Black&whit scan with HP Smart

[h_klein]

Hi, I just want to have the passibilit to scan b/w, to reduce the file size of my scans. It was not an issue at all with old the printers I had before, but now with my new HP Office Jet Pro 9132e and latest HP Smart softwere I only see color or grayscale for the scan options. I even had contact with HP support already and they confirmed there is no option and they installed an old scan driver. But that one didn't support OCR and I need to scan documents into text searchable PDF.

How can it be that I buy the latest and greates productes and they don not support basic options (like b/w scan) which were available all the years before? I would be really happy if you can help me to solve this issue. Optimum solution of cours would be if the HP Smart Scan Menue simple support color/greyscale and black&white scans.

Thanks in advance,

  Horst

[zoey7886]

@h_klein, Welcome to the HP Support Community! 

Thanks for reaching out about your query regarding Black and White scan with HP smart!  
We're thrilled to have the opportunity to assist you and provide a solution. 

Currently, the HP Smart app provides Color and Grayscale scan options, but it does not include a dedicated Black & White setting. I appreciate your feedback and understand your concern regarding this change from previous models.

As a workaround, you can try the following steps:

1. Scan in Grayscale – While this is not strictly Black & White, it produces a lower file size than color scans.
    
2. Use HP Scan Extended – If you haven't already, you can install HP Scan Extended, which may offer additional scanning options. You can find it on the HP support website under your printer’s drivers and software section.
    
3. Windows Fax and Scan – This built-in Windows tool may provide different scan settings, including the possibility of monochrome scanning.

Take care, and have an amazing day! 
 

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, Please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going! 

Regards, 

[h_klein]

Hi and thanks for your advice!

May I ask why the HP Smart App doesn't suppoer B/W Scan anymore, as it is very useful to scan documents in an acceptable file size? Even if I choose Greyscale the PDF of one Page is about 1,5MB and the same page had only 50kB, when I used the B/W scan with my previous HP 8610 printer.

However, I did did install the extra Scan Software from HP and yes, then there is the B/W Scan option, but the software doesn't support to save the document as searchable PDF, what I would also need. Additionally it's not user-friendly if an additional software is required for such an ordinary use-case.

So please, improve your flag-ship HP Smart App and include the B/W Scan option to the menu, this shouldn't be much effort, or is it? 🙂

With best regards
  Horst

[zoey7886]

@h_klein, Thank you for your patience and for sharing your experience with the HP Smart App. I understand your frustration regarding the missing Black & White (B/W) scan option, especially since it was available in previous HP models.

Why is the B/W Scan Option Missing in HP Smart?

HP has optimized the Smart App for modern workflows, and grayscale scanning was chosen as the standard alternative to B/W. While grayscale still reduces file size compared to color, I agree that a true B/W scan (bitmap) can be more efficient for text documents.

Take care, and have an amazing day! 
 

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, Please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going! 

Regards,

[h_klein]

Thanks for your reply, but why does HP upset their customer? Scannito the scan menu ng documents is about 90% of my usecase and I guess I'm not alone with this. And B/W scan is the best sulution for documents and (from what I know) all your competitors are offering 3 options: color / grayscale / bw.  And it should be a reallyeasy change to add a BW option to the scan App which is using 2-bit instead of the 8-bit for grayscale.

So please: address this request to your software developer, because the printer hardware is great and able to support this.

Thanks ind advance,

  Horst

[h_klein]

To give you an example: I just had to scan a document with 4 pags.

- with the HP SMART App option greyscale the file size is 7.8 MB.

- with another App and BW option the file size is just 280 kB.
Honestly I wouldn't call this SMART...  😉
Have a nice weekend!

[zoey7886]

Hi @h_klein, 

I truly appreciate you taking the time to share your concerns. I understand how important it is to have a dedicated Black & White (B/W) scan option, especially when dealing with document-heavy workflows. It makes sense that you want to minimize file sizes while keeping your scans crisp and readable.

At the moment, the HP Smart app offers Color and Grayscale scanning, with Grayscale being the closest alternative to B/W. While grayscale reduces file size compared to color, I see your point—true B/W (bitmap) scans can be significantly smaller and more efficient for text documents.

It’s great that you explored HP Scan Extended as an alternative, though I understand the lack of a searchable PDF option is a drawback. Your feedback is incredibly valuable, and I’ll make sure it reaches the relevant team. HP is always working on improving our software based on customer needs, so I hope we can offer a more flexible scanning experience in the future.

I truly appreciate your patience, and I’ll make sure your request gets noticed. Thanks again for being a part of the HP community!

Wishing you a great day ahead. 😊

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, Please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going! 

Regards,