Set up scanner

pdfmy picks up scans automatically as soon as your scanner or multifunction device places them in a folder on your PC. This works with every manufacturer (Brother, Canon, HP, Kyocera, Ricoh, Epson, Konica Minolta …). Set it up once, then it is simply: insert paper, press Scan, done.

Device not listed? → Let us know – we’ll do the rest.

Will my device work? → Searchable device list: Brother, Epson, HP, Canon, Kyocera, Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Sharp, Xerox, Lexmark, Dell, Samsung and document scanners (ScanSnap, fi, Canon DR, Brother ADS, Epson DS) – with information on double-sided scanning.

The easiest way: pdfmy Scan (Windows)

1. Download pdfmy Scan 1.15.0 (approx. 472 KB) and open it. The program is signed by Mentor GmbH. If Windows still asks for a new version (‘Windows protected your PC’): More info → publisher ‘Mentor GmbH’ → Run anyway.
2. pdfmy Scan sets itself up and from now on runs unobtrusively in the notification area of the taskbar (starts with Windows).
3. In pdfmy, the button at the top is now called ‘Scan’: choose the scanner, insert the paper, Scan – the pages appear immediately.

pdfmy Scan finds network multifunction devices automatically and without drivers (eSCL/AirScan – supported by almost all devices from about 2015 – and WSD, e.g. Epson, Dell, Brother) as well as scanners set up in Windows (USB). It searches over every network adapter (even with VPN or Wi-Fi and LAN at the same time). If your device is not found: in the scan window, ‘Add device by IP address’ (the IP address is shown on the device display under Network/TCP-IP) and, if necessary, enable ‘AirPrint’, ‘eSCL’ or ‘Mopria’ on the device. If the browser asks ‘pdfmy.de wants to access devices on your local network’, please choose Allow – this lets pdfmy reach the program on your PC.

On a Mac: pdfmy Scan for Mac

1. Download pdfmy Scan for Mac 1.7.0 (ZIP) and open it.
2. Double-click ‘pdfmy-Scan-Mac.command’. If macOS reports that it ‘cannot be opened’: System Settings → Privacy & Security → at the bottom ‘Open Anyway’. If macOS asks whether ‘perl’ may find devices on the local network, please choose Allow.
3. Setup starts the scan service in the background (starts with the Mac), creates the ‘PDFMy’ app in Applications, and asks whether PDF files should open in PDFMy by double-click from now on.
4. In pdfmy, the button at the top is now called ‘Scan’ – just like on Windows.

pdfmy Scan for Mac finds network scanners and multifunction devices without drivers: via AirScan/eSCL (almost all devices from about 2015) and via WSD (e.g. Dell Color MFP E525w and many older devices). It uses only what every Mac already has and can only be reached from your own Mac. Prefer not to double-click? In Terminal: curl -fsSL https://pdfmy.de/download/pdfmy-scan-mac.sh | bash. To remove: double-click ‘pdfmy-Scan-Mac-entfernen.command’ from the ZIP file.

Without extra software: In the ‘Image Capture’ app, choose the scanner, set a folder under Scan To, and connect this folder in pdfmy under ‘Connect scanner’ (Chrome or Edge). With an iPhone: right-click the desktop → ‘Import from iPhone or iPad’ → ‘Scan Documents’.

On Linux: pdfmy Scan for Linux

1. Download pdfmy Scan for Linux 1.7.0 and run it in a terminal: sh ~/Downloads/pdfmy-scan-linux.sh
   or directly: curl -fsSL https://pdfmy.de/download/pdfmy-scan-linux.sh | sh (without sudo).
2. Setup starts the scan service (systemd user service, starts when you log in), adds ‘PDFMy’ to the applications menu and to ‘Open With’, and asks whether PDF files should open in PDFMy by double-click from now on.
3. In pdfmy, the button at the top is now called ‘Scan’ – just like on Windows and on the Mac.

Drivers? None for network scanners and multifunction devices: pdfmy Scan speaks AirScan/eSCL (discovery via Avahi) and WSD directly. For USB scanners and older devices it uses SANE, if installed:

• Debian, Ubuntu, Mint: sudo apt install sane-utils sane-airscan ipp-usb avahi-utils
• Fedora: sudo dnf install sane-backends sane-airscan ipp-usb avahi-tools
• openSUSE: sudo zypper install sane-backends sane-airscan ipp-usb avahi-utils · Arch: sudo pacman -S sane sane-airscan ipp-usb avahi
• Only for very old devices without eSCL/WSD: manufacturer drivers – HP hplip, Brother brscan4/brscan5, Epson epsonscan2, Samsung/Xerox ‘Unified Linux Driver’.

pdfmy Scan searches via Bonjour/avahi and WSD broadcast, and also queries every address on your own network directly (port 80/443) – so it finds devices even if the firewall discards broadcast replies (e.g. firewalld on Fedora) or the package avahi-utils is missing. The log in the scan window shows which method found what. If all else fails: ‘Add device by IP address’ – this always works. To remove: pdfmy-scan-linux-entfernen.sh download it and run it with sh .

On a Chromebook (Chrome OS)

On a Chromebook PDFMy needs no additional program – pdfmy Scan does not run on Chrome OS, but it isn’t needed either: Chrome OS controls many network and USB scanners itself (AirScan/eSCL, no drivers). Set up the scanner under Settings → Advanced → Print and scan, then use the ‘Scan’ app to scan as PDF or JPG into a folder, e.g. My files › Scans. In PDFMy, in the scan window, choose ‘Connect this folder as the scan folder’ – every new scan appears automatically, with text recognition. Install PDFMy via ‘Download app’: then the ‘Files’ app opens PDFs with Open with → PDFMy; printing works via ‘Save as PDF’, and Google Drive is integrated in the ‘Files’ app (selectable as the filing folder).

Your printer or scanner isn’t listed yet?

Epson EcoTank L5290 (e.g. ‘EPSON2CBBCB’)

The L5290 has a flatbed and a feeder (single-sided) and scans over the network via AirScan/eSCL or WSD – without a driver. Its network name is ‘EPSON’ plus six characters, e.g. EPSON2CBBCB.

• Windows, Mac and Linux: pdfmy Scan normally finds the L5290 automatically. If not: in the scan window, choose ‘Add device by IP address’ and enter the IP address or the name , e.g. EPSON2CBBCB or EPSON2CBBCB.local (Mac/Linux add ‘.local’ themselves). It searches over every network connection (Wi-Fi, LAN, VPN) – just like on Windows. The IP address is shown on the device under Settings → Network Settings → Network Status.
• If it is still not found: Open the printer's web interface (IP address or http://EPSON2CBBCB.local in the browser) → Network or Network services → Bonjour/AirPrint and WSD – switch them on.
• Windows with Epson software: If ‘Epson Scan 2’ is installed, the L5290 also appears as a Windows scanner – both work.
• Linux via USB: sane-airscan and ipp-usb (see above) or the Epson driver epsonscan2.

Dell Color MFP E525w

The E525w scans via WSD (‘Web Services for Devices’), not via AirScan. Here is how it works:

• On the device: Open the printer's web interface (enter its IP address in the browser) and enable WSD or ‘WSD Scan’ in the network/protocol settings.
• Windows: pdfmy Scan (from 1.7.0) finds the E525w directly via WSD – without a driver. If not: in the scan window, ‘Add device by IP address’. Alternatively, set it up in Windows under Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners → ‘Add device’; it then also appears as a Windows scanner.
• Mac and Linux: pdfmy Scan for Mac or Linux finds the E525w automatically via WSD. If not: in the scan window, ‘Add device by IP address’.
• Alternative for both: ‘Scan to Network Folder’ (SMB) directly from the device into a shared folder – see below.

Alternative: multifunction device scans directly into a folder (‘Scan to Folder’)

Step 1 – Create a scan folder on the PC (2 minutes)

1. Download the setup script (PowerShell, for Windows 10/11).
2. Start menu → right-click ‘PowerShell’ and run it as administrator , then enter:
   powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\scanordner-einrichten.ps1"
3. The script creates C:\Scans\Eingang , shares it on the network and displays Server, share, user and password – make a note of these details.

Step 2 – Set up ‘Scan to Folder’ (SMB) on the device

Open the device's web interface (enter the device's IP address in the browser) and create a scan destination. Depending on the manufacturer, the menu item is called ‘Scan to Network / Network Folder’ (Brother), ‘Address Book → File’ (Canon), ‘Scan to Network Folder’ (HP), ‘Address Book → SMB’ (Kyocera, Ricoh).

• Protocol: SMB / CIFS / Windows share
• Server, share, user, password: as shown by the script
• File format: PDF (multi-page) – Resolution: 300 dpi – Colour: Automatic or greyscale
• Several pages: Use the automatic document feeder (ADF), with ‘Duplex’ if required. pdfmy removes blank back pages automatically.

Step 3 – Connect pdfmy

In pdfmy (Chrome or Edge), click ‘Connect scanner’ and choose C:\Scans\Eingang . From now on, every scan appears after about 2 seconds – straightened, upside-down pages rotated, text recognised, letter details filled in. When saving, it is automatically compressed compactly (sharp text, typically 30–60 KB per page). On your next visit, one click on ‘Connect scanner’ is all it takes.

Several letters at once

Place a blank sheet between the letters and scan everything in one go. Then More → Split batch into individual letters: each letter is recognised, named and filed individually.

Problems?

• The device reports a login error: enter the user as PC-NAME\scanner ; set the SMB version on the device to SMB2/3.
• The device cannot find the PC: set the PC's network profile to ‘Private’; use the IP address instead of the computer name.
• Only ‘Scan to Email’ possible: save the attachments in a folder and connect this folder to pdfmy.