Hp Scanning

Question

I have a new HP Photosmart Plus B210 and am trying to scan multiple documents into one .jpeg or .pdf fine. So far I have not been able to figure this out; each doc comes out as a separate file. If that is the case I want to combine my pdf files after scanning. "Help" says that I can copy by dragging. This is still 2 documents and I cannot save it in this form. There must be a way to take 2 pdf files and combine into one. I'm getting ready to scan a 20 page doc and do not want 20 pdf's.

Answer 1

I have an Image Capture solution for combining multiple successive scans of whole pages (but not several separate items that are on a single page) into one PDF. It is very easy to work with once it's set up, and you won't have to manually drag files in Preview to join them together, but brace yourself...it is something of a pain to initially set up. Once it is set up, though, all you'll have to do is scan page one, make one pull-down menu change in Image Capture, then scan all remaining pages. The trick: create an Image Capture workflow in Automator. The recipe follows...
(Initial prep, steps 1-7)
1. First create a "Scanned documents" subfolder of your "Documents" folder at: ~/Documents/Scanned documents. All Image Capture documents will be scanned to this folder, based on Image capture settings in step 6(d) below.
2. [Optional] Drag the newly-created "Scanned documents" folder to the sidebar of a Finder window for ease of subsequent access.
3. Open the Image Capture app and turn on your connected scanner.
4. If there is a "Show Details" button and no settings pane to the right of the Image Capture window, click the "Show Details" button to reveal the settings pane.
5. The scanner will warm up and take an "overview" pre-scan.
6. Settings: (a) Set the Kind, Resolution, Size and Rotation Angle as you desire. (b) Make sure the "Detect Separate Items" checkbox is NOT checked. (c) Adjust the dotted "scanning area" frame in the adjacent overview/preview window. (Note that if you have specified 8.5" x 11", the dotted frame may not appear to be selecting the whole page. This is because, for some reason, Image Capture may place the frame partially off the page. To correct, simply click somewhere within the dotted frame and drag it so that it fits precisely over the area you wish to scan. (d) On the "Scan To" pull-down menu, select "Other...," then choose the "Scanned documents" folder you created in Step 1 above. (e) For the "Name" field, enter "Scan" EXACTLY, without quotes, as your file name. (f) On the "Format" pull-down menu, select "PDF." (g) "Image Correction should be set to "None."
7. Place your first page (only) in your scanner, then click the "Scan" button in Image Capture. A file named "Scan.pdf" will appear in your "Scanned documents" folder.
(Create Automator workflow, steps 8-14)
8. Open the Automator app. You will be asked to choose a template for your workflow. Choose "Image Capture Plugin."
9. In the Automator window, go to the "Files & Folders" Library and drag the "Get SPECIFIED Finder Items" Action to the Automator work area (note that this is NOT the same as "Get SELECTED Finder Items"). In the resulting Action frame, click the "Add..." button and select the "Scan.pdf" file you just created.
10. Next, go to the "PDFs" Library in the Automator window and drag the "Combine PDF Pages" Action to the work area. In the resulting Action frame, make sure the "Appending pages" radio button is selected, NOT the "Shuffling pages" button.
11. (a) Back in the "Files & Folders" Library" (see step 9), drag the "Rename Finder Items" Action to the work area. (b) A dialog box will open asking if you want to add a "Copy Finder Items" Action. Choose "Don't Add." (c) In the Action frame, the first pull-down menu defaults to "Add Date or Time." Change this to "Name Single Item." (d) For "Name," choose the "Basename only" menu option, and enter "Scan" EXACTLY, without quotes, as your file name.
12. (a) Again in the "Files & Folders" Library, drag the "Move Finder Items" Action to the work area. (b) In the Action frame, select "Other..." on the "To" pull-down menu, then choose your "Scanned documents" folder. (c) Make sure the "Replacing existing files" checkbox IS CHECKED.
13. On the menu bar, choose "File -> Save As..." and name your workflow "Append to Scan_pdf". Although the saving process gives you no indication, this workflow will be saved to ~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Image Capture (a directory path that will be automatically created if it doesn't already exist).
14. Delete the "Scan.pdf" file from your "Scanned documents" folder and quit Image Capture.
(Post-setup normal use, steps 15-22)
15. Open Image Capture and turn on your scanner. The "Details" pane should now automatically accompany the image preview area. If not, click the "Show Details" button.
16. Enter your desired settings as in steps 6(a) through 6(c).
17. The "Scan To" pull-down menu should currently default to "Scanned documents," "Name" should default to "Scan," and "Format" should default to PDF. If not, make the necessary corrections.
18. Click the "Scan" button in Image Capture to scan your first page.
19. On the "Scan To" pull-down menu, select your "Append to Scan_PDF" workflow (just above "Other..." on the list).
20. Press scan to scan your second page. Repeat this step for each successive page in your document.
21. IMPORTANT - rename the "Scan.pdf" file in your "Scanned documents" folder to something else, and move it elsewhere if you wish. This "clears the path" for your next scanned document, which would otherwise either disrupt the Automator workflow or append to your existing document.
22. To scan a second multi-page document, reset the "Scan to" pull-down menu to "Scanned documents" and go back to step 18. Otherwise, just quit Image Capture and turn off your scanner.