Could someone please tell me why my scanner works fine with OSX’s Image Capture but when I use the “import from Image Capture” from the File-> Import menu, my scanner appears to be scanning but nothing shows up and i can’t add a page or do anything with the Image Capture software.
I’d also like to know why the “ExactScan” option can’t find my scanner at all.
I have a cheapy scanner but I’m on a budget and my understanding is that if it works with OSX Image Capture then it should work with Devonthink. It’s Canon Pixma MP250
Same for me, DTPO (v2.0.5, on Snow 10.6.4) seems unable to acquire images from my usb Epson Perfection 3170: ExactScan can’t recognize it, and the built-in Image Capture moves the scanner, but it doesn’t display any image.
But any other mac application I have works regularly with this scanner, even the standalone Apple Image Capture application.
Any hint?
TiA
Some scanner companies treat the Image Capture “standard” rather loosely. DEVONthink is using the Image Capture code recommended by Apple. So, that’s the source of some problems.
Another is that some older scanner drivers break in a new version of OS X. If that’s happened, e.g. on a move to Snow Leopard, check the manufacturer’s Web site for new scanner driver/application releases. Canon, in particular, is generally good at updating drivers, even for older scanner models.
Networked scanners raise a different set of problems.
If all else fails, but your scanner is able to save scanner output as PDF to a folder in the Finder, DT Pro Office includes a Folder Action script (see Help or the PDF user documentation) that can be attached to that “output” folder, with the result that each new PDF will be automatically OCRed and stored in a DTPO database.
Just updated all drivers, restarted my Mac and still the Image Capture option isn’t recognizing the scanner.
It’s a bit sad that so much has to be hacked in a software that is powerful in so many areas. I’m beginning to wish that we just had full-text search in the file system.
Unfortunately DTPO’s Import > Document (via Import Capture) scanning method isn’t cooperating with certain Canon models, like yours and mine (MX870, mentioned in the thread linked to in my first reply).
Maybe preferable to skip ExactScan and use Image Capture combined with the Folder Action script mentioned in Bill’s reply? I’ll probably do that, for now, instead of downloading/installing Canon’s software that includes the currently missing TWAIN driver.
I’m using the Canon MP250 so I guess my issues fall in with the Canon problems. Bummer, I can’t really afford a better scanner but the Canon works fine When I use Image Capture on its own. I guess I’ll be using the folder action for now. Is there a list of scanners that don’t work with DT somewhere? If not, that would be helpful for folks trying to pair DT and a scanner. I’ve seen that the Fujitsu models are recommended but they are pretty pricey for folks on a budget.
It’s probably not feasible for DEVONtechnologies to develop a list of scanners that do/do not work with DTPO’s Image Capture and/or ExactScan Capture routines.
There are many more makes/models of scanners than we can get our hands on or receive user reports about, and new models appear frequently; working drivers may fail after an OS X update/upgrade, or the scanner may become compatible with DTPO’s capture modes when a new driver release is provided.
Fortunately, the Folder Action script to OCR new images sent to a folder makes the procedure pretty automatic for “non-supported” scanners.
I’m having the same problem with the image capture feature within DEVONthink Pro. I have a HP 8600 Officejet Pro and I can scan documents to my desktop and then add them to my DEVONthink folders. But it would be nice to simply scan it straight from the program.
What is the Apple script that addresses this problem? Thanks!
DEVONthink Pro Office installed a script named DEVONthink - Import, OCR & Delete at ~/Library/Scripts/Folder Action Scripts/.
Attach that script to a Finder folder, then choose that folder as the destination to which your scanner sends scanner output. When a new file is added to that folder, the script will send it to DEVONthink Pro Office for OCR, then move the file to the Trash.
Folder Action scripts are a feature of OS X. You can read about them in Apple’s Help menu, or in the DEVONthink Pro Office PDF user manual. Note that if very large PDFs are sent to the Folder Action folder the script might have a timeout failure, or might time out in a case where a large number of files are sent to the folder for processing. Such script failures are relatively fail-safe, as any files not processed can be selected for OCR using the File > Import > Images (with OCR) command, then manually deleted afterwards from the folder.
