Lion-compatible scanner

[badsandwich]

As of some recent update or other, my beloved Epson Perfection 4490 scanner no longer works properly with Acrobat X.

I am now looking for a Mac-compatible scanner, and wondered if anyone had any recommendations. Epson themselves recommend the V500 but that model is 5 years old and probably destined to be incompatible with everything too in another year or so.

I primarily use it for scanning documents, but the occasional negative and photo too.

 

[\-V-/]

Have you tried this? http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/4763/vuescan

 

[badsandwich]

Have you tried this? http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/4763/vuescan

No I haven't.
TBH preview works with the scanner, and the scanner software itself still works, it's just Acrobat X that doesn't.

 

[r0k]

No I haven't.
TBH preview works with the scanner, and the scanner software itself still works, it's just Acrobat X that doesn't.

I have a network scanner. It sends jpg and pdf files to my Mac by ftp.

Since you say your scanner works and only Acrobat X doesn't work, perhaps Acrobat is the thing you need to replace. OSX uses pdf as a native format and the only reason I have Adobe viewer on any of our Macs is to handle malformed pdf files created by MS Office. My default pdf viewer on OSX is still Preview. Even on Windows, I avoid dealing with Acrobat and use pdf exchange for creation and markup of pdf files.

There are a number of programs available that offer PDF editing capability, including Preview which comes with the OS. Is there a reason you are still using Acrobat X?

 

[MisterMe]

As of some recent update or other, my beloved Epson Perfection 4490 scanner no longer works properly with Acrobat X.

...

You are being overly dramatic. There are four possible readings of your post:

1. You upgraded to Lion, after which your scanner no longer worked.
2. You upgraded to Acrobat X Pro, after which your scanner no longer worked.
3. You upgraded some other software, which you mysteriously have no memory of.
4. You are afraid to admit that you wiped your system for an OS update and did not restore your scanner driver.

It sounds like your Acrobat X Pro worked just fine with your scanner under Lion until you did whatever you did. You don't run out and buy a new car because you run out of fuel. You don't need a new scanner just because you munged your scanner driver. Your scanner is just as Mac-compatible today as it ever was.

Reinstall the driver(s). If you "lost" your software, then all is not lost. Epson uses Silverfast for its drivers. You may acquire a Lion-compatible driver for a fee or an update to your existing driver free of charge. These options are available on the Silverfast website.

 

[Mojo1]

If you do wind up replacing the scanner and you primarily scan documents then consider getting a document scanner instead of another flatbed.

The Fujitsu ScanSnap models are much easier and faster to use than flatbed scanners. The S1300 is small, fast and it can run off of USB or AC power.

 

[badsandwich]

Since you say your scanner works and only Acrobat X doesn't work, perhaps Acrobat is the thing you need to replace. OSX uses pdf as a native format and the only reason I have Adobe viewer on any of our Macs is to handle malformed pdf files created by MS Office. My default pdf viewer on OSX is still Preview. Even on Windows, I avoid dealing with Acrobat and use pdf exchange for creation and markup of pdf files.

There are a number of programs available that offer PDF editing capability, including Preview which comes with the OS. Is there a reason you are still using Acrobat X?

The reason I use acrobat is because it allows me to append to existing PDFs from the scanner (I honestly don't know if this is possible with Preview)

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You are being overly dramatic. There are four possible readings of your post:

1. You upgraded to Lion, after which your scanner no longer worked.
2. You upgraded to Acrobat X Pro, after which your scanner no longer worked.
3. You upgraded some other software, which you mysteriously have no memory of.
4. You are afraid to admit that you wiped your system for an OS update and did not restore your scanner driver.

It sounds like your Acrobat X Pro worked just fine with your scanner under Lion until you did whatever you did. You don't run out and buy a new car because you run out of fuel. You don't need a new scanner just because you munged your scanner driver. Your scanner is just as Mac-compatible today as it ever was.

Reinstall the driver(s). If you "lost" your software, then all is not lost. Epson uses Silverfast for its drivers. You may acquire a Lion-compatible driver for a fee or an update to your existing driver free of charge. These options are available on the Silverfast website.

Could possibly be 1 or 2, yes.
Ultimately, my issue is that this combination doesn't work, and Epson's support have told me it won't work. Hence I am looking for an alternative.

 

[r0k]

The reason I use acrobat is because it allows me to append to existing PDFs from the scanner (I honestly don't know if this is possible with Preview)

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Could possibly be 1 or 2, yes.
Ultimately, my issue is that this combination doesn't work, and Epson's support have told me it won't work. Hence I am looking for an alternative.

Yes you can append PDFs in Preview. Apple hasn't exactly made it easy.

1. Open a PDF in Preview
2. Show thumbnails
3. Drag the file you want to add from finder to Preview
4. Drop it on AN EXISTING PAGE of the open file, not between pages

Works like a charm but that whole "must drop appended file on an existing page" thing throws a lot of people off. BTW there is no reason to spend money on Adobe software (unless you need Photoshop or something). Acrobat is not needed to manipulate PDF files on OSX.

 

[MisterMe]

...

Could possibly be 1 or 2, yes.
Ultimately, my issue is that this combination doesn't work, and Epson's support have told me it won't work. Hence I am looking for an alternative.

I run Lion. I run Adobe Acrobat Pro X. I have an Epson scanner. I do not have these problems. The reason that it does not work is that you made it not work.

The Silverfast Lion-compatible driver is a free upgrade. You may fix your current configuration free of charge or you may purchase a new scanner. The choice is yours. But be warned, if you always do what you've always done, then you will always get what you've always got.