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General discussion

Scanned PDF documents come in HUGE! Why?

Feb 7, 2011 6:27AM PST

I am running 10.5.8 on a MacBook Pro, using an HP Photosmart Premium all-in-one.

I just scanned a 38-page document - all type, no graphics - and it ended up being 217 mg. Obviously too big to mail or do anything with. I tried to compress it, but it only compressed down to 117 mg.

Any idea what I am doing wrong?

Thanks!

Discussion is locked

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Actually when you scan, it is all graphics.
Feb 7, 2011 6:32AM PST

I think you think this is text but it's all graphics at this point. If you wanted to put it to text you have a few choices.

1. Contact the owner of the document and ask for the word or text file version.
2. Run it through some OCR and correct it as you see fit.
Bob

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scan size problem
Feb 7, 2011 9:10AM PST

Sorry, I guess I didn't make myself clear. All I want to do is scan a piece of paper (doc) to become a PDF so I can email it. I don't want to run it through OCR. But for some reason the printer/scanner is scanning at 100MG instead of the typical 78kb. The software for the scan function seems to have hit a glitch. It is also showing the size of the doc as 22x30", not the page setting of 8x11".

I just thought someone else might have experienced this abnormality.

Thanks anyway.

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There is no abnormality
Feb 7, 2011 11:43AM PST

When you scan a document the resulting file is a graphic, not text. If you scan the document using the OCR function, then you get a text file.

It sounds like the 38 pages were scanned as a single page, not individual graphics, thus you get one long graphic. I have used my HP multi-function printer to scan documents and have selected either the graphic output, or the text output. If you select PDF output, it is still going to output the pages as graphic captures and not text.

The resolution you set for the scan will also affect the size of the output file in bytes and in inches.

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(NT) Thanks, I'll try a few of those different settings.
Feb 8, 2011 12:15AM PST
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look below
Jun 7, 2011 5:25PM PDT

make sure that your zoom level is at a acceptable aspect ratio in comparison with your screen resolution and the PDF

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It sounds like you're scanning with the wrong settings.
Jun 13, 2011 9:05AM PDT

HP scanning software often defaults to a 24 bit color mode, even if you're scanning black and white documents. The scanner and its software can't determine what you're scanning. You have to set the requirements yourself.

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Page size
Jun 13, 2011 9:10AM PDT

There should also be a setting in your scanning software to control the page size. It may default to the maximum size of the scanner bed, but you need to tell it the size of your scanned document. Once again, only you would know this.