6 Best Scanning Software Solutions in 2020

Adobe can be best described as a software behemoth and their Adobe Acrobat DC makes for a powerful tool if you’re looking for top-notch scanning software. The DC particle stands for Document Cloud by the way, and this Adobe product is great if you’re looking for a no-nonsense PDF solution which allows you to compare docs side by side, or to edit data from scanned paper printouts and post comments via an intuitive and ergonomically designed interface.

The software bundle is very easy to install and to use, and comes with a ton of advanced features. On top of that, Adobe is one of the biggest names in the industry, i.e. if you’re looking for a “seasoned” and trustworthy brand, this is the droid you were looking for. The Document Cloud feature integrates all of your docs with Adobe’s cloud storing solution, so you can access your data anytime, anywhere. Also, Acrobat DC integrates seamlessly in the company’s software ecosystem, hence if you’re already an Adobe customer, as in you’re already using Photoshop, you should seriously consider getting Acrobat DC as your OCR partner. Moreover, this software allows PDF creation from virtually anywhere: MS Office, smartphone camera, HTML pages, emails, docs/spreadsheets that can be first merged then organized into a PDF file.

If you’re having troubles finding software for your scanner, we’re here to help. Actually, we are talking about VueScan, which is arguably one of the best scanning software out there. VueScan was created to help people keep using their old scanners, i.e. to save money, save the planet and all that.

In order to achieve this noble goal, more than 5600 older scanners were reverse engineered, and the end result is a free-trial app for scanning documents, photos, slides and film on all major operating systems, including Windows, Linux and Mac OS.

VueScan supports over 5600 models from 42 manufacturers, and it can help you even when your particular scanner doesn’t have a proprietary driver.

There’s an old saying about the best things in life and freebies, and in this regard, PaperScan makes for an easy to use (and free) tool which allows you to clean up your scanned docs, i.e. this baby makes for a free scanning application, which is excellent for people on limited budgets. PaperScan free edition supports TWAIN and WIA devices, hence it should do a great job with digital cameras, classic scanners, video capture cards and so on and so forth.

On top of that, PaperScan allows you to import files/images from your computer, including regular graphic files or PDFs. Regardless of its source, the image is then quickly optimized, i.e. punch holes and borders can be removed with ease. There’s also an autodeskew option, which automatically finds/corrects pages that aren’t straight, along with many other tools to smooth an image, adjust colors, remove noise, tweak contrast, resize etc.

The finished document can then be saved in JPEG, TIFF, JBIG2, PNG or PDF format. If you want more features, there’s always the Professional version, which costs $149.99, so be happy with what you got, alright?

NAPS2 stands for “not another PDF scanner 2”, and here’s the funny part: that’s exactly what NAPS2 really is, just another PDF scanner. Joke aside, what makes NAPS2 to stand out from the crowd is the philosophy behind its creation: its beauty is its simplicity, like a Swiss watch. The point being, using NAPS2, you’ll be able to scan with a single click, including PDFs and other doc-types as simply as humanly possible.

Speaking of boomer-tech-level, it doesn’t get any easier that NAPS2, hence if you find the modern world excessively complicated and annoying, this scanning software will make you shed a tear, as its bare-bone interface will allow you to set up multiple and distinct scanning profiles each of them having their own name, doc-size, resolution, scan source etc. and it doesn’t even require you to have a major in IT to do it nice and proper.

ScanSpeeder can be best described as an affordable scanning software for the masses, and that’s one of the reasons it made it on our “best of” list. Now, if you’re going to have to scan/edit/archive a ton of photos, ScanSpeeder has your name on it, as it has the capability to scan/crop/straighten multiple photos/docs at once if you’re using a regular flatbed scanner. And that’s a big advantage if you’re working with tons of data, right?

On top of that, ScanSpeeder dramatically simplifies the entire scanning process, which is a great thing for not so tech-savvy people using old-school scanning equipment. The software allows you to scan multiple photos at once, then it automatically segregates them into separate files, and also straightens the docs/photos, an excellent feature in terms of time-saved, as you won’t have to worry about how you put the docs/photos on the flatbed.

If portability and mobility is the name of the game for you, CamScanner offers a pretty good scanning software app, which comes with tons of cool features, including a lightning-fast OCR (converts image to text), document sharing options and document sync capabilities. The paid version starts at $4.99/month, which is kind of affordable. But what do you get for that kind of money?

Well, first and foremost, a mobile scanner via your smartphone’s camera, i.e. you’ll say goodbye to boomer era technology for ever. CamScanner allows you to capture photos/docs by phone, then to remove the busy background, and finally to generate a high-res PDF or JPEG file; anytime, anywhere, obviously. The OCR thing supports 16 languages, including English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.