PaperScan Free

If you intend to replace your scanner, you should make sure that your current scanning application supports the new machine or its protocol, otherwise you won't be able to scan anything. PaperScan Free is capable of integrating with any TWAIN or WIA scanners on the market and with other devices as well. Besides retrieving scanned contents, the software allows you to perform other operations, adjusting and enhancing the scanned documents or images, cropping them and more. Also, its clean design and straightforward functionality enables you to scan a large number of pages as fast and easy as possible.

Besides the free edition, PaperScan comes in other versions as well, with price tags, as well as additional features. Installing the software does not involve any unfamiliar options and you may complete the operation in no time. It works on all popular Windows platforms and it doesn't have any special requirements.

The main user interface resembles a lightweight image editor. A preview area takes up most of the window and you can find various tools around it. If you scan several pieces of paper, they will appear as thumbnails, on the left side of the window, to help you switch between pages faster and easier. If a scanner is connected to your computer, you may choose one of two scanning methods. You can opt for a quick scan, to acquire an image from the scanner immediately, without any further user input. Alternatively, you can decide to launch a wizard, if you wish to make some fine tweaks before scanning.

The aforementioned wizard does not take you through a multi-step process. It only displays a series of options, on a single window. With the available options, you can set the program to acquire images from a flatbed scanner or from a document feeder. Additionally, you can set up a paper size, choose from different color modes and resolutions and adjust your default brightness and contrast levels. What's more, PaperScan Free provides you with a few options for batch image processing. You can set it to automatically rotate all scanned images, to auto-deskew them, remove their borders, convert them to negative and more. It is also worth mentioning that PaperScan Free is capable of acquiring from other sources as well, like network scanners, digital cameras and more.

The software's adjustment and optimization capabilities are not limited to scanned contents. You can also load documents and pictures from local folders and modify their brightness, contrast, saturation and gamma levels, crop or rotate them, apply a few effects and more. Besides the controls around the preview area, you can also find many more editing options in the Edit menu, on the upper edge of the interface. If you opt for PaperScan's Home or Pro edition, you will be able to insert various annotations as well.