Greetings to all SoftHardWare readers! Scanning documents has become frequently used in our lives. Everyone knows perfectly well that this way you can complete certain tasks efficiently and quickly. It is unlikely that there is a person who would prefer a typing machine instead of a convenient and simple scanner. Sometimes we are faced with the need to scan documents when filling out papers, at work, if we need to send a document by mail, and in a host of other situations.
Free programs for scanning documents allow us to easily carry out exactly the work that we need.
Such programs are called OCR applications. OCR is a program that translates images of various documents into text, which can be processed and then edited in editors. The following are known document scanning programs, like: RiDoc, ABBYY Finereader, Scanitto, BlindScanner, OCRUNEIFORM, VueScan and many others.
UPD: This article was written back in 2013, so the article contains irrelevant information about the free availability of some programs. I've put together a new collection entirely free applications, which is available in the article - The best free programs for scanning documents.
Ridoc
RiDoc makes it possible to scan documents. Using a scanner, you can receive a document in electronic version and reduce the file size without losing its information quality.
RiDoc allows you to conveniently arrange documents, obtain galleries of scanned files, and then print the gluing results on a printer.
ABBYY Finereader
ABBYY Finereader can recognize texts High Quality and save the sources. There are three versions of the program: Profesional, Home and Corporate Edition. Each program has a different appearance, technical capabilities and price.
You can recognize text from a book and edit it using the Home version. Corporate supports accessibility features and network scanners for multiple users at once. All versions of this program can recognize texts from 200 languages! Later versions of the program allow you to recognize pictures taken from digital cameras.
Scanitto
Free document scanning program Scanitto is suitable for reading images and text and saving this result in a convenient format. The program has useful feature Direct printing to a connected printer. Scanitoo - fast and easy program, not overloaded with unnecessary functions. An improved version of this program is called Scanitto Pro.
It supports almost all scanner models. If you have a scanner, Scanitto Pro can make a copy with one click. There is also a convenient image cropping function.
BlindScanner
The BlindScanner program is designed specifically for scanning documents over a network. It allows you to open access to a device that is not located nearby, but, for example, in the next office.
With this program, the scanner is available to several users at the same time. BlindScanner supports ADF, compresses and saves images in different formats.
CuneiForm
CuneiForm fast free program for scanning documents. This program provides high-quality reading of information from 20 languages and recognizes mixed text.
VueScan
The VueScan program works with slide scanners from Nikon, HP, Canon. Supports both manual setting parameters and automatic. The program has many different filters, automatically eliminates defects and uses a multi-pass reading option to reduce scanner noise.
I think now you have a clear picture regarding free programs for scanning documents, and when choosing a program for this task, you will not have any problems.
Do you know which utilities for checking your hard drive can ensure 100% health for your hard drive?
To get high-quality scans, you don't have to use proprietary Canon scanning software.
Although they give a very positive result, among the software products presented to users, there are many good analogues that deserve attention.
Some of them are distributed free of charge, while others require some costs depending on the functionality they provide.
Variety of assortment and special requirements for it
Document recognition various types Recently it has become a real necessity due to the fact that they have become more in demand than paper originals.
This is due to the fact that they are much more convenient to store, transmit, and sometimes process.
That is why the quality of the resulting digital copies becomes the main criterion for selecting software used, including with popular Canon brand equipment.
Unfortunately, not all software manufacturers can please users.
One of the most common problems among products is the lack of regional settings, such as a Russian-language interface, which is a special criterion in the domestic space.
And there are quite a lot of similar criteria.
Some products handle processing better graphic information, others are more suitable for working with texts, including those containing several different .
In parallel with them, there are other programs and utilities, including those that cope “excellently” with information presented in tabular form.
We have already identified a number of full-fledged software systems and quite simple utilities, satisfying a number of user requirements and, as a result, this list included:
Canon MF Toolbox
It’s worth starting the review of models with a proprietary application of the Canon brand, namely MF Toolbox. Its main drawback is that there is no Russian version.
The entire interface through which the user interacts with data is in English.
However, this disadvantage is more than compensated by its advantages. software product, and he has a lot of them.
Firstly, this is the light weight of the application, which is only 9.5 MB, which has a positive effect on its loading and operating speed.
Secondly, the application is free and is supplied with the hardware by the manufacturer, which guarantees compatibility testing.
The application works in conjunction with Windows OS, which will be noted by the lion's share of office equipment users.
Despite this, working with it happens quite quickly, and a couple of clicks are enough to scan.
An additional advantage of the program is the ability to save .
This functionality provides an advantage, first of all, not even in convenience, but in saving time spent on converting from one file format to another.
The set of formats consists of the most popular ones, so MF Toolbox allows you to cover a large number of basic user needs.
In case the document needs to be corrected, you can use a customized set of editors, and to quickly transfer scans, you can use the fast sending option.
It allows without starting third party applications digitize data, edit it and directly print it, which makes it simply indispensable in emergency working conditions.
The program quickly connects to the scanner and has a couple of versions, depending on what the user needs.
Each of them has its own advantages.
PaperScan Free version is different free license, but somewhat limited in the basic set of supported functions, but the PaperScan version of the Scanner Professional Edition will delight you with a more extensive toolkit, but the user will have to pay for it.
Both versions allow you to achieve high data compression rates up to the JBIG2 level, which facilitates their transfer and does not affect the quality of the final image.
At the same time, both versions have a common drawback - the lack of Russian-language menu commands. However, this will not be a significant problem if you own English language at a basic level.
A bonus for any user will be the function of auto-rotating and aligning documents without the need to rescan them, as well as support for operating systems of the .
Rice. 7 – PaperScan Professional Edition
RiDoc
Some utilities designed for digitization have one drawback - even if they have a Russian-language interface, they are unable to accurately recognize Russian-language texts; RiDoc is not one of them.
She perceives text in both Russian and other languages quite well.
It is also worth noting that the utility can leave watermarks on digitized copies and can be used for free during a one-month trial period.
After this, you will need to pay for a license, but as a result the user will receive even broader functionality.
The advantages include data compression after digitization without loss of quality, as well as the possibility of batch processing of documents.
After scanning, the data can be converted and then saved or sent to the recipient by email. ABBYY FineReader, providing the widest range of functions and operations with digitized data.
In it users will find software both for high-quality digitization of photographs and for fast text recognition in any language.
However, it is not necessary to pay for such software products.
Some of them are distributed with a free license, which is especially important for users who are engaged in digitization non-professionally.
Photocopier is a program unique in its simplicity and functionality, which allows you to copy various documents with one click of a mouse button, having only a scanner and printer at hand.
But, as they say, let's look at everything in order and start with goals and objectives, and finish with solutions and results.
Goals and objectives.
IN Everyday life We are often faced with the need to make copies of various documents. This can be done in two main ways: having a copier at home (or a multifunctional device, preferably a laser one) or going to the nearest “service”, where they will provide us with a similar service for our hard-earned money.
So, on one of the beautiful spring evenings, I urgently needed to copy several documents of different sizes, or rather, 36 pieces in total... But what to do?! It’s dark outside, the “services” have been closed for a long time, running to someone you know is also not an option...
Solutions.
The solution has been found! After all, I have an inkjet multifunctional device at my disposal. Canon MP140(scanner, inkjet color printer/copier) and laser printer HP P1006. Happy about this state of affairs, I started scanning and printing... But that was not the case - the resulting image did not correspond to the original, and the utilities included with the devices could not make friends with two different devices.
Of course you can download graphics editor, remove fields and adjust the image size, but this option, acceptable for a small amount of copying, was clearly not suitable in my case. Putting the documents aside, I began to remember that somewhere I had once seen something similar to “software copier”, which allows you to make friends between a scanner and a printer... Having turned to the Internet for help, to my great joy, I almost immediately came across a wonderful program Photocopier.
Installing the program is extremely simple, as is its interface. Just look at the screenshot and it immediately becomes clear that this is a real copy machine!
Despite its simplicity, the program allows you to make black and white copies, grayscale copies (black and white photos) and color copies. You can also set the size of the resulting copy to 100% or 70% of the original, set the brightness and number of copies.
It is important that the program is distributed absolutely free of charge!!!
Result.
When I started copying, I was surprised - the very first copy was completely consistent with the original, and the program did not ask for any additional parameters! The only thing to remember in my case is to use laser printer“by default”, since the program automatically prints to the printer installed “by default”, and there is a possibility that the system is installed as such jet printer. If you use an ordinary scanner and printer, then everything is configured automatically.
Conclusion which can be done: Photocopier- a wonderful program, at the same time simple and functional, in some cases even irreplaceable - one click of the mouse and a copy of the document is already printed on the printer! For those who find the functionality of this version not enough, there is a more “advanced” version - Photocopier Pro, which has a number of additional, more fine adjustments. But this program is already paid - after installation it will work for 30 days, after which you will need to enter the registration key.
A free program for combining a scanner and printer into a convenient copier.
Nowadays, various organizations are increasingly starting to talk about the introduction of electronic document management. However, in reality it rarely comes to this and in the end you have to tinker with a whole heap of papers again and again. At the same time, documents often need to be copied in several copies, and there may be only one photocopier for the entire floor! Common situation?
Employees of various government agencies, I think, have encountered a similar problem more than once and fully understand its scale. However, “I’m burning” can be helped if you have at least some scanner, printer and program at hand iCopy, which allows you to “link” these two devices into a convenient copier!
Comparison of the iCopy program with the paid analogue Scanitto Pro
According to their own functionality iCopy most closely resembles the commercial scanning program Scanitto Pro:
| Peculiarities | iCopy | Scanitto Pro |
| Price | for free | from 499 rub. |
| Scan driver | WIA | TWAIN |
| One-button copying | + | + |
| Multi-page copying (including from the automatic paper feeder) | + | + |
| Save to PDF | + | + |
| Saving as images | JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF | JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, TIFF |
| Text recognising | - | + |
The only significant drawback of iCopy, as we can see from the comparison, is the lack of a text recognition function. This, of course, is a significant minus, but we are faced with the task of simply quickly replicating copies of the document, and the program copes with this very well.
Installation and pre-configuration
iCopy comes in two versions: installable and portable, which does not require installation. The portable version, as is known, leaves no traces on the system and can work directly from a flash drive. However, the installer also has an advantage. With it, you can “bind” the scan button on your scanner to activate the iCopy copy function! All you need to do is check the box on one of the screens during installation. "Register iCopy to scanner button":
It is worth noting that your antivirus may “swear” at the iCopy installer, so you may have to either add it to the “White List” or simply disable protection during installation.
If you have at least one scanner connected to your computer, the first time you launch iCopy it will detect it and offer to select it as the default scanning device:
The first time the program can boot with an English interface. If you have this problem, press the small button "Settings" on the right side of the working window and in the window that opens in the tab "General" in the dropdown list "Language" indicate the item "Russian (Russia)". To apply the changes, click the button "Ok" and restart the program:
To be fair, it should be said that the Russification of iCopy leaves much to be desired... In the interface here and there you constantly come across inscriptions that have not been translated from English, and in some windows (for example, in “Options”) only the window title is translated!
Since we're talking about settings, let's take a little look at them at the same time. There are only two tabs here. On the already mentioned “General” tab, apart from choosing the language, essentially nothing else needs to be changed. Unless you can activate the option of automatically rotating pages with printing on both sides in the automatic document feeder (if there is one) - “Flip duplexed pages”.
On the second tab - "File Settings"- you can set the default folders in which scan results will be saved in PDF format and as images (by default, iCopy asks you to specify the save path before each scan):
iCopy Interface
Now let's take a closer look appearance working window iCopy:
On the left side there is a large main button to start copying, and below it are three smaller ones:
- Multi-page scanning- allows you to first scan all pages of a document, and then print everything at once or save it as a multi-page PDF file.
- Saving as an image- activating this button makes it possible to save each of the scanned sheets as a separate image in JPG, PNG, GIF or BMP format of your choice.
- Save to PDF- saves scan results page by page or into a single multi-page (if the first button is active) PDF file.
The central part of the iCopy window is dedicated to various scanning and printing options. The top section is shifted slightly to the right. Here you can select the scanning and printing mode, specify the paper size and the required number of copies. By default, the scanning mode is “Color,” but in older scanners the lamp is often too low, resulting in a copy that is very light and difficult to read. Therefore, in such cases, I recommend setting the “Text” mode for the scanner and, accordingly, “Black and white” for the printer.
At the bottom section of the center of the iCopy window there are only three checkboxes. Of these, the last two will be inactive if your scanner is not equipped with an automatic paper feeder, since the second allows you to use it, and the third activates duplex sheet scanning (if such a function is supported).
The first option is "Preview". It is always available and allows you to activate scanning through the standard Windows WIA interface with the ability to view the captured image. However, if you activate this mode of operation, the system scanning settings will “interrupt” the parameters specified in iCopy, so in the preview window you will need to re-select the image capture type to “Black and white drawing or text”:
Finally, on the right side of the iCopy window are settings buttons. Button "Select scanner" calls up the window that is already familiar to us, which appeared when we first started it. A similar window will appear when you click the button "Printer Settings":
Actually called standard interface pre-print selection of a printer and setting its parameters, which may be different (depending on your specific printer).
Finally, the third button is "Image Settings"- calls up a window in which you can use sliders to adjust the brightness of the scan, its contrast, scale, resolution and quality. By default, the option is also active here "Center image", which allows you to automatically align the captured image to the center of an A4 sheet (or another specified in the settings):
Working with iCopy
We talked about the interface and its main parameters, and now let’s try to work with iCopy in practice. First, we need to set the scanning and printing options. They, as I already said, are best set in the “Text” (for a scanner) and “Black and white” (for a printer) modes. We'll leave the paper size at A4, and in the box below we'll indicate how many copies of each scanned page we need to print. All you have to do is click on the big blue button on the left and the copying process will begin:
Please note that in the screenshot above I have the multi-page copy button activated. It is not necessary to enable it, however, if it is enabled, then we have the possibility of delayed printing. That is, first we scan everything required pages documents, and then press the button and their automatic printing begins. And while everything is being printed, we are going to drink tea :)
But seriously, the multi-page scanning mode can also be useful if we want to save all scans into a single PDF file. To do this, activate the button "Export to PDF", keeping delayed printing active. Please note that in the status line in this mode Instead of a printer, we will have an export function. Add all the necessary pages to the future PDF document, and then click the button "Print Pages". The finished multi-page PDF file will be saved in the default folder (if you specified it in the settings) or in the directory you specified before starting scanning:
If you need to scan single sheets and save them as image files (formats available to choose from: JPG, BMP, PNG and GIF), it is better to disable the multi-page scanning function. Instead, activate the second button and specify the folder to save the pictures (again, if you did not specify the default path in the settings).
Advantages and disadvantages of the program
- works with almost all scanners and printers;
- support for automatic paper feeder and duplex scanning;
- the ability to “bind” the copy function to a button on the scanner (for installer only);
- simple interface and program management;
- preliminary scan quality settings;
- multi-page scanning and delayed printing function;
- the ability to save scan results in PDF (including multi-page) and as graphic files(JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF).
- clumsy Russification of the interface;
- there is no own mechanism for previewing scan results (the standard Windows WIA interface is used);
- There is no text recognition capability.
conclusions
When I was thinking about what to write down as the disadvantages of iCopy, I realized that it doesn’t have any particular disadvantages. For a program that weighs less than a megabyte, it can do a lot and there’s really no point in complaining about the clumsiness of the translation, since even in English everything is intuitive. Naturally, a preview of the scan would not hurt. But, on the other hand, if you use iCopy only as a software copier, then it is not needed at all!
Well, as for text recognition, for the Russian language so far, alas, there is nothing better than the paid ABBYY FineReader. And it would be foolish to hope that a full-fledged one would be shoved into such a small utility as iCopy. The program performs its task quite successfully, therefore, I think that it is not for nothing that iCopy bears the title of one of the most best solutions for copying documents.
P.S. Permission granted to freely copy and quote. this article provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.
Scanning documents is an integral part of running a business. Scanning programs allow you to digitize the necessary files and images. Some can save what you need in PDF format.
Almost all scanning programs are capable of performing the task efficiently. Some may make certain adjustments during their work:
- contrast;
- language recognition;
- image brightness;
- turns.
If necessary, it is possible to adjust the desired resolution of the desired image or the required document in text format.
Such programs perfectly support working with the most popular brands of scanners: Canon, HP, Samsung, Kyocera and others. Russian programs are user-friendly and provide the opportunity to work in different languages.
If the quality of the document is not very good, it will recognize it and make appropriate corrections. operating system Windows supports it perfectly. If you have any problems with installation or during use, you can ask a question and receive a professional answer.
ScanTool is a very convenient and easy-to-use scanning program in Russian. Allows you not only to make scans, but also to immediately send them for printing. Download ScanTool Pro 1.0 for free in Russian Password for all archives: 1progs Video ScanTool 1.0 in Russian Main advantages software: ease of operation, there are no complex operating algorithms; allows you not only to scan, but also to immediately edit the image in the program itself; supports functions...