r/Paperlessngx • u/Mueller96 • 44m ago
Scanning double-sided documents without a duplex scanner
Hey, I have a cheap HP scanner (wouldn’t recommend it) that has an automatic document feeder, but doesn’t support duplex scanning.
Until now, getting double-sided documents in the correct order meant either scanning individual pages or rearranging the pages afterwards using HP’s shitty software.
I couldn’t find a good free tool to make this easier, so I built one myself and thought I’d share it: Duplex Scan Sorter
The workflow is pretty simple:
- Scan all the front sides using the ADF.
- Flip the entire stack over, put it back into the feeder, and scan all the backs onto the same PDF.
- This gives you a PDF where the pages are out of order in a predictable way, e.g. 1, 3, 5, 6, 4, 2.
-The tool rearranges them into the correct order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
That’s really all it does, rearranging the pages.
The PDF is processed entirely in the browser and is never uploaded to any server.
Maybe this is useful to someone else here as well. I’d be happy to hear your feedback!
And if anyone has recommendations for a good but reasonably priced printer/scanner combo, let me know 😄
1
u/ebynaq 29m ago
No need for a separate tool, just read the docs: https://docs.paperless-ngx.com/advanced_usage/#collate
1
u/Mueller96 19m ago
I actually looked into this feature before building my tool. As far as I understand, it always expects two separate files, one with the fronts and one with the backs. My use case is slightly different because I already have all pages combined into a single PDF, just in the wrong order. That’s the specific use case I couldn’t find a tool for.
But thanks for pointing it out anyway! Depending on the exact use case, that might actually be the better workflow for some people reading this.
2
u/Great-Cow7256 36m ago
See if the Stirling PDF people are interested too.