Scan to PDF?

[Andrew]

Have an Epson CX5400, with the default smartscan software.
It has an option to scan to PDF format.
Yet when I add these files to my PDA device, the PDA only sees a graphic
and no text.
In viewing the Daataviz site, I see that the scanner is only scanning an
image and not the actual text, as when using the text tool in adobe, you are
not able to highlight any text at all.

This was the answer as to why you cant see pfd files on my PDA

"Currently, PDF To Go does not support graphics. Although your PDF file
looks like text, it is actually a graphic. A scanned image is an example of
a graphic which might look like text. Unfortunately, this means that we will
not be able to display this PDF file on your handheld".
Have resorted to using my older version of Paperport 8, than exporting
toWordperfect to actually convert to PDF; yet would like an easier solution.
Does the newer versions of Paperport or other packages create an actual text
PDF or are they simply grabbbing an image of all the text as the current
epson software does.

Thanks in advance
Andrew

 

[Mr. Grinch]

Have an Epson CX5400, with the default smartscan software.
It has an option to scan to PDF format.
Yet when I add these files to my PDA device, the PDA only sees a
graphic and no text.
In viewing the Daataviz site, I see that the scanner is only scanning an
image and not the actual text, as when using the text tool in adobe, you
are not able to highlight any text at all.

It sounds like what you want is OCR scanning software, possibly with forms.
There was another thread this week about OCR software that can scan forms,
Omnipage 12 to 14 and Textbridge 11 were mentioned, as well as another I
can't remember.

Acrobat 6 will let you convert PDF bitmaps to forms, but it seems a little
tedious to me, or maybe I just don't know how to use it. So, I'm looking to
try Textbridge or Omnipage to see if they will do it more automatically.

 

[Andrew]

The OCR software I have is capable of doing the tasks I currently require.
What I am in need of is a software scanning program that will scan directly
as a pdf file with both text and image capablities.
I thought the Epson software did this till I tried adding the file to my
PDA.
(sending or using pdf's on a home pc is not a problem using the epson
software)
Using the PDA adobe viewer you do see the file yet it is far from readable.
My most success has been with Wordperfect and Publishing as a pdf

 

[Dierk Haasis]

The OCR software I have is capable of doing the tasks I currently require.
What I am in need of is a software scanning program that will scan directly
as a pdf file with both text and image capablities.

Sorry, but the answer to your needs is: You want OCR software.

A scanner just records pixels, hence all his output always is an
image. It is special software (Character Recognition applications)
that interpret brightness values from these images into text (the less
brightness values in the original the better).

Any scanning program converting a printed page into digital text would
have to go through an OCR process. Which would mean you have to do
what you don't want to do ...

 

[Andrew]

Does the OCR software that is currently available, Papaperport, Omni page,
have the ability to create text pdf's once scanned using the ocr software.
I am just dissapointed in the software creating a pseudo pdf when it is only
an image
I guess my real question would be
Is it worth purchasing a newer software package.
I currently scan the image unsing Paperport 8, drop into Wordperfect,Which
converts it using the ocr software.
Then I publish it to pdf in Wordperfect
I guess I am just looking to drop it into Adobe and the ocr software
convert it and then save as pdf.
Then again, this is as many steps as I do using Wordpefect.. Hmmm
Nevermind,,, thanks for the replies.

The OCR software I have is capable of doing the tasks I currently require.
What I am in need of is a software scanning program that will scan directly
as a pdf file with both text and image capablities.

Sorry, but the answer to your needs is: You want OCR software.

A scanner just records pixels, hence all his output always is an
image. It is special software (Character Recognition applications)
that interpret brightness values from these images into text (the less
brightness values in the original the better).

Any scanning program converting a printed page into digital text would
have to go through an OCR process. Which would mean you have to do
what you don't want to do ...

 

[Hecate]

Does the OCR software that is currently available, Papaperport, Omni page,
have the ability to create text pdf's once scanned using the ocr software.

I don't know about anything else, but Omnipage Office certainly allows
you to scan/OCR/output as PDF.

 

[Hecate]

I don't know about anything else, but Omnipage Office certainly allows
you to scan/OCR/output as PDF.

Actually, I do know about something else, but I forgot. Abbyy
Finereader 7 does as well.

 

[Andrew]

Thanks,
will look into that option

Much appreciated
Andrew

 

[Donkey Agony]

Does the OCR software that is currently available, Papaperport, Omni
page, have the ability to create text pdf's once scanned using the
ocr software.

Check out Abbyy FineReader. I switched from OmniPage a year ago and
have been very happy. Yes, it will do what you want. For PDF output,
you can specify text & pictures only, page image only, text under the
page image, or page over the page image.