Best scanning manager program?

I have an HP 7410 all-in-one, running under XP Pro. The scan manager
program that comes with the HP isn't very good, so I'm wondering if there's
a great scanning manager program (for documents and photographs).

Any recommendations?

Per T. Wise:
>I have an HP 7410 all-in-one, running under XP Pro. The scan manager
>program that comes with the HP isn't very good, so I'm wondering if there's
>a great scanning manager program (for documents and photographs).
>
>Any recommendations?
>

Duno from "great", but after taking a strong dislike to Nikon's freebie I
settled on VueScan.

Currently driving a CoolScan 4000 (film) and a CanoScan LIDE-SomethingOrOther
(flatbed).

The price was right and I have no complaints.
--
PeteCresswell

T. Wise wrote:
> I have an HP 7410 all-in-one, running under XP Pro. The scan manager
> program that comes with the HP isn't very good, so I'm wondering if there's
> a great scanning manager program (for documents and photographs).
>
> Any recommendations?

Dunno if your scanner is supported (most are),
but I've been using Vuescan. It has totally transformed
my Epson 4990 into a superb scanning machine.

Some claim it is not user-friendly. I guess that is contingent
on one's degree of familiarization, I find it quite friendly. Once
I worked out the twists of its interface, it turned into a mean
piece of software!

www.hamrick.com
is the place to go to for further info.

Others swear by Scanfast. I've tried their SE product,
came with my scanner. It's friendly, but the interface
got in the way once I became more proficient in its use.

Try it out as well. Google the name and you'll find the site.

Go to www.scantips.com for more than you ever wanted to
know about flat-bed image scanners!

Noons wrote:
>
> Others swear by Scanfast. I've tried their SE product,

Profuse apologies: that should have read Silverfast,
not Scanfast!

On 7 Sep 2005 00:00:29 -0700, "Noons" <wizofoz2k@yahoo.com.au> wrote:

>> Any recommendations?
>
>Dunno if your scanner is supported (most are),
>but I've been using Vuescan.

Vuescan is notoriously buggy and unreliable. Check the archives for a
constant stream of user complaints and bug reports, some duped users
even screaming for their money back. No refunds, though.

However, if you don't care for quality and just want a quick a dirty
web scan it just may do the trick. The only challenge is to locate a
version that "works" (and that's a real challenge!). If you do, resist
the urge to upgrade, or at least keep the old version just in case!

>Others swear by Scanfast.

That's SilverFast.

>I've tried their SE product,
>came with my scanner. It's friendly, but the interface
>got in the way once I became more proficient in its use.
>
>Try it out as well. Google the name and you'll find the site.

http://www.silverfast.com

Do note that you need to download a scanner specific version! Most
people consider it very good but it comes at a price. One notable
point I would make is that it's for people who favor "auto
everything".

In the interest of full disclosure, I don't use either of them,
although I've tested them both.

Don.

On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 13:26:25 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)"
<x@y.z.invalid.USA> wrote:

>Per Noons:
>>Some claim it is not user-friendly.
>
>That always mystified me.

And I'm mystified that you're mystified! ;o)

>Compared to NikonScan (whose UI seems tb have
>designed by somebody's 13-year-old kid trying incorporate every oddball control
>he could find...) I find VueScan to be a model of adherence to the Windows UI
>standards.

Ah, well, that explains it, then! Your knowledge of UI design is
apparently nonexistent... And that's being as diplomatic as I can
given the context. ;o)

Vuescan doesn't adhere to *any* UI standards! Doesn't even come close!

Vuescan is an ergonomic nightmare! Ever heard of "muscle memory"? Not
to mention hidden settings or, arcane interaction of unrelated
settings or, settings on different tabs influencing each other or,
missing user feedback or, secretly rolling back settings after the
user sets them... etc... etc... etc...

Vuescan is so bad I wouldn't even use it as an example of how *not* to
design a UI - as that risks vaguely implying Vuescan has a UI! ;o)

>Mostly if something can be broken or misunderstood, I'm the one what will do it.

The corollary of that is:

If something is broken and confusing you'll be the one who's happy
with it! ;o)

Your above assertion seems to confirm it.

Don.

On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 17:04:26 +0200, Don <phoney.email@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 13:26:25 -0400, "(PeteCresswell)"
><x@y.z.invalid.USA> wrote:
>
>>Per Noons:
>>>Some claim it is not user-friendly.
>>
>>That always mystified me.
>
>And I'm mystified that you're mystified! ;o)
>
>>Compared to NikonScan (whose UI seems tb have
>>designed by somebody's 13-year-old kid trying incorporate every oddball control
>>he could find...) I find VueScan to be a model of adherence to the Windows UI
>>standards.
>
>Ah, well, that explains it, then! Your knowledge of UI design is
>apparently nonexistent... And that's being as diplomatic as I can
>given the context. ;o)
>
>Vuescan doesn't adhere to *any* UI standards! Doesn't even come close!
>
>Vuescan is an ergonomic nightmare! Ever heard of "muscle memory"? Not
>to mention hidden settings or, arcane interaction of unrelated
>settings or, settings on different tabs influencing each other or,
>missing user feedback or, secretly rolling back settings after the
>user sets them... etc... etc... etc...
>
>Vuescan is so bad I wouldn't even use it as an example of how *not* to
>design a UI - as that risks vaguely implying Vuescan has a UI! ;o)
>
>>Mostly if something can be broken or misunderstood, I'm the one what will do it.
>
>The corollary of that is:
>
>If something is broken and confusing you'll be the one who's happy
>with it! ;o)
>
>Your above assertion seems to confirm it.
>
>Don.

Don, you're certainly a good spokesperson "against" Vuescan. However,
as a user for the past several years, I've not found anything that
even comes close to it's ease of use (I guess I'm one of those who've
become accustomed to it's "awful" interface, and so don't understand
that is's really bad and hard to use) and quality of scans. But then,
I also haven't looked at anything else other than Nikon Scan that came
with a scanner.

So I'd like to ask what you'd recommend.

Also, I'd like to know if there are others out there who really
believe Vuescan is awful, and if so, what they are using.
Charlie Hoffpauir
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~charlieh/

Per Noons:
>Some claim it is not user-friendly.

That always mystified me. Compared to NikonScan (whose UI seems tb have
designed by somebody's 13-year-old kid trying incorporate every oddball control
he could find...) I find VueScan to be a model of adherence to the Windows UI
standards.

Mostly if something can be broken or misunderstood, I'm the one what will do it.
OTOH, I found VueScan to be easily usable without even reading the instructions.
--
PeteCresswell

Charlie Hoffpauir wrote:
> On Wed, 07 Sep 2005 17:04:26 +0200, Don <phoney.email@yahoo.com>
> wrote:
>
>

>>
>>Vuescan is so bad I wouldn't even use it as an example of how *not* to
>>design a UI - as that risks vaguely implying Vuescan has a UI! ;o)
Remember that Vuescan is cross-platform (Mac OSX, Linux, Windows), no small
feat. Unless such a product is completely differentiated between all
platforms, for which at this price the market is probably too small, it is
bound to have a lowest common denominator GUI in terms of 'slickness'. In
terms of use for the experienced user such a package can be quite good, but
you have to get past that first bump in the learning curve.
>
> Don, you're certainly a good spokesperson "against" Vuescan. However,
> as a user for the past several years, I've not found anything that
> even comes close to it's ease of use (I guess I'm one of those who've
> become accustomed to it's "awful" interface, and so don't understand
> that is's really bad and hard to use) and quality of scans. But then,
> I also haven't looked at anything else other than Nikon Scan that came
> with a scanner.
I looked at Silverfast too, liked its focussing tools more. It is also not
very stable, at least on OSX 10.4.

-- Hans

> Dunno if your scanner is supported (most are),
> but I've been using Vuescan. It has totally transformed
> my Epson 4990 into a superb scanning machine.
>

Which edition of Vuescan, Standard or Professional?