Automatic OCR after submitting a scan

[photona]

Hello,
Since it is unfortunately not possible to start the scanning process in PDF-XChange Editor by pressing the scan button on the scanner itself, I am looking for a workaround.

I can use the scan button to trigger a different scanning application, which then sends the scanned document to PDF-XChange Editor Plus. My question is: Is it possible to configure PDF-XChange Editor Plus so that, upon receiving the scanned document, it automatically performs optimization and text recognition (OCR), saving me from having to start these steps manually every time?



Many thanks in advance!

[Paul - PDF-XChange]

Hi, photona

thanks for the post and excellent question.

It is not something the Editor can do, no. But we have PDF-Tools that can set up "Folder Monitors" that can trigger action when files are placed in it. You can set it up to OCR and optimize but it needs a Pro license. The Tools license itself does not cover the Enhanced OCR.

[photona]

Thanks a lot for your reply. I’ve now ordered an upgrade license from Plus to Pro.
I’ll spend the next few days getting familiar with the tools and seeing how well I can integrate them into my workflow.
If I have any questions, I’ll just get back in touch here.

Best regards,

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Hi photona,

Sounds good, thanks.

Kind regards,

[photona]

Hi, me again...

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to achieve a satisfactory result.
The goal is to:
1. Automatically detect the scan
2. Enhance scanned pages (including text recognition)
3. Open the processed scan in PDF-XChange Editor

So, I defined the following workflow as a tool named "Scan+OCR":
1. Choose Input Files (via Folder Monitor from the folder "E:/SCAN1")
2. Enhance Scanned Pages
3. Save Documents (to "E:/SCAN2")
4. Show Files

The workflow works up to step 3; the "enhanced" document appears in the destination folder "E:/SCAN2" after processing.
However, the processed document does not automatically open in PDF-XChange Editor. PDF-XChange Editor is set as the default program for opening PDF files in Windows.
It makes no difference what settings I choose in the "Show Files" module.
It works with neither the "View files using the..." option nor the "Open containing folder..." option.

Is the "Show Files" module perhaps unsuitable for this purpose? And if so, how can I ensure that the scanned and processed PDF file automatically opens in PDF-XChange Editor afterwards?

Thanks in advance

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Hi photona,

There should be no problem doing that with the settings that you have listed. You must ensure that the "View files using the external program associated with them" option is selected:

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And you must also ensure that Editor is set as the default app for PDF files.

If you still can't get this to work, please export the tool and send it to [email protected] in an email, along with an outline of the issue, and we will take a look at the tool directly.

One other thing that might be worth testing is checking with files saved on a different drive from the E: drive.

Kind regards,

[photona]

Hi,

I’ve just tried this again on my home office PC, and now it works.
There is one more thing I would find very useful: It bothers me that PDF-Tools doesn't show the processing progress. When I scan larger documents, it naturally takes a while for the PDF editor to open after processing is complete. During this time, I would like to see that PDF-Tools is working in the background—specifically, which page of the scanned document it is currently handling, the percentage of overall progress, or at least a progress bar.
Is there a way to display the progress—for example, as a small icon in the system tray or as a pop-up progress bar?

[Sean - PDF-XChange]

Hi photona,

I'm afraid there is no setting for that at the moment.

Kind regards,