As we move into a digital age, more and more documents are created and signed online. Certain programs, like the Adobe suite, are fully functionalized for accepting e-signatures and typing up legal documents. However, the unfortunate fact remains that many people and institutions still prefer the old paper and pen method, necessitating a way to translate physical documents into the digital files that the modern world works with, or a way to rip photos and text from one document and put it into another. Ever since it popped up, many programs have attempted to capitalize on this niche, leading to a seeming overpopulation of document scanning software. Nobody wants to wade through all those reviews and web pages to find the software right for them. Luckily for you, this list was compiled specifically to provide the best options available in document scanning software, so that you may find what’s best for you.

Top 3 Best Document Scanning Software

  1. CamScanner– Best Document Scanning Software for Quick and On-The-Go Document Uploading
  2. Adobe Acrobat DC– Best Document Scanning Software for Powerful and Intuitive Document Scanning
  3. FineReader– Best Document Scanning Software for Document Modification

1. CamScanner– Best Document Scanning Software for Quick and On-The-Go Document Uploading

PRICING: Premium accounts start at $4.99 per month

If you are the type of person who is always on the go, it won’t do you any good to carry around a full scanner around with your laptop to scan things remotely. If your goal is to scan documents and quickly send them to an email or another device, lugging around a full scanner is far too much of a hassle. After all, you have a perfectly good phone in your pocket, don’t you? This is where CamScanner comes in. Far from just taking a picture of a document, CamScanner has next to full scanning capabilities from the comfort of your own smartphone. With its range of functionality, CamScanner is absolutely perfect for the businessman on the go, who doesn’t mind a wrinkle or two in his document scans- and even then, CamScanner has a function to minimize those.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Ability to export to a number of formats, including JPEG, PNG, and PDF filetypes
  • A wide variety of pre-processing filters allow for the whitening of paper or removal of blemishes to increase document clarity
  • A modifiable document scan area can make any document appear as flat and professional as possible
  • Multiple languages available
  • Built-in text editor
  • Available for both Android and iOS
  • Intuitive, easy layout
  • Multiple documents can be scanned into a single PDF file
  • Images can be saved natively on your device or in the cloud

REASONS TO BUY:

  • A free version is available and is perfect if you simply need to scan and send documents without any e-signing
  • As CamScanner is for mobile devices, you will always have a highly functional scanner right in your pocket
  • Adjustable color and contrast to make your documents look as professional as possible
  • Simple functionality allows you to simply take a picture of a document, modify it for clarity, save as a PDF and then immediately email it to yourself
  • Pre-processing filters make CamScanner excel with handwritten documents

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • The free version does not offer e-signature support
  • Only on mobile devices
  • All documents on the free version are watermarked
  • The free version has frequent ads that can be intrusive
  • Emails may take some time

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2. Adobe Acrobat DC– Best Document Scanning Software for Powerful and Intuitive mobile Document Scanning

PRICING: Starting at $14.99 per month

If you know anything about software, you have doubtlessly heard about Adobe. Arguably the largest software company in the world, Adobe was founded in 1967 and boasts a wide range of available software, from photo manipulation and art programs to tools to assist eCommerce. It’s no surprise that they would dip into the document scanning pool, especially as an extension of their popular PDF reading and editing program, Adobe Reader. Adobe Acrobat DC is a one-stop shop for mobile document scanning, editing, and signing documents on the go. With its Adobe pedigree and thousands of users worldwide, it’s hard to go wrong with Adobe Acrobat DC, and when you look at its features you can tell why Adobe is one of the most trusted names in software- if you can get past the price.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Full e-signature support
  • Fully integrated with a number of other programs, including the Microsoft Office Suite, Google Office Suite, and Workday
  • Allows file encryption
  • Full text search
  • Text editing
  • Merging and appending files
  • Side-by-side document comparison
  • Documents can be manually watermarked
  • Comments and notes can be added to documents
  • Supports many languages

REASONS TO BUY:

  • E-signature compatibility lets you get signatures from customers or other businesses quickly and hassle-free
  • Designed to make document editing uniquely easy
  • Constant updates with more, and better, tools
  • Integration with other programs means you can convert databases such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheets into PDFs
  • Adobe Acrobat is actually the program that invented the PDF.

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • No in-person training is available
  • Does not support Linux
  • Far higher price than competitors
  • High RAM consumption

3. FineReader– Best Document Scanning Software for Document Modification

PRICING: Starting at $19 per month

ABBYY Software House, founded in 1989, has decided to tackle a near-impossible task; competing with Adobe. Whereas CamScanner takes the ‘free with high functionality’ route, FineReader wants to tackle Adobe Acrobat on its own turf, stacking itself high with functionality in an attempt to dethrone the software giant. Given its reviews, if FineReader hasn’t succeeded yet, it’s certainly made the context neck and neck- people love FineReader and its efficiency-focused functionality.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Batch processing
  • Conversion from other filetypes to PDF
  • E-signature support
  • File encryption services are available
  • Custom watermarks for documents
  • Side-by-side document comparison
  • Able to export to multiple formats
  • Offline access
  • Full text search
  • Allows for annotation of documents
  • Allows for archiving of documents
  • Powerful collaboration tools
  • Metadata extraction
  • File merging is available
  • Redacting text
  • Full integration between mobile and desktop versions is possible via Google or Apple cloud systems

REASONS TO BUY:

  • A seven-day free trial is available for the standard edition
  • A thirty-day free trial is available for the corporate edition
  • Available for both Windows and Mac
  • Available for both Android and iOS
  • Flexible licensing allows you to choose between per user, concurrent, or remote for pricing
  • With 28 years on the market, 100,000,000 installations, and 17,000 corporate customers alone, FineReader boasts an impressive pedigree,

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Far higher price than competitors, even higher than Adobe
  • Does not support Cloud
  • No live online training is available
  • Customer support may be lacking
  • No cloud functionality
  • Does not support Linux
  • It may not work well with handwritten documents
  • The UI may be difficult to use at first
  • Ebook conversion may not work well
  • Lacks the bulk PDF processing scripts of Adobe Acrobat

References & Links

  • https://www.capterra.com/p/210426/CamScanner/
  • https://www.techradar.com/best/best-scanning-software
  • https://www.capterra.com/p/229184/Adobe-Acrobat-DC/
  • https://www.g2.com/categories/document-scanning
  • https://wethegeek.com/best-scanning-software-for-windows/
  • https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2015/06/18/who-created-pdf
  • https://www.camscanner.com/
  • https://www.adobe.com/acrobat.html
  • https://www.g2.com/products/finereader-pdf-for-windows-and-mac/reviews
  • https://www.capterra.com/p/65868/ABBYY-FineReader/
  • https://pdf.abbyy.com/

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