Tungsten PaperPort is a document management program: it scans, stores, searches and organizes documents on a desktop of thumbnails, and its Professional edition adds tools to pull apart, reorder and merge pages. ScanRoute Local does one narrower job: it takes one combined scan, splits it at separator sheets, blank pages or a fixed page count, reads one zone on each document to name it, and files each PDF in the folder you choose. If you want a digital filing cabinet, PaperPort is the broader tool. If your copier already scans to a folder and the bottleneck is splitting and naming, ScanRoute Local is the more direct fit.
This comparison uses Tungsten’s own product pages and the PaperPort 14.8 release notes, read on 23 October 2026, and the ScanRoute Local Store listing.
Split one big scan into named PDFs, filed in your folders, on your PC.
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What is PaperPort today?
PaperPort is now sold by Tungsten Automation, the company formerly called Kofax. The PaperPort product page describes it as a document management system that lets you “scan, share, search and organize documents”, and calls it a digital filing cabinet. It comes in Standard and Professional editions, with an Enterprise option for installing it across an organization and sharing documents on a network or in SharePoint.
According to the PaperPort Professional page, Professional adds:
- Document assembly: pull apart and reorder pages and merge documents into new PDFs, using thumbnails and a split desktop.
- PDF Create: turn application files into PDFs or merge several files into one.
- Scanner integration: for all-in-one printers, mobile and desktop scanners, including MFD scanning and routing.
- Document security: PDF passwords and encryption.
Both pages list the same requirements for PaperPort 14.8: Windows from XP through Windows 11, an “Internet connection and web access necessary”, and Windows only. The 14.8 release notes identify build 14.8.24565.2000 and say installation needs a user with Administrator rights. The suite installs PaperPort with ImageViewer, ScanDirect and the Scanner Setup Wizard, plus a PDF viewer, an image printer, and PDF Create in Professional only.
Tungsten shows a free trial for Professional and a 30-day money-back guarantee on individual licenses bought from its site.
What is ScanRoute Local?
ScanRoute Local is a Windows app that turns one combined scan into separate, named PDFs. You drop combined PDFs on the window, open them, or watch a folder. It splits each file at Code 128 or QR separator sheets, at blank pages, or every N pages.
For naming, you draw one zone over the reference line on the page. A pattern pulls fields such as type, date, client and number out of that zone and checks each one, and a template such as {Client}\{Date}_{Type}_{Id}.pdf builds the file name and folder. Text is read with the Windows OCR language installed on your PC.
Nothing is written until you commit. A preview lists every proposed name and folder, and documents that need a decision wait in an inbox: a read that failed its checks, a missing separator, a bad file name, a duplicate or an unreadable PDF. Your original PDFs are only read, never changed, moved or deleted, and each commit writes a CSV manifest with the SHA-256 hash of every file written.
The listing is clear about what it is not: not a document management server and not a scanner app. It makes no network connection and has no account.
How do they compare?
| Question | Tungsten PaperPort | ScanRoute Local |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Scan, store, search and organize documents | Split combined scans and name and file each document |
| Scanning | Built in, with scanner integration | None: works on PDFs your scanner or copier already made |
| Splitting pages | Professional: separate and reorder pages with thumbnails | Automatic at barcode separators, blank pages or every N pages |
| Naming from page content | Not listed on the product pages | One zone per document, with a pattern and checks |
| Folder filing | Organize in the PaperPort desktop | A template builds each name and folder |
| Review before writing | Not described on the product pages | Preview plus an inbox for documents that need a decision |
| Searchable text | Searchable PDFs and text conversion | Invisible text layer on upright scanned pages when an OCR language is installed |
| Network | ”Internet connection and web access necessary” | No network connection |
| Install | Administrator rights for installation | Microsoft Store app |
A note on the rows marked “not listed”: Tungsten’s pages describe PaperPort’s features at a high level, so the absence of barcode separator splitting or zone naming from those pages does not prove PaperPort cannot do it in some form. If you depend on either, check Tungsten’s documentation or the trial.
Which one fits a small office?
The two tools answer different questions, so the choice usually follows the shape of the work.
Choose PaperPort if you want one program to scan from your devices, keep documents in a browsable desktop, search them, assemble pages by hand, and add PDF passwords. Its scope is the whole life of a document on a PC or network.
Choose ScanRoute Local if the paper already ends up as PDFs in a folder, from a copier’s scan-to-folder or a desktop scanner, and the slow part is cutting one long scan into documents and typing names. A bookkeeper with a stack of client statements, a property manager with vendor invoices, or a law office filing correspondence can scan the whole stack at once with separator sheets between documents, then let ScanRoute split, name and file it.
Use both if you already rely on PaperPort for storage. ScanRoute Local writes ordinary PDFs into ordinary folders, so its output can go wherever your filing system expects it.
Preview every proposed name and folder before anything is written.
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How do you move a PaperPort-style workflow to ScanRoute?
If you currently scan a batch and split it by hand on a thumbnail desktop, the change is mostly in how you prepare the stack:
- Pick a split method. Print separator sheets with a Code 128 or QR code and put one in front of each document, or leave a blank page between documents, or use a fixed count if every document has the same number of pages.
- Scan the whole stack to one PDF with your copier or scanner, into a folder on your PC.
- Draw the zone over the line that identifies each document, such as an account number or invoice line, and set the pattern for the fields you need.
- Set the template for names and folders, for example client, then date and type.
- Preview, fix the inbox, commit. Check each proposed name, since OCR and barcodes can misread, then write the files.
For the details behind each step, see our guides to barcode separator sheets, patch codes versus barcode separators, splitting at blank pages, renaming scans from an OCR zone, and turning copier scan-to-folder output into named PDFs. If you are weighing a free scanner app instead, our NAPS2 and ScanRoute comparison covers that choice.
Frequently asked questions
Does ScanRoute Local scan from my scanner?
No. It works with PDF files your scanner or copier has already saved to a folder on your PC.
Does PaperPort need the internet?
Tungsten’s requirements for PaperPort 14.8 list an Internet connection and web access as necessary. The pages do not say which features use it.
Can ScanRoute Local replace a document management system?
Not on its own. It splits, names and files PDFs into folders. Searching, sharing and access control are up to the folders and tools you already use.
What happens if a name is read wrong?
The document waits in the inbox with its zone crop, so you can type the fields or fix the name before you commit.
Try ScanRoute Local
ScanRoute Local is a one-time purchase with a free trial in the Microsoft Store; the listing shows the current price and system requirements. Try it on one real batch with separator sheets and compare the time against your current routine. More detail is on the ScanRoute product page.
Turn a stack of paperwork into named, filed PDFs in one pass.
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PaperPort and Tungsten Automation are trademarks of Tungsten Automation. Automata Labs is not affiliated with Tungsten Automation.
Last updated 23 October 2026. Published by Automata Labs, a software company in Canada.