The best HP scanner software
In This Article:
- Why should you use different scan software with your HP scanner?
- Can the HP scanning software you choose make you more efficient? Facilitate bulk scanning?
- Will the scanner software give you a searchable file?
- Take note of where the different HP scan software offerings save your files!
- Jump to our recommendation »
HP Scanner Software Overview
Not all scanning software is created equal. Some works well with HP scanners, but some falls short, especially when it comes to ease-of-use and document scanning. So what should you look for in an HP scanning solution? Is there a good all-around choice? Absolutely. And it's FileCenter, the low-cost leader in scanning software.
We'll take you through the features you should keep in mind when comparing HP scanner software options, and we'll show you why FileCenter is our number one choice.
Why Should You Use Different Scan Software with Your HP Scanner?
If you're reading this, odds are that you've already figured out you need Pro paperless scanning software to use with your HP scanner. Sure, the HP comes with its own scan software, but its features are geared towards general-purpose, light-duty use. If you want to actually put your HP scanner to use, it makes sense to choose scan software that can unleash your scanner's potential. Note that we're not talking about HP drivers here – a scanner driver simply runs the scanner. We're talking about the scan app or scanner software that you use to do your scanning. Poorly designed software can require you to interact a lot with the scanner: launching jobs, feeding in new pages, trying to merge multiple scans into a single file, replacing poorly-scanned pages, etc. Which leads to the next consideration ...
Can the HP Scanning Software You Choose Make You More Efficient? Facilitate Bulk Scanning?
Document scanning and bulk scanning have always been a tedious chore. But with today's excellent scanners, this doesn't have to be true any more. Your typical HP ScanJet, all-in-one HP printer, and even HP flatbed with a document feeder have become incredibly fast in recent years. Your company no longer needs an enterprise class scanner to get these speeds. Today's scanners also have efficient scanner drivers that allow the scanners to rival printers for speed.
So where's the speed bump now? It's now in the scanning software rather than the hardware. Most scanning software requires too much interaction, too many mouse clicks, and too much unnecessary effort to get the scan set up and started. Even after the scan is done, you're often left with a bunch of scanned files that need to be named and stored away. Or perhaps you did a large document that couldn't be scanned in just one pass. You'll now find yourself trying to figure out how to combine a bunch of files together into a single file.
This is where good scanning software comes through. The proper software will eliminate as many unnecessary mouse clicks as possible and largely automate the scanning process. For example, one feature that many users consider indispensible is called scanning profiles. This feature allows you store your most commonly-used scanning preferences as profiles. When it's time to scan, you simply need to call up the profile that matches the kind of document you're scanning. The software then sets your scanning preferences for you. Simple features like this will save you a lot of tedium, especially if you scan a diversity of documents. Good HP scanning software will also allow you to choose a file name and the location where you want to save your scan in advance, allowing you to scan and file a document in one step. The best scanning software will go even further by providing bulk scanning tools like automatic document separation and possibly even automatic routing, making it possible to scan, name, and save even entire stacks of documents with just a couple of mouse clicks. Make sure that the software you choose has features to smooth out your workflow.
Will the Scanner Software Give You a Searchable File?
Scans are simply pictures. Even if you scan a document, and even if you can see words in the scanned document, your computer will only see a picture, not text. So what if you need the ability to search the body of your scanned documents? You will have to make the scans searchable.
HP scanner software lacks the ability to scan to a searchable file. In fact, turning a scanned document into a searchable document requires two extra steps. First, you need to convert that scanned document to a PDF file. Second, you must perform Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to turn the pictures of words into real words that can be searched. Sound technical? It is. And tedious. But it doesn't need to be. The right scanner software will take care of all of this for you automatically. You should be able to simply scan a document, knowing that what you get back will be a searchable PDF
Take Note of Where the Different HP Scan Software Offerings Save Your Files!
Be warned: Not all scan software saves its scans as regular Windows files. Some will instead save all of those scans into a database. What's the problem with a database? A database is a closed system. You can only access your scans through its interface. For example, imagine that you have saved your scans in a database for years. Now you decide to switch to different scan software. You immediately discover, to your horror, that all of your scans are trapped in the database and there's no easy way to get the scans out. Or worse still, the database has become corrupted and all of your scans were lost.
There is only one safe way to save your scans: as regular Windows files in regular Windows folders. This is the only way to guarantee yourself full access to your scans in the future. The right HP scan software will facilitate this. For example, FileCenter always saves your scans as regular Windows files in regular Windows folders. But it does better still: FileCenter will give you an easy file cabinet interface that makes organizing and finding your scans a snap. A nice additional benefit – you can put the rest of your files, like Word documents, spreadsheets, and digitil photos there too.
Our Recommended HP Scanner Software
FileCenter document scanning software goes out of its way to make HP scanning not just easy, but highly efficient, whether you scan one document a day or hundreds. With full support for searchable PDF, many tools for facilitating bulk scanning, a built-in PDF editor, and a clean interface that users rave about, FileCenter can take you all the way from being smothered in paper to a paperless office. Download a free trial today!
