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Best Scanner Software for Mac?

S

schwine1

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 13, 2008
183
4
What is the best software for scanners?
My scanner is the Canoscan 4400F with Mavericks OSX 10.9.1

I have tried and had problems with Mac's Image Capture, as well as VueScan and Exact Scan Pro.

Thanks for any suggestions on the best software for scanners.
 
schwine1 said:
What is the best software for scanners?
My scanner is the Canoscan 4400F with Mavericks OSX 10.9.1

I have tried and had problems with Mac's Image Capture, as well as VueScan and Exact Scan Pro.

Thanks for any suggestions on the best software for scanners.
Click to expand...

Have you tried Silverfast? http://www.silverfast.com/

Claims to support Canoscan at least!
 
I don't use any "software" per say… I was able to download the driver (automatically) for my printer and just use the Scan and Print (or the app it downloaded automatically). Works wonders.
 
If you are looking to scan in very high resolutions....Adobe's scanning software is great, but it was bundled with my Epson SX535WD so not too sure how mach it would cost.

I've alway found preview to be perfectly adequate for my needs though.
 
My question as well, why not use the software that comes with the canon? I have two canon scanners both using the software that comes with them it works fine.
 
saberahul said:
I don't use any "software" per say… I was able to download the driver (automatically) for my printer and just use the Scan and Print (or the app it downloaded automatically). Works wonders.
Click to expand...

I do the same thing and it works great. Click print and Scan in the system preferences. The select the printer. Double click on it. The click the scan button on the top right of the pop up window.
 
Thanks for the tips and suggestions.
Here is my experience with my Canoscan scanner and Image Capture.

When I open Image Capture, a window opens that says "No camera or scanner connected. Devices 0, Shared 0."
I tried re-installing the Canoscan driver for Mavericks OSX, re-starting the computer, and the results are the same.
Also, when I access the scanner via system preferences > printers and scanners > open scanner > scan button: open image capture, a greyed out screen appears with no information.

Thanks again for any further troubleshooting tips.
 
Last edited:
Check USB port or cable?

schwine1 said:
Thanks for the tips and suggestions.
Here is my experience with my Canoscan scanner and Image Capture.

When I open Image Capture, a window opens that says "No camera or scanner connected. Devices 0, Shared 0."
I tried re-installing the Canoscan driver for Mavericks OSX, re-starting the computer, and the results are the same.
Also, when I access the scanner via system preferences > printers and scanners > open scanner > scan button: open image capture, a greyed out screen appears with no information.

Thanks again for any further troubleshooting tips.
Click to expand...

Assuming this is a USB printer, is it connected directly to your Mac? That is, not on a port expander or hub?

My scanner was quite intermittent with VueScan software, and tried various hubs (both powered and not). Once I connected directly to a port on the back of my iMac, all problems went away.

Hope this helps . . .
 
Mugwumper said:
Assuming this is a USB printer, is it connected directly to your Mac? That is, not on a port expander or hub?
Click to expand...

Yes, the scanner is directly connected to the back of the computer. I changed USB computer inputs from one to another to see if that made any difference, it didn't.
 
Based on my experience with Canon scanners...

schwine1 said:
Yes, the scanner is directly connected to the back of the computer. I changed USB computer inputs from one to another to see if that made any difference, it didn't.
Click to expand...

Try reinstalling the latest drivers from Canon. If your Mac still doesn't recognize your scanner when you plug it in, I'd have to guess your printer is defective. I've never had any trouble with my Mac recognizing my Canon when plugged in. FWIW, I use Preview with my Canon instead of their scan software. You just use File->Import from scanner
 
Last edited:
schwine1 said:
Yes, the scanner is directly connected to the back of the computer. I changed USB computer inputs from one to another to see if that made any difference, it didn't.
Click to expand...

Can you see it in the 'about this Mac' + 'more info…' window? (I'm still on SL but I assume that's the same in Mavericks)
If not, then it might point to a hardware issue rather than software; even a dodgy USB cable – that happened to me and it was the last thing I thought to check!
 
JackRoch said:
Can you see it in the 'about this Mac' + 'more info…' window? (I'm still on SL but I assume that's the same in Mavericks)
If not, then it might point to a hardware issue rather than software; even a dodgy USB cable – that happened to me and it was the last thing I thought to check!
Click to expand...

Yes, the scanner is acknowledged in the "about this mac > more info" window, and the usb cable is about 20 feet long.
 
jdiamond said:
Try reinstalling the latest drivers from Canon. If your Mac still doesn't recognize your scanner when you plug it in, I'd have to guess your printer is defective. I've never had any trouble with my Mac recognizing my Canon when plugged in. FWIW, I use Preview with my Canon instead of their scan software. You just use File->Import from scanner
Click to expand...

I've reinstalled the scanner drivers a few times now, but no change in the outcome. Namely, Image Capture doesn't recognize the scanner. I may look into getting a newer scanner.
 
I switched to ExactSCAN Pro

It gave me the best looking PDF, with OCR and much smaller file size. ExactSCAN Pro is great for getting away with lots of paper for archiving and according to the devs it supports some hundreds of scanners, ...

What did not work for you? Maybe ask the developer, when I once had a question they where quick to respond!
 
schwine1 said:
Yes, the scanner is acknowledged in the "about this mac > more info" window, and the usb cable is about 20 feet long.
Click to expand...

Just for the hell of it... try a shorter USB cable. The USB spec is 5m.

schwine1 said:
I've reinstalled the scanner drivers a few times now, but no change in the outcome. Namely, Image Capture doesn't recognize the scanner. I may look into getting a newer scanner.
Click to expand...

Get the Fujitsu ScanSnap iX500. You will be amazed. The gold standard of scanners.

/Jim
 
Mugwumper said:
Check USB port or cable?
connected directly to a port on the back of my iMac, all problems went away.

Hope this helps . . .
Click to expand...

From what you said above on, this could mean that the power (ampere) drawn by the Canon scanner exceeded that available from the USB port.

Not all USB ports on the Mac supplies the same power. Earlier Macs lags in upping the power supply to USB.
 
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