Scanned Documents garbled when format PDF

[turtlebud]

Seems like something happened recently that cause my scanner + mac to go on the fritz whenever I try to scan a document as a PDF.

Scanner: Brother MFC-L3770CDW
Macbook Pro (2019) running 10.14.6

When I scan a document from either the flatbed or document feeder and select PDF as the format, I get this garbled mess (see attachment) in the documents. However, when I scan to JPEG it scans with no problems.

Any ideas on what might be causing this and what I can do to fix it? I primarily like to scan to PDF because I can scan a whole set of papers into a single document and it tends to be smaller than jpg. I can do it with jpg, but it requires opened all the pages and then merging them into a PDF.

Thanks!

 

[Dave Braine]

What software are you using for the scanner?

 

[turtlebud]

I was using Preview, but I also tried Image Capture.

 

[Dave Braine]

OK. I was going to suggest Image Capture if you were using any Brother software.
Never knew you could use Preview though. 👍

 

[mj_]

Preview and Image Capture are one and the same when it comes to scanning. Preview simply uses the Image Capture engine to scan, as do many other applications out there.

@turtlebud what are your settings when you scan? Do you have any image correction settings enabled? I have seen something like this before many years ago but don't recall what had to be done for this to get fixed. You could try one thing: create a new account on your Mac, login with that new account, and try scanning as PDF again to see if this is a user issues or a system-wide issue.

 

[Dave Braine]

Preview and Image Capture are one and the same when it comes to scanning. Preview simply uses the Image Capture engine to scan, as do many other applications out there.

Thanks for that.

 

[Janeilfen]

I am now having problems with Image Capture.
Samsung M2070 Laser printer/scanner.
Brand new Mac mini with Catalina 10.15.4
It will scan as a photo image but not as a pdf.
Samsung sold their printer devision to HP. HP web site implies they know of problems with scanning and provide a new driver. Guess what - it doesn't work
Anyone have any brain waves for an alternative scanner software? I am using my iPhone to scan at the moment, which is OK but not really very professional.

 

[Charlie Meyerson]

Seems like something happened recently that cause my scanner + mac to go on the fritz whenever I try to scan a document as a PDF.

Scanner: Brother MFC-L3770CDW
Macbook Pro (2019) running 10.14.6

When I scan a document from either the flatbed or document feeder and select PDF as the format, I get this garbled mess (see attachment) in the documents. However, when I scan to JPEG it scans with no problems.

Any ideas on what might be causing this and what I can do to fix it? I primarily like to scan to PDF because I can scan a whole set of papers into a single document and it tends to be smaller than jpg. I can do it with jpg, but it requires opened all the pages and then merging them into a PDF.

Thanks!

Exactly my problem. Did you ever get a good answer? JPG, PNG, etc. work fine with our 2750DW, but PDFs are just as you show.

 

[chabig]

Have you installed the latest Brother driver, and is the printer firmware up to date?

Downloads | MFC-L3770CDW | Others | Brother

support.brother.com

 

[Charlie Meyerson]

Updating: No printer driver to download. Brother says: “We recommend using AirPrint. If your machine does not support AirPrint, download Brother iPrint&Scan from the App Store.” And AirPrint produces the garble seen in the original post. Thanks.

 

[chabig]

I have a different Brother printer. I didn't install the printer driver because I use AirPrint. But I did have a specific scanner driver to install. Yours doesn't seem to have that. I wonder if that is why you aren't getting good results.