scanning - files too large!

[OldAsFan]

I'm in the "club." I also need to scan multiple page documents and email them. Because of the size of file (as you all know) it is almost impossible. I recently had a colleague email me a 16 page (PDF) document. It was 3.4 MB. I scanned the same document on my C7280 and it was 13.4 MB (using 75 dpi, gray/scale). This makes the C7280 useless as a scanner (for my business). What is very discouraging is that this thread has been going on for several months with no response from HP. I too have been on the phone and chat room with HP Tech Support with no help.

[ewsteen]

Below my suggestion to HP support , I've had it with this machine, but now have found a cheap shareware software solution.

All the HP support suggestions have been lame and do not solve the problem.

---------------------------------- 

No that last suggestion doesn't work either, size stays the same. None of the HP support suggestions are pratical or create files of less size. And I'm not interested in spending hundreds of dollars buying Adobe Acrobat.
 
I need something that is easy, that any office worker could follow without knowing much about scanning or pdf files.
 
I have decided to buy a small program which is simple to operate and creates very small files. A 600kb created pdf file via the HP scanner set at 75dpi in black & white,  compares with a 40 kb file using this program. It runs fine on Vista.
Its called - Softi Scan to PDF. It's shareware and it I think $19 after 30 days. I'm going to advise everybody that this is probably the best solution for a simply way to use this HP C7280 scanner.
download link: http://www.download.com/Softi-Scan-to-PDF/3000-2064_4-10795678.html?tag=mncol

I think it's ridiculous to have to purchase yet another piece of software to get around an HP problem, but I can't wait any longer.
Regards
Erik

******** 

On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 12:40 PM, <ap_aio@mail.support.hp.com> wrote:

Dear  Erik,

Thank you for replying to HP Customer Care.
I understand the importance of this issue and will be happy to assist you further.
Dear  Erik,  inorder to reduce the file size of the scanned pdf document , I would suegst you to open the original pdf which is of large size in adobe acrobat reader and click on save as option to save another copy of the same file and check the size. You will sure have the file size reduced.
For more information related to it, please visit the link given below :
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/acrobat/articles/acr7optimize.html
NOTE:  The URL above will take you to a non HP Web site.  HP does
            not control and is not responsible for information outside
            of the HP Web site.

If  you need further assistance, please reply to this message and we will be happy to assist you.

You may receive a call survey regarding your e-mail support experience. We would appreciate your feedback.

[Joeley]

Thanks, ewsteen! I installed and was able to run the software whose download link you provided above. The resulting files, using B&W scanning single text page, were about 34 KB for 75 dpi (not useable for the text file I was scanning), 56 KB for 150 dpi, and 108 KB for 300 dpi. Unfortunately, there was no grayscale option, but at least it handled multi-page documents.

The publisher has a more up-to-date version (2.2 something?) but that version wouldn't install properly on my XP machine (gave error about registering ActiveX vstwain.dll or something). They also publish a more robust program that allows you to scan TIF and other formats.

http://www.softi.co.uk/

An earlier post (perhaps another thread) suggested a donation-based program that I installed called similarly soft2scan, but I couldn't get it to work for me just now. Here's the link, nonetheless:

http://www.koma-code.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=82

I, too, am perplexed at HP's lack of presence here. I don't like the idea of paying an additional $20 (per workstation!) for software that provides functionality that HP promised but never delivered with this product. Class-action suit, anyone?

Message Edited by Joeley on 02-27-2009 07:54 AM

[OldAsFan]

Hey Joeley, Thanks for the information about Softi Software. I'm getting ready to download it and am wondering if you had any compatibilty problems with it and HP Solution Center. Again, thanks for the information. These huge scan files are a pain in the.......

OldA'sFan

[Joeley]

As I recall there were no problems with HP software, in fact it uses its TWAIN driver I'm guessing since some HP program popped up at one point. I was not able to install the latest version from the website whose link I provided. Let me know if you can. Ewensten actually found Softi first, and provided the Download.com link - the version I successfully installed and ran.

Maybe if someone reported this thread as "abuse" to the moderators we'd get some attention from HP, though I'd expect it would be the negative kind.

[OldAsFan]

I've downloaded Scan PDF without a hitch. A very simple program that does exactly what I wanted the scan function of my C7280 to do. To bad HP can't get their act together. Anyway, as a test I scanned a 17 page letter size document using the HP software. It was a huge 14.6 MB, and this was with the setting at 75 dip and gray/scale. I scanned the same document using Scan PDF, and it was only 1.97 MB. I could hardly believe my eyes! I printed one page of each of the scans in order to compare quality and could not tell any differance. Problem of large PDF files solved! I'll be gladly sending my $19.95 to Softi Ware. Thanks to all for your help and for finding Softi Ware.

OldA'sFan

[WendyM]

Hi Joeley,

This is a user-to-user community, and not a venue to receive direct help or feedback from HP. If you have feedback or questions for HP about their products or services, please use the link below:

http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/wwcontact_us.html

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forums. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to send me a Private Message.

Thanks!

[ferastu]

I tried installing the older driver version that Joeley linked to in reply 20 on this thread. Could not get it to install. I uninstalled the HP Solution Center but there was probably more that I needed to uninstall.

I downloaded and tried the Softi Scan to PDF software. It definitely does the job. The same file that was 700KB + and illegible in black&white at HP's default settings is now 34KB and comes out PERFECTLY.

While its unfortunate that I'll pay Softi $20 for this software, I'm happy to do so. As a software developer I enjoy supporting the smaller devs that are out there!

[OldAsFan]

I was able to install Scan PDF without any problems (Vista Home Premium). I did not have to uninstall HP Solution Center. After placing docs to be scanned in the C7280 Solution Center will open. I just closed it, and then opened Scan PDF. Works like a charm. I'm with you....To bad we had to pay $20 bucks extra to get the C7280 to work, but at least it now works! I recently scanned an 18 page letter size doc and it was 1.94 MB. Same doc would have been at least 15 MB with the HP software. Thanks to all on this forum for the help.

OldA'sFan

[Joeley]

I'm not sure I trust those "older driver version" I posted. As I recall that went nowhere for me, and I believe I posted as such. I'll look back and perhaps edit my post, since I wouldn't want to mislead anyone else into wasting time at that avenue.

I'm glad the Softi Scan is working out. Now I have to check with the boss whether it's worth getting, since we already have two scanners capable of producing reasonable size PDFs.

To WendyM, thanks to HP for keeping a forum like this open and free to post critical views. I guess we're all hoping that someday HP will announce a solution for this problem, or even acknowledge it. Collectively we have spent many many hours of our time (and HP's) in chat and phone conversations with tech support, to no avail. I'm glad we've settled on a solution, hopefully saving others time and frustration - just wish it didn't involve additional charges. Wish HP had a similar utility they could make available.