[TriLUG] scanner software - was Re: Printer/scanner recommendations

[Dewey Hylton]

just wanted to throw this out there ... a very long while ago (back before y2k when i had a real scsi slide scanner) i got fed up with needing windows just for scanning. i was already all-linux at that time, and sane wasn't getting the job done. so i decided i'd be happier to pay for software than to deal with windows, and started looking around. i found vuescan, tested it out, LOVED IT, paid for it, and was happily on my way - batch scanning slides and the whole nine yards. i paid for the "professional license" so i'd get lifetime updates. it was $40 back then.

since then i've had, well, 15+ years of bouncing across various linux distributions and about as many versions of mac os x. hamrick has always honored my license and allowed me to download the latest version - and doesn't mind me doing so on my linux boxes as well as my macs. money well spent. and the software is good. i've used it with el-cheap-o usb-powered canon lide scanners to $1000 scsi slide scanners, and a few things in between. it even works with my current brother laser MFC unit, right over wifi. 

the two or three times i've reached out to them for customer service or software support they've been on the ball.

i confidently recommend this software for anyone who needs a stable scanning experience in linux (or mac ... they promise it works in windows too but i'll never know that for sure). 

i know this sounds like a paid-for commercial, but this is my honest opinion after having relied upon the software for at least 15 years. i get that it's not free software and that fact is likely to turn plenty of you away. but if they said i was at my limit and needed to purchase again, i would in a heartbeat. and that's very unusual for me.

find it here:
http://hamrick.com

their support page for my scanner:
http://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/brother_mfc_9340cdw.html

and for what it's worth, i very much like this printer as well. it probably fits well in the parent thread: auto document feeder (with FAST! double-sided scanning), scan-to-{email,pdf,whatever}, air print, yada yada yada ... i use it a lot for document archival for my business.