Can print, not scan - true story of my life with macOS

[Kovacs]

I need help, or a psychatrist.

So I've been a Mac user since the mid 1990s.

I seem to be cursed with the following problem: scanners *always* cause enormous headaches. Whenever I can get them to work, they *never* work the next time I try. I don't know how many hours of my life I have lost to the wonderful world of F...#$%#$ up printer drivers.

My old Canon printer died and I bought a new Pixma TS7450a multifunction printer.

- It "supports" AirPrint.
- It only supports 2Ghz networks. (All my other equipment is on the 5Ghz network.)
- it is connected wirelessly since we print from around the house (a row house with three floors).
- My Mac is a 14" M1 MBP. My iPad is a 2018 Pro 11".

So here goes:

- I can usually print to this printer.
(as in: My Mac sees it, my iPhone sees it, my iPad sees it. Printing works about 80% of the time. When it doesn't, a reboot of the printer solves it about half the time, the rest I just give up.)

- I can usually NOT scan from it.

My Mac just says it can't connect. I have successfully scanned one - 1 - document a few weeks ago. I guess I used up my quota.

Canon IJ software throws up an error about not being able to find the scanner (even though it correctly lists it's model number).

The strange thing is: My iPad is always able to scan from any scanner on our network...using Canon's app.

WHY?

I am at my wit's end, having search Google and YouTube and all I get is "just fire it up and scan". It just won't work.

Is there some "fix it once and for all" kind of solution here? It's the single most annoying thing about Mac for me.

Please help before I become a meme of a crazy guy launching a printer through his chimney.

(Oh, and don't even open the can of worms that is "Scanning? In 2022?")

 

[Fishrrman]

My remarks are "for scanning only" -- NOT addressing any printing issues.

Have you tried connecting the printer/scanner via a USB port?

Have you tried Apple's "image capture" app to see if it can recognize the scanner functions?

Have you tried downloading "VueScan" (another app) to see if it can recognize the scanner functions?

 

[3Rock]

What I did with my new canon printer (G 7020) to get it to scan was to open “System Preferences“, then clicked on printer and scanner. Then clicked on “Open scanner“ as shown below. Of course I have the new Mac Studio. Mine scans each and every time. I wanted to set up the scan function on my printer itself, but I couldn’t get it to work, so I used system preferences. On my iPhone or iPad I use the canon print selfiy app to make scanned copies. No issues with that. Sorry for your troubles

 

[iphoneuserinyyz]

I had similar problems with my Brother multifunction. In the end, I landed up using VueScan to solve this.

 

[hwojtek]

My old Canon printer died and I bought a new Pixma TS7450a multifunction printer.

So this thread is not titled correctly. You just happened to strike a less than lucky choice in regards of your printing/scanning hardware, not with MacOS.

- it is connected wirelessly since we print from around the house (a row house with three floors).

Why wirelessly? Take this out of the equation, as poor wireless connectivity often results in software being unable to connect to the wireless device. Note you can print from around the house using AirPrint with your printer connected using wired connection as long as it is on the same IP subnet as the rest of the devices. If you do not employ separate wired and wireless networks at home (read: wifi router set to sensible defaults), it will work.

(as in: My Mac sees it, my iPhone sees it, my iPad sees it. Printing works about 80% of the time. When it doesn't, a reboot of the printer solves it about half the time, the rest I just give up.)

Apparently not an MacOS issue.

Canon IJ software throws up an error about not being able to find the scanner (even though it correctly lists it's model number).

Again, seems not an MacOS issue.

Please help before I become a meme of a crazy guy launching a printer through his chimney.

Don't. Or if you do, take a lot of pictures and a TikTok video to fund your next printer/scanner
While I use HP products (right now I have a fairly old OfficeJet Pro 8610 multifunction device), they never failed me in regards of scanning or printing from MacOS and iOS devices without installing any HP provided software.
I would suggest getting rid of whatever Canon drivers you installed and just adding the printer with drivers Apple includes in MacOS. You might lose some functionality (supply levels etc) but this should work out of the box. Connect the printer using Ethernet, disable all wifi on printer (including direct wifi printing) and give it a try.
It might be, however, this particular model (or Canons as a whole) can not work without Canon software, so it might be a matter of seeking a slightly older Canon driver and installing it instead of the latest update. Or perhaps waiting for another update from Canon. It's trial-and-error in this case and as you have done this before I fully understand your frustration. Maybe a change in hardware and switching to another manufacturer (again, works for me with HP but do not assume I endorse this particular brand) would help?