Why can't I put scanned documents where I want them?

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Lucas1948 Author

Level 1

117 points

Why can't I put scanned documents where I want them?

I often scan paper documents (car repair receipts, for example) with my HP all-in-one device. The scanning software lets me do some routine editing and then send the document to a file. The file dialog box by default shows iCloud as the target, but it also appears to let me choose another target. However, so far I've never been able to get the scanned document file to go anywhere but "iCloud."

Let's say I scan a car repair receipt. I tell the software to send the file to a "Folder." The save dialog box opens, and I name the file. (See figure.)

"Where:" defaults to iCloud Drive, but I click to expand the box and choose another target. I click on "Other" to open a Finder window, where I drill down to the sub-folder where I'd like to place the new document. (See figure.)

I select the desired folder and click the "Choose" button. Back at the file dialog, the target folder name has not changed—it still reads "iCloud Drive." When I click Save, indeed the file goes into the PDF folder of iCloud Drive, not to the folder I had selected.

Now I have to open Finder —> iCloud Drive —> PDF Documents, locate the new file, and drag it to the folder where I want it. Why must I do this? Why can't the system simply let me put the file where I want it in the first place?

Is this a flaw (or a feature) in the OS, or does the problem lie with the HP scanner software? That is, should I take this problem to HP?

MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, 4 TBT3), macOS Sierra (10.12.6)

Posted on Aug 13, 2017 8:57 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

685,251 points

Aug 13, 2017 11:07 AM in response to Lucas1948

Based on what you posted, it appears to be a problem with the HP software. It might have a corrupt.plist or something else.

As a test, go to Applications/Image capture and try a scan with that software. It should allow you to choose a location to scan to.

If you want to try deleting the .plist to see if that helps, go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J. When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder. Select Library. Then go to Preferences. Locate the .plist which probably starts with com.hp Move the .plist to your desktop.

Restart the computer, open the application, and test. If it works okay, delete the plist from the desktop.

If the application is the same, return the .plist to where you got it from, overwriting the newer one.

Thanks to leonie for some information contained in this.

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Answer 2

Lucas1948 Author

Level 1

117 points

Aug 14, 2017 12:59 PM in response to Eric Root

Eric Root wrote:

As a test, go to Applications/Image capture and try a scan with that software. It should allow you to choose a location to scan to.

I haven't yet explored the .plist thing, but I did experiment with the Image Capture software. I also took LACAllen's advice and tried changing the document format to something other than PDF.

With Image Capture, I scanned a single-page document first as a PDF, then as a JPEG. Before I scanned, I also tried to select something other than the default iCloud Drive target. Image Capture behaved exactly as my HP scanning software. That is, it opened a Finder window, where I located and "chose" the alternate location ... but all to naught. The PDF scan went into the iCloud PDF Documents folder; the JPEG scan went into the Images folder.

I conclude that, by Apple's design, that's just how things work. Picture scans go to Images; PDFs go to PDF Documents; documents go to Documents; Spreadsheets go ... well, you get the picture. And it doesn't matter whether I'm using Image Capture or somebody else's software.

If that's how it is ... well, if I were king for a day, I might omit the "Scan To:" spin box. Why have it? Apple's already decided where the scan's gonna go, depending on my answer in the Format: box. Of course, I haven't tried saving a scan to another drive, such as a thumb drive, my local hard drive, or a NAS drive. That might work the way I expect.

I hope I don't sound whiney, because on the whole I like iCloud. Now that I better understand how things work, I can adjust. Thanks for everyone's contributions!

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Answer 3

Lucas1948 Author

Level 1

117 points

Aug 14, 2017 1:32 PM in response to Eric Root

Thanks for the suggestion! Sure enough, it worked the same for me. I suppose I can simply scan my stuff to the desktop and drag them to where I want them. It's sure easier than diggin' around in the PDF Documents folder in iCloud. We'll see.

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Answer 4

LACAllen

Level 8

43,590 points

Aug 13, 2017 11:28 AM in response to Lucas1948

Try changing the format from PDF to something else as a test. I believe iCloud Drive only allows PDF's to be saved to the default PDF Documents folder.

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