Epson scanner front buttons

[FUBARinSFO]

Hello:

1. The front buttons on my Epson scanner can be set to LAUNCH a program. But how do I set one of them to act as a mouse click for 'Scan'?

I've got a book with pages I want to copy. I have to click with the mouse on the 'scan' button (in Epson Scan, say) for each scan. What I want to do is stand at the unit and press a button on the front of the unit, like you do at a copier.

2. If I can't do it with the Epson software, what package do I need?

3. Is there an Epson forum that handles this somewhere, or is this the place to post this sort of question?

Thanks in advance for help with this.

-- Roy Zider

Epson Perfection 2480/2580
Epson Scan
Epson Smart Panel
Windows XP SP3

 

[Paul]

Hello:

1. The front buttons on my Epson scanner can be set to LAUNCH a program. But how do I set one of them to act as a mouse click for 'Scan'?

I've got a book with pages I want to copy. I have to click with the mouse on the 'scan' button (in Epson Scan, say) for each scan. What I want to do is stand at the unit and press a button on the front of the unit, like you do at a copier.

2. If I can't do it with the Epson software, what package do I need?

3. Is there an Epson forum that handles this somewhere, or is this the place to post this sort of question?

Thanks in advance for help with this.

-- Roy Zider

Epson Perfection 2480/2580
Epson Scan
Epson Smart Panel
Windows XP SP3

So the ingredients we know about:

1) Pressing a button starts a program.
2) There are programs which can simulate a mouse click.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081009025642AAtcz0t

mentions this software...

http://www.autoitscript.com/site/autoit/

I have no experience with that software, so can't say
which procedures in the language would come in handy.

*******

To click a button in a window, you need the "window name" first, or
some identifier that accesses the correct program. The button
in the program dialog to click, is at particular coordinates.
You don't want to use absolute coordinates, relative to the entire
desktop, because you don't know where you've moved the window when
the scanner program is started. It could be "cascaded" with other
windows, and start at a different (X,Y) offset each time.

That's why, if the program's window can be identified by name,
it doesn't matter where on the screen it is sitting. If the
coordinate system is relative to the corner of the program
dialog window, the job might be a little easier.

If the scanning program's window was fancy, and everything scaled
when you moved the lower-right corner of the window, then
clicking the button under program control could be harder.
In which case, you'd check the documentation for the scripting
environment, and see if it can access the "names" of all the
widgets inside the window. If each button in the program
interface, has a "name", you can associate the fake mouse
click with the "named" button.

*******

Scanners equipped with an "auto-feeder", can automate the
scanning of stacked paper. That won't work for books though.
And cutting the spine off a library book, would not make
the crusty librarian very happy. My scanner has an optional
autofeeder, but I never purchased it.

I've seen one device, that holds a book open. And uses a
wand to flip the pages. The "scanner" in that case, is a
camera, rather than a flatbed scanner. That's an example of
a professional device used for book scanning. That might be
how a company like Google, would scan an entire library. Load
a book, and walk away, until the wand has flipped all the
pages for you.

Most people just "crush" the book flat on their scanner,
and scan that way. That only works well on CCD scanners
(good depth of field) and not on CMOS scanners (poor
depth of field). My scanner uses a CCD, and I can see text close
to the spine of the book. The difference is illustrated here.
My scanner would look similar to the top photo. There is still
a little area of the spine, that is out of focus, but I can
see quite a lot of it.

http://www.carlmcmillan.com/DOF/DepthofField.htm

*******

If you get the AutoIt to work, post back with the details.
I like seeing details on any hack you come up with. For
the next person that needs the help.

Paul

 

[Tony944]

Try ACDSee

So the ingredients we know about:

1) Pressing a button starts a program.
2) There are programs which can simulate a mouse click.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081009025642AAtcz0t

mentions this software...

http://www.autoitscript.com/site/autoit/

I have no experience with that software, so can't say
which procedures in the language would come in handy.

*******

To click a button in a window, you need the "window name" first, or
some identifier that accesses the correct program. The button
in the program dialog to click, is at particular coordinates.
You don't want to use absolute coordinates, relative to the entire
desktop, because you don't know where you've moved the window when
the scanner program is started. It could be "cascaded" with other
windows, and start at a different (X,Y) offset each time.

That's why, if the program's window can be identified by name,
it doesn't matter where on the screen it is sitting. If the
coordinate system is relative to the corner of the program
dialog window, the job might be a little easier.

If the scanning program's window was fancy, and everything scaled
when you moved the lower-right corner of the window, then
clicking the button under program control could be harder.
In which case, you'd check the documentation for the scripting
environment, and see if it can access the "names" of all the
widgets inside the window. If each button in the program
interface, has a "name", you can associate the fake mouse
click with the "named" button.

*******

Scanners equipped with an "auto-feeder", can automate the
scanning of stacked paper. That won't work for books though.
And cutting the spine off a library book, would not make
the crusty librarian very happy. My scanner has an optional
autofeeder, but I never purchased it.

I've seen one device, that holds a book open. And uses a
wand to flip the pages. The "scanner" in that case, is a
camera, rather than a flatbed scanner. That's an example of
a professional device used for book scanning. That might be
how a company like Google, would scan an entire library. Load
a book, and walk away, until the wand has flipped all the
pages for you.

Most people just "crush" the book flat on their scanner,
and scan that way. That only works well on CCD scanners
(good depth of field) and not on CMOS scanners (poor
depth of field). My scanner uses a CCD, and I can see text close
to the spine of the book. The difference is illustrated here.
My scanner would look similar to the top photo. There is still
a little area of the spine, that is out of focus, but I can
see quite a lot of it.

http://www.carlmcmillan.com/DOF/DepthofField.htm

*******

If you get the AutoIt to work, post back with the details.
I like seeing details on any hack you come up with. For
the next person that needs the help.

Paul

 

[FUBARinSFO]

Tony944:

I have ACDSee and afaik it has no capability to map a scanner front button to a mouse click.

-- Roy

 

[FUBARinSFO]

Paul:

Thank you for your extensive reply. autoit (as I recall) is similar to several other programs (such as AutoMate) that can be used to automate windowstasks that require interaction with the GUI. That is not the problem here..

The problem is to connect a button on the front panel of the scanner to a function in the scanning software. If the software is open (launched) and pointed at the function ('scan' and automatically save, say), then the button 'presses' the key or clicks the mouse.

I realize I could write a vb script that might invokde autoit or AutoMate upon pressing a front panel button, but at the moment I'm trying to avoid that. What I seem to have found is that all the Epson documentation evades this distinction by simply ignoring the problem. I can't find anything that addresses it, nor have I found a discussion forum yet.

I will call Epson tech support today, or email them (their system was offline under maintenance over the weekend). Perhaps they can confirm that theydon't in fact support this capability.

In the meantime I'm copying pages from a book by holding the book on the scanner and clicking with the mouse on the computer to scan the page. Not great.

-- Roy Zider


On Sunday, August 11, 2013 5:48:46 PM UTC-7, Paul wrote:

So the ingredients we know about: 1) Pressing a button starts a program. 2)There are programs which can simulate a mouse click. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081009025642AAtcz0t mentions this software... http://www.autoitscript.com/site/autoit/ I have no experience with that software, so can't say which procedures in the language would come in handy. ******* To click a button in a window, you need the "window name" first, or some identifier that accesses the correct program. The button in the program dialog to click, is at particular coordinates. You don't want to use absolute coordinates, relative to the entire desktop, because you don't know where you've moved the window when the scanner program is started. It could be "cascaded" with other windows, and start at a different (X,Y) offset each time. That's why, if the program's window can be identified by name, it doesn't matter where on the screen it is sitting. If the coordinate system is relative to the corner of the program dialog window, the job might be a little easier. If the scanning program's window was fancy, and everything scaled when you moved the lower-right corner of the window, then clicking the button under program control could be harder. In which case, you'd check the documentation for the scripting environment, and see if it can access the "names" of all the widgets inside the window. If each button in the program interface, has a "name", you can associate the fake mouse click with the "named" button. ******* Scanners equipped with an "auto-feeder", can automatethe scanning of stacked paper. That won't work for books though. And cutting the spine off a library book, would not make the crusty librarian very happy. My scanner has an optional autofeeder, but I never purchased it. I'veseen one device, that holds a book open. And uses a wand to flip the pages.. The "scanner" in that case, is a camera, rather than a flatbed scanner. That's an example of a professional device used for book scanning. That might be how a company like Google, would scan an entire library. Load a book, and walk away, until the wand has flipped all the pages for you. Most people just "crush" the book flat on their scanner, and scan that way. That onlyworks well on CCD scanners (good depth of field) and not on CMOS scanners (poor depth of field). My scanner uses a CCD, and I can see text close to the spine of the book. The difference is illustrated here. My scanner would look similar to the top photo. There is still a little area of the spine, that is out of focus, but I can see quite a lot of it. http://www.carlmcmillan.com/DOF/DepthofField.htm ******* If you get the AutoIt to work, post back with the details. I like seeing details on any hack you come up with. Forthe next person that needs the help. Paul