When it comes to document scanning and capture, choosing the right software is crucial for efficiency and data accuracy. Fujitsu scanners are often bundled with PaperStream Capture, a capable entry-level application. However, for organizations with more demanding needs, PaperStream Capture Pro offers a significant step up in functionality and features. This article provides a detailed comparison between PaperStream Capture Pro and the bundled PaperStream Capture, highlighting the key differences that can impact your document management workflow.
Scanner Compatibility: Tailoring Software to Your Hardware
One of the first distinctions lies in scanner compatibility. PaperStream Capture Pro is designed to support a broader range of Fujitsu scanner models, catering to diverse business needs.
- Workgroup Scanners: Both versions support workgroup scanners like fi-7300NX, fi-800R, fi-8040, fi-8150, fi-8250, fi-8170, fi-8270, fi-70F, fi-7030, SP-1120N, SP-1130N, SP-1125N, and SP-1120N. This ensures that users with standard office scanning requirements are covered by either software option.
- Departmental Scanners: PaperStream Capture Pro extends its support to departmental scanners such as fi-8190, fi-8290, fi-7480, and fi-7460. This expanded compatibility makes PaperStream Capture Pro a more suitable choice for departments with higher volume scanning needs.
- Production Scanners: For high-volume, production-level scanning, PaperStream Capture Pro is essential. It supports robust production scanners including fi-8820, fi-8930, fi-8950, fi-7900, fi-7800, fi-7700, fi-7700S, and fi-7600. These scanners are designed for continuous, heavy-duty operation, and PaperStream Capture Pro is built to handle their output efficiently.
- Discontinued Models: It’s important to note that PaperStream Capture Pro also maintains compatibility with some discontinued models like fi-6140Z, fi-6240Z, fi-6130Z, fi-6230Z, fi-6110, fi-5530C2, fi-5950, fi-6800, fi-6400, fi-6770, fi-6750S, fi-6670, fi-65F, fi-71XX, and fi-72XX. This legacy support can be crucial for organizations still utilizing older Fujitsu scanner hardware.
OCR Language Capabilities: Expanding Global Reach
Both PaperStream Capture Pro and PaperStream Capture offer impressive Optical Character Recognition (OCR) capabilities, supporting a wide array of languages. This ensures accurate data extraction from documents in various linguistic contexts. The supported OCR languages are identical across both versions, including: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese/Brazilian, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified/Traditional), Turkey, Arabic, Greek, Vietnamese, Swedish, Dutch, Polish, Czech, Romanian, Hebrew, and Ukrainian. This extensive language support makes both software options versatile for international businesses and multilingual document processing.
Scanner Driver Technology: PaperStream IP Advantage
The underlying scanner driver technology differs slightly between the two software versions, potentially impacting performance and compatibility in specific scenarios.
- PaperStream Capture Pro: Exclusively utilizes PaperStream IP TWAIN driver. PaperStream IP is Fujitsu’s advanced image processing engine, known for its superior image quality and optimization features.
- PaperStream Capture: Supports both PaperStream IP TWAIN and PaperStream IP ISIS drivers. While PaperStream IP TWAIN is also available, the inclusion of ISIS driver support might offer compatibility advantages in certain legacy systems or specific software integrations. However, for optimal performance and access to the latest features, PaperStream IP TWAIN is generally recommended.
Document Separation: Advanced Flexibility for Complex Workflows
Document separation is a critical feature for batch scanning, allowing the software to automatically divide scanned pages into individual documents. PaperStream Capture Pro significantly expands on the document separation capabilities offered in the bundled version.
Both versions offer standard separation methods:
- Blank page separation (single/duplex): Separating documents based on blank pages.
- Specified page numbers: Dividing documents after a predefined number of pages.
- Zonal OCR: Using OCR in specific zones to identify document breaks.
- Patch code & Barcode (1D/2D): Recognizing patch codes or barcodes to delineate documents.
- Press Ctrl: Manual separation by pressing the Ctrl key during scanning.
- Specific document (Automatic Profile Selection): Automatically selecting profiles based on document characteristics for separation.
However, PaperStream Capture Pro adds a crucial advanced feature:
- File name based separation*1: This allows for document separation based on file names, particularly useful when importing pre-existing digital documents or integrating with systems that utilize file naming conventions for document organization. This feature is available as an option within the import function of PaperStream Capture Pro.
Save-to Destinations and Output File Formats: Streamlined Output Management
Both PaperStream Capture Pro and PaperStream Capture provide a comprehensive set of save-to destinations and output file formats, ensuring compatibility with various document management systems and workflows.
Save-to Destinations: Both versions support saving scanned documents to:
- Local folders
- Network folders
- SharePoint
- SharePoint Online
- FTPS, SFTP/FTPs servers
- Box
- Other Applications
Output File Formats: Both versions offer a wide range of output file formats, including:
- Bitmap, TIFF, Multi-TIFF, JPEG, JPEG2000
- PDF, PDF/A (archival PDF)
- PNG
- RTF (Rich Text Format), Word, Excel, PowerPoint
Output Index File Formats: For data extraction and indexing purposes, both support:
- XML, CSV, TXT
These extensive options for destinations and file formats in both versions guarantee seamless integration into existing IT infrastructures and document handling processes.
Metadata and Indexing: Powering Intelligent Data Extraction
Metadata extraction and indexing are critical for making scanned documents searchable and integrable with databases and applications. PaperStream Capture Pro distinguishes itself with significantly more robust and flexible metadata capabilities compared to PaperStream Capture.
Metadata Options:
- PaperStream Capture: Offers basic metadata extraction through Barcode (1D/2D*2) and Zonal OCR.
- PaperStream Capture Pro: Expands metadata capabilities significantly, including:
- Barcode (1D/ 2D)
- Zonal OCR
- Manual Entry
- System variables
- Choice List (drop-down menus for standardized data entry)
- Database Autofill (automatically populating fields from external databases)
- Combination (combining multiple metadata sources)
- Split (splitting metadata fields)
- JSON Parsing & JSON Value (handling data in JSON format for advanced integrations)
Metadata Fields and Indexing:
- Maximum Metadata Fields: PaperStream Capture Pro supports up to 100 metadata fields, while PaperStream Capture is limited to 20. This vast difference highlights PaperStream Capture Pro’s ability to capture and manage significantly more detailed document metadata.
- Indexing: PaperStream Capture Pro allows indexing per document and per page, offering greater flexibility in how metadata is applied. PaperStream Capture supports indexing only per page.
- Field Rules: PaperStream Capture Pro enables the creation of field rules to validate and enforce data entry consistency, a feature not available in PaperStream Capture.
These advanced metadata and indexing features in PaperStream Capture Pro are crucial for organizations requiring detailed data extraction, automated data entry, and seamless integration with business applications.
Advanced Functions: Streamlining and Enhancing Workflows
Beyond core capture functionalities, PaperStream Capture Pro includes additional features designed to optimize and extend document processing workflows.
- Assisted Scan: Both versions include Assisted Scan for image quality adjustments and error correction.
- Import*3: PaperStream Capture Pro offers an Import function for processing existing digital files, expanding its capabilities beyond just scanner input. This feature requires “PaperStream Capture Pro Import” to be enabled.
- ASC*4 (After Scan Correction): PaperStream Capture Pro incorporates After Scan Correction, allowing for image adjustments post-scanning for enhanced quality.
- Multi Station Function*5: PaperStream Capture Pro supports a Multi Station function, enabling distributed capture and processing workflows across multiple workstations. This is essential for larger organizations with decentralized scanning operations and requires at least two PaperStream Capture Pro licenses for configuration.
These additional functions in PaperStream Capture Pro cater to more complex and demanding document processing environments.
Operating System and Hardware Requirements: Ensuring Compatibility and Performance
Both software versions are designed for Windows environments, but have slightly different system requirements.
Supported Operating Systems: Both PaperStream Capture Pro and PaperStream Capture support a wide range of Windows operating systems, including: Windows® 10, Windows® 8.1, Windows® 7, Windows Server® 2019, Windows Server® 2016, Windows Server® 2012, Windows Server® 2012 R2, Windows Server® 2008*6, and Windows Server® 2008 R2.
Hardware Requirements: PaperStream Capture Pro generally requires more robust hardware due to its advanced features.
- CPU*7*8:
- PaperStream Capture Pro: Recommended Intel® Core™ i5 2.5GHz or higher (except for mobile), minimum Intel® Core2 Duo 2.33 GHz or higher.
- PaperStream Capture: Recommended Intel® Core™ i5 2.5GHz or higher (except for mobile), minimum Intel® Pentium®4 1.8 GHz or higher.
- Memory Capacity:
- PaperStream Capture Pro: Recommended 4 GB or more, minimum 2 GB or more.
- PaperStream Capture: Recommended 4 GB or more, minimum 1 GB or more.
- Display Resolution: PaperStream Capture Pro specifies a minimum display resolution of 1024 x 768 Pixels or more, and 65536 colors or more. Display resolution is not specified for PaperStream Capture.
- Disk Capacity: PaperStream Capture Pro requires 10 GB or more of disk space*9. Disk capacity is not specified for PaperStream Capture, but sufficient space for scanned files is necessary for both.
Meeting the recommended hardware specifications is crucial for optimal scanning speeds and software performance for both PaperStream Capture Pro and PaperStream Capture.
Conclusion: Choosing the Right PaperStream Capture for Your Needs
In summary, PaperStream Capture is a capable bundled software suitable for basic document scanning needs, particularly in workgroup environments. It provides essential features for capturing, processing, and outputting scanned documents.
However, PaperStream Capture Pro emerges as the superior choice for organizations with more demanding requirements. Its expanded scanner compatibility, advanced document separation, significantly enhanced metadata and indexing capabilities, additional workflow functions, and support for higher volume scanning make it a powerful solution for departmental and production environments.
If your organization requires advanced data extraction, integration with business applications, complex document workflows, and high-volume processing, PaperStream Capture Pro offers the features and scalability to meet those challenges effectively. For simpler scanning tasks and basic document capture, the bundled PaperStream Capture may suffice. Carefully evaluating your organization’s specific needs and document processing requirements will guide you in selecting the most appropriate PaperStream Capture software.
