Best scanner software settings to get a good quality single-color (black) PDF rendering

Hello,

When using scanning software, what are the best settings to get a good quality single-color (black) PDF rendering?

I am using the following:

        • Canon CanoScan LiDE 110 flatbed scanner
        • Canon MP Navigator EX 4.0 software

I set things up and then did a test scan using a single sheet of white paper containing black text. It scanned the paper but it seems to have taken longer than I would think it should take. Also, although the resulting file name is PDF (IMG.pdf), it seems more like a picture than a typical PDF doc that I'm used to (if that makes sense). For example, the white areas on the sheet (ie those with no type) have all of these gray-looking smudges which don't really exist on the original paper.

In case it's any help, the file size is 982 KB.

FYI, my main objective is to have settings which enable an assistant to scan a variety of documents (like stuff that comes in the mail) quickly and in a way that they can be filed as simple digital items in individual folders. The majority of the items will never need to be accessed but I would like them to be OCR-able in order to facilitate searches.

Thanks