Scanner softwear recommendations

[Leonard Metcalf]

I have been slowly getting pissed off with the Epson scanning softwear supplied with my Epson 3200. The Silverfast supplied doesn't work on my mac 10.3.4. What softwear would you recommend, and where could I get it?

[Bruce Watson]

http://www.hamrick.com/

[JohnnyV]

Leonard,

Download the latest SilverFast for the 3200 - the SF on the cd will not install properly on 10.3.4

[Ted Harris]

The two previous replies have mentioned the only two software programs worth considering; SilverFast and VueScan. Both have something of a learning curve. Both have their champions taht swear by them. Both do an excellent job. Differences:



1) Cost, Silver Fast is rather expensive for the full version and







2)you need a DIFFERENT package for each different scanner, that is the software is machine specific.



3)VueScan is very inexpensive, is frequently updated and tehre are several forums that discuss changes regularly. The author of VueScan, Ed Hamrick, is easy to email and get answers from.



4)IMHO the learning curve for SilverFast is much steeper than that for VueScan. I bought one version of SilverFast some 3-4 years ago then switched to VueScan and never looked back.

[Steve J Murray]

I also recommend Hamrick's Vuescan. Very powerful, gives you lots of control. No frills, gets right to the point, fast in operation. I get perfect scans every time with my 2450 and Minolta 35mm film scanners. I do mostly black and white.

[Ken Lee]

VueScan VueScan VueScan

[Leonard Metcalf]

VueScan is fantastic... just what I was hoping for... thanks for putting me onto it... Len

[Scott Walton]

We also use Vuescan with great success/results. They are a little "shy" on answering emails but the software is very good.

[Mark Muse]

My experience with VueScan on a dual processor G4 running OS X was extremely frustrating. It was buggy as hell, crashed or locked-up often (VueScan, not OS X), was very inefficient in terms of processor utilization, and was very much not what one would expect from a good Mac application in that the developer ignores Mac interface conventions. My guess is the development work is done for the Windows OS and is then ported to Mac OS with less than adequate attention to the results (my personal opinion). I really wanted it to work so I purchased the Pro version and stuck with it (keeping up with all the downloads) for about six months, but finally I gave up.

It is really a shame because there is a lot that is right about VueScan conceptually. If it ran properly on my OS I am sure I would be singing it's praises too.

But I am making some assumptions. I would be interested in learning if the folks who like VueScan are Windows or Mac users. VueScan certainly has all the right tools built in (the developer actually listens to the users.. what a concept!). Are those of you who are happy with VueScan mostly Windows OS users? Are there any Mac OS X users who use the full functionality of VueScan and are happy with it? (I should probably make a separate posting of this question, and maybe I will.)

[Herb Cunningham]

I have used Silverfast 6 with both windows and Mac Os 10.3.4 and had to get a newer download from Silverfast before it would work. I found the guy at Silverfast in Florida to be really helpful and determined to fix any glitches.

I've never used vuescan, but my Silverfast is humming along these days-it does indeed have a hell of a learning curve.