Scanner Software

[MidwestTransplant]

Can anybody recommend good scanner software. I have used the older versions of PaperPort in the past but apparently based on reviews the new ones are rather bad. Ideally I want to find something with similar functionality to Paper Port but without the problems. I am running Windows 7.

Thanks

[Old and In the Way]

1. I've never heard of Paperport, so I checked their webside.

Their flagship product goes for $499.00. I can do pretty much everything that software does with my current amalgam of software.

(1) I have an HP 2600 printer/scanner. The HP software that came with the machine will scan documents and create .tiff files on my desktop. I can then merge any number of .tiff files by opening one and simply draging and dropping the rest of the files into the open document. It also has OCR capability which I seldom use.

(2) I have a software application called PDF ReDirect that embeds itself in my printer list. Any Windows software application that has a print function can be set to print output to pdf instead of a physical printer. I bought the 'pro" version...I think it was around $29.00. It's works slick as whistle with all kinds features I don't use.

(3) There are software sites that will convert an excel spreadsheet that's in pdf format to .xls. I use that occasionally.
http://www.freewaregenius.com/2009/05/07/pdf-to-excel-free-free-pdf-to-excel-conversions/ There are other web based solutions to do this with Word, HTML, powerpoint, etc.

I guess the key is to know what scanner you're using, then check to see what is available by the OEM in terms of software support. You might find that Windows already recognizes the device and you can use the built in utilities to do scanning/ocr. If so, you can do everything I've listed for no cost....there are all kinds of freeware versions of pdf printers available at CNET Downloads.

Is there some other aspect of this software that I didn't cover that is specific to Paperport or your needs?

[trud]

2. hp

I use the scanner software that came with my hp Photosmart allinone. I typically scan everything to jpgs, but it can apparently do other stuff. It's always been adequate for my needs, and free.