Setup HP All-in-One for OCR Scanning

[MJordan99]

re: HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M479fdw

This should be a no-brainer.  I purchased this product with the understanding that it performs OCR scanning to PDF.  I have now spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get it to actually do that.  I have now been on a chat with an HP rep for well over an hour, and about halfway through received this wonderful question: "May I know, what is OCR?"  Seriously?!?  And the final result from the HP rep is "I will have to ask my resources and get back to you."  Ugh.  Can someone who knows what they are doing PLEASE offer any assistance?  Yes, I have installed the full software pack (CLJM478f-M479f_UWWL_Full_WebPack_48.4.4577.exe).   Sorry for being sarcastic, I'm just frustrated because this should not be so difficult.  Any help would be greatly appreciated 🙂 

[greenturtle]

Hi,

Thanks for using the HP Support Community.

Can you download and install the FULL featured printer software from HP for your operating system:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-color-laserjet-pro-mfp-m478-m479-series/19202514...

Once you have downloaded and installed the FULL feature software, you will be able to print and scan.

For OCR, download and install the "Readiris Pro 16 for HP" under Application -3rd Party (same link as above)

(please install this only AFTER installing the HP FULL featured software)

This example will show you how.

Hope that helps.

[MJordan99]

Already downloaded and installed the full feature software.  Already downloaded and installed the Readiris Pro 16.  The process to scan just has more steps than it should.  What I wanted to do was scan directly from the printer side, and have it save to a predetermined folder (which it will do for regular PDFs).  At this point, I want to continue scanning without looking at every document right after I scan it, then having to name and save it somewhere.  If I try to scan OCR from the printer side, it goes to a different location, and it saves it as an RTF file, not a searchable PDF like I wanted.  If I perform the scan from the Readiris software side on my laptop, it seems to work, although it is difficult to tell where it has been saved, or how to tell it where I want it to be saved, etc.  In the end, I got the best solution from Adobe in a fraction of the time than dealing with HP, as far as the OCR goes.  I am at least down to two steps instead of multiple ones.  I can scan to a regular PDF from the printer and it just saves it to a folder.  Then I can use Acrobat to perform the OCR on multiple documents all at the same time (which I did not know was possible before now, that's awesome), and it will either overwrite my original file or save a new one wherever I decide I want it.  That will work for me.  Thank you for your response.  The full software is necessary, but I'm not a fan of the Readiris.

[greenturtle]

Hi,

Glad to hear that your issue is resolved and all is working well now though it's not with Iris.

Have a nice day!