Scan Image File Saving to PDF without also creating image file

[statistician13]

I am currently using Screenshot Captor with my Fujitsu fi-7160 and it works great.  I have it set up current so than when I press the scan button on my printer, my documents are scanned and saved into the directory I specified in SC.  All of the documents I scan create two files -- a PDF and an image file (either jpg, png, gif, tiff, or bmp).  I'm trying to find out if it's possible to create only the PDF and not the additional image file.  I tried changing several of the scan options, but didn't seem to get anything to work. 

Is this possible?

Thanks.

[mouser]

That's an interesting question.. Right now there is currently no way to do that -- mainly because SC can't view PDF files so it really wants to save a copy in a file format it can understand.
Let me give a little more thought to this, but I would encourage you to consider whether it might be something you could live with, and just occasionally delete the screenshot files..

[statistician13]

Thanks for thinking about it.  I really appreciate this.  I do a lot of scanning -- I scan personal notes quite a bit and convert them to PDFs and I also scan all my personal documents this way as well.  While I suppose I could live with it, its kind of a pain to have to go into the directory and clear out the extraneous image files that I don't need and they tend to take up more space than my PDFs.  It would be great to just have an option that allows you to scan to pdf for placement directly into a directory without any need to view the file in SC.  I use other programs such as Adobe Reader and Acrobat for that obviously.

Thanks again for considering my request!

[IainB]

The Fujitsu fi-7160 - that's one nice scanner you have there.

Most modern scanners come with bundled software that enables the scan of a document image directly to PDF (and usually OCR it as well) without creating or otherwise leaving any intermediate .jpg or other images lying around. If that were the case, then using Screenshot Captor to "drive" the scanner would seem to be superfluous and not a good idea - i.e., the bundled software would be the most appropriate driver for the scanner.

The Fujitsu fi-7160 scanner would seem to be no exception to this - it has the PaperStream IP (Image Processing) and PaperStream Capture software bundled with it.
The PaperStream IP spec says: (at http://www.fujitsu.com/us/products/computing/peripheral/scanners/fi/software/paperstreamip/index.html )

Powerful:

• Cleans up the toughest documents, including decorated backgrounds, for improved OCR, reduced rescans, and curtailed specialized profile creation
• Auto-rotates for less paper preparation and automatically fills in hole-punches and torn edges
• Color Clean Up creates a uniform background for better reproduction and reduced file sizes on color scans

The PaperStream Capture spec. says: (at http://www.fujitsu.com/us/products/computing/peripheral/scanners/fi/software/paperstreamcapture/index.html)

Standard File Outputs
Scan to PDF, PDF/A, PDF with OCR, TIFF Group 4, Multipage TIFF, JPEG, BMP with a single click. ...

I have found that, if one does not have the latest software for a scanner, then one is usually able to download/upgrade it for free for one's scanner from the manufacturer's Support website.
Have you any experience of the Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner as well, or is it just the Fujitsu fi-7160? I'd be interested in any user experiences of and comments on these scanners.

[mouser]

I think Iain's comments are worth considering -- as the author of Screenshot Captor, I am quite proud of it's scanning features, but still if your only use of it is to help with scanning, and you have no interest in manipulating the images afterwards using SC tools, then perhaps specialized scanner software is the way to go.

[bob99]

Along with Ian's suggestion may I add another.
Check the PDF reader or editor program you are using to see if it has a scan option. I use PDF-XChange Editor and it has a very good scanning option.

[statistician13]

I really appreciate everyone's thoughtful comments and consideration of my problem.

I have used the software bundled with the scanner, but so far, I'm not really pleased with the results for one main reason:  All the software seems to require me to actually view and then physically save the scanned documents to a folder.  In other word, there doesn't seem to be any way with any of the bundled software to allow me to simply press the scan button, scan the document and output the contents directly to a directory without first viewing the scanned content.  My objective is to bypass this step.  It's quite possible that the software does allow me to do this, but I just haven't figured it out yet after having spent about 3 hours messing around with the settings and finally settling on SC as it got me everything I needed, except for the duplicate image file.

I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts on this, or if anyone might have any other suggestions, for bypassing the viewing and physical saving, I'd really appreciate it!