I haven't been using it too much yet but I am really impressed by paperless-ngx so far. It just works(TM) and the auto-tagging functionality is surprisingly good, even with just a few documents in it.
Does anyone have a good scanner recommendation though? I am eyeing the Brother ADS-1700W since it seems to be recommended often, but I would really like to use the "scan to webhook" feature (it's 2023 after all) instead of SMTP or whatever else are the options I would have with the Brother.
I don't have an iPhone, but on Android there is the "Paperless Mobile" app (https://github.com/astubenbord/paperless-mobile), which can be used to scan as well. There are just some documents that I would prefer to have in proper and consistent "document scanner"-quality; I am always having a hard time with lighting using those phone scanners (although Paperless Mobile is one of the better ones I have used).
Those still have the speed disadvantage of a phone camera and need more space than a compact document scanner, I'd imagine. I guess a ring light for my phone would be an improvement; using the builtin flash usually leads to very uneven lighting in the scan.
I had used this app prior to the addition of the Paperless-ngx integration and it worked well, but with that functionality added it's just so easy to scan and be done. I have a Brother scanner as well that I'll still use to import longer documents or anything I want in the best quality, but for 95% of things importing from this app works perfectly.
I am scanning from my Brother multi-function device to an SMB share, which paperless monitors for changes. Works like a charm. You can even bulk move files there using your local file manager.
Brother DCP-L2550DW here. One of the cheapest b/w multifunction devices with automatic document feeder and reasonable print and scan performance. Works like a charm on Linux, Windows, Android, and IOS.
I am using it with [NAPS2](https://www.naps2.com/), which is brilliantly simple, multi-platform, free, and open-source.
I'll start with Paperless NGX sooon, and after looking around for lots of document scanners with autofeed (that are quite expensive) I found that in my office they were getting rid of a big multifunction HP printer that was sitting unused since COVID and remote work, and I got that for free.
I'll clean all the rollers and stuff next week and test it :P
I've had great luck with an Epson Workforce scanner. Originally I got it to scan ~10k family photos -- took about 1 hour and entirely smooth.
In that case I scanned to a USB drive attached to the scanner (since each photo was a separate file). For Paperless I use the Epson Smart app, scan the document with whatever settings, remove/rotate pages as needed, and then share it to Paperless with Paperless Share [0].
Many network attached scanners can scan to SMB, no device needed, but I kind of like the human-in-the-loop aspect. Since my Paperless server runs on an HDD next to the scanner I can actually hear once the file lands which is quite satisfying.
Does anyone have a good scanner recommendation though? I am eyeing the Brother ADS-1700W since it seems to be recommended often, but I would really like to use the "scan to webhook" feature (it's 2023 after all) instead of SMTP or whatever else are the options I would have with the Brother.