD there is a folder "OCR" and under that were two folders 1.) Abbyy and 2.) Recore. Would one of these or both be the scanning software that came with the scanner?

I will also check out the software mentioned in the posts. Thanks.

[glc]

OCR is optical character recognition. That's used to scan into programs like Word, to allow you to edit the file. Not exactly what you need.

Irfanview won't scan to PDF, it is an image program. It would be creating jpegs, which take up considerably more space than PDF's.

I used to recommend Paperport for scanning and document management, but the reviews out there say that the latest version is just awful.

[Preston]

Originally Posted by glc Irfanview won't scan to PDF, it is an image program. It would be creating jpegs, which take up considerably more space than PDF's.

True, it won't do PDFs (unless you install something like PDF Creator to "print" the images as PDFs.

I actually moved away from scanning receipts to PDFs since I started using IrfanView to do the job. The PDF conversion process was taking too long (and I'm not a big fan of PDFs anymore).

IrfanView lets you choose the quality of the jpeg if you are worried about size. Plus, I like to see the thumbnail previews of the scans...

(Jeez, you think I wrote the program as proud as I am of it! )


PS
I'll admit that I still use the Bundled HP junkware to create PDFs when I want multiple pages in one file.

[robrpb]

I will not be scanning many photos. The majority scanned will be receipts and bills which are basically text. My friend will be scanning mainly invoices and other documents. He will do some, but not much photo or art work. With this in mind can I use two different programs?

glc, what program do you currently recommend for scanning to pdf? Thanks to all.

[glc]

I personally use an old version of Paperport. I currently don't recommend anything. Try some of the shareware out there and see what works for you. It's still possible the scanner may have come with something that will work.

[Nuclear Krusader]

I think the software that comes with Lexmark multifunctionals has scan-to-PDF features. I think I saw that a couple of weeks ago, when I installed Lexmark drivers for a customer's MFC and she asked me how to use the scanner for pictures. Upon scanning the picture I was given the choice of file formats to save it to.

[robrpb]

I finally installed the software from the installation disc. It has scan to pdf as part of the software. Thanks for all your help.