Help Fixing Many Corrupt PDF Files

Question

Hello,

I started using an Epson GT-1500 scanner to digitize technical journals. I have been using Epson Scan Software (in Office Mode) on my WIndows 7 laptop to create PDF files. Many of the articles were duplex which required me to manually scan both sides of the paper and use Epson's software to re-arrange the pages in order. I checked each file to make sure I could open and see all the pages in Acrobat Reader before tossing the original journal.

I discovered a problem which did not show up until I decided to scan an entire 75 page journal. Rather than use Epson's software to delete unwanted pages and reorder the pages, I just scanned all of the even pages in one scan and the odd pages in a separate file. I then tried to clean up the file using Acrobat Pro on my PC. The problem is when I try to delete unwanted pages I get this error:

There was a problem reading the document (14).

Also, when I open this (and many other of my files) I get this error:

An error exists on this page. Acrobat may not display the page correctly. Please contact the person who created the PDF document to correct the problem.

After hitting OK I can see the file fine. Eventually I want to make these files searchable on key words and suspect that all of them have some form of compatibility problem that will prevent this. I also wanted to be able to shrink/compress these files and have problems doing that. I also cannot clean up my 75 page journal scan.

I tried opening the file in FoxitReader (it opened fine) and save it under a different name. That file still has the same errors in Acrobat Pro.

1. Is there any way to fix the 100 files that I already have?
2. Moving forward, I probably have another 500 articles to scan. Is there something I can do in Epson's software to prevent this problem? Should I use professional mode or some other setting?
3. Would I be better off using a third party s/w like ViewScan?

Thanks for your help!!

Karl Heinz Kremer · Answer

Are you scanning into Adobe Acrobat using the Epson scanner driver, or are you using Epson's software to actually scan? I would recommend to scan into Acrobat if that's possible at all. This way, Acrobat will create the PDF structure in the file, and hopefully that will not be corrupt.

You may also want to get in touch with Epson's support to see if they know about this problem and potentially have an updated version of the software.

There may be other software you can use to scan to PDF that does not create corrupt files.

Without knowing exactly what's wrong, it's impossible to say if there is any way you can fix these files. Be very cautious of somebody trying to sell you a solution that claims to be able to fix PDF errors. There is no application that can do that - at least not severe errors. Acrobat already fixes a number of potential problems when you open a file. With our fast computers these days, you will often not even see the message that pops up when Acrobat does that, and the only indication that something was done is that Acrobat prompts you to save your changes when you try to close the file. If it's possible to fix the file, Acobat will do that for you. In all other cases, you need to analyze the specific problem you are having to see what can be done, and if it's possible to automate the fix.

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