ScanSnap IX500 trick...

ScanSnap IX500 trick...  We've been paperless here for a few months now, thanks to our ScanSnap IX500 scanner and DEVONThink software.  In general, I've been very pleased with the arrangement – and with a few month's practice, all the steps now seem very easy and straightforward. 

There's one little thing, though, that's been driving me slightly crazy: long receipts, such as those giant ones from the grocery store, or the Home Depot receipts with a book's worth of text printed at the end.  The scanner would stop after about 18" of receipt, reporting an error.  That happened to me for a half dozen attempts until I realized it was simply the length.  After that, I started cutting the longer receipts into short sections (never needed more than two), and scanning them separately.  But it was a pain in the neck!

A few days ago, after suffering through another of those, I decided to Google the problem.  Wouldn't you know it?  In seconds I found a ridiculously simple solution.  Here it is: instead of just clicking the blue button on the scanner to start the scan, hold it down for a few seconds until it blinks, then release it.  That's it!  This morning I scanned a 31" long receipt, with no issue at all.

I have no idea why Fujitsu decided to make that a special mode on the scanner.  You'd think that decision could be automated.  But there it is.  The solution is simple enough, and works great...