PLANon DocuPen RC800

Also included, naturally is the PLANon DocuPen Scanner software. It is very basic, simply allowing you to access the files on the pen and carry out simple operations such as download and erase. I would have like to have seen a little more thought put into this tool, however it does the job, just not quite as elegantly as I had hoped.

Unless I’m missing something, you appear to have the option to copy any number of pages off the pen and they are exported as tif files, however if you want to delete a document off the pen itself, there appears to only be the ‘erase ALL’ option and is lacking in the ‘erase individual item’ function. You are offered the choice to download selected, download bank and erase bank. The key missing one there is erase selected.

This is also the tool you would use to recalibrate your pen should it suffer from any calibration issues, though I would not recommend this unless you’ve completely read the manual on calibration. This is where I would have liked to see power saving options, such as ‘remain on while connected via USB’ or ‘shutdown after 15/30/60/120 seconds of idle’.

Once you have accessed the files on the pen itself, you would then go on to use PaperPort & PageViewer to process and administer the documents.

The manipulation software included with the Docupen consist of ScanSoft’s PaperPort, “PaperPort provides the easiest way to turn paper into organized digital documents that everybody in an office can quickly find and use. PaperPort works with scanners, multifunction printers, and networked digital copiers to turn paper documents into digital documents. It
then helps you to manage them along with all other electronic documents in one convenient and easy-to-use filing system.

PaperPort’s large, clear thumbnails allow you to visually organize, retrieve and use your scanned documents. PaperPort’s editing tools ensure that scanned documents will look great while the annotation tools let you add notes and highlights to any scanned image.”

Without delving into the program too intensely, what I can see is rather impressive. It’s really just an organizational tool for all your documents, scanned and otherwise, with intuitive folders that guide you to put things where they belong. Scanned receipts, business cards, tax papers, etc all have a home and naturally you can create new places for customization and specialization.

The PageViewer portion is an image/document editor that’s simplistic but honestly doesn’t need to be more than it is. It allows you to literally draw on documents and images including adding text, lines, graphics etc, it’s like a mini paint program that can also open documents. There’s tools such as redeye removal and contrast alteration, there’s a really nice highlighter feature that literally looks like you took that old familiar yellow pen to the page itself, only this time – digitally. There are preformatted stamps you can place on documents such as ‘Sent’ and ‘Urgent’ etc, however I didn’t see ‘Top Secret’ on the list, but that’s ok you could probably use the tool itself to make whatever stamp you like.

Now granted, it’s no Photoshop nor is it meant to be, it’s more for tweaking documents than images, such as using it to draw a circle around a paragraph and annotating changes to be made. Perfect for grading homework, actually, as you would retain a copy of your own notes once the file is given back to the student.