Share USB Scanner

[sqdge]

Does anybody know if it is possible to share a USB scanner over the network? I have seen software that can claim to do just this, but being a cheapskate I don't really want to buy it - is there any free software out there that Google hasn't heard of?

 

Thanks

[Geoff]

You can do this on Linux with Sane.

 

http://www.sane-project.org/

 

Windows clients can then access the Linux scanner server with SaneTwain.

 

http://sanetwain.ozuzo.net/

[sqdge]

Hmmm, that's great. Is there anything solely windows based? It's really for use between two computers located in our art room - so it doesn't seem worth the effort to build a dedicated linux server for them (maybe I'm just lazy).

[Geoff]

Not that I've seen. There's plenty of other useful things you can do with that linux box once you've built it too.

[limbo]

At around £30 for a USB scanner - is it worth spending anytime on it at all? Just buy them another scanner.

[contink]

I don't know about software and certainly nothing free but if anyone else is looking for something like this then here's a few suggestions..

 

USB Servers (Keywords: Silex, USB, Server, keyspan) are probably the best approach..

 

You treat them much the same way as a printserver by hooking them up on the network and then installing the sofware/drivers on each of the machines you want to be able to access the unit.

 

Obviously only one computer can use the scanner at once and if there's one area for potential abuse this is it... Students and/or the forgettful, can easily lock up a scanner from any use by anyone else. To that end it's best not to install the scanner for use by all machines.

 

In terms of cost you're looking at around £60+ for a single unit so it's not cheap.

 

Oh and in case you're planning on sharing a multifunctional printer (eg: Canon MP500 or Epson CX6600) then both the Keyspan USB server and Silex CX-2000U units will provide print server functionality as well as allowing use of the scanner by any PC's setup as described above.

 

 

As pointed out by other posters though, its not ideal and frankly unless you're dealing with a multifunctional (that you wish to share printing functionality for) or a high cost professional scanner.. you might as well buy other scanners and just install them on each individual machine.

[sqdge]

Maybe it's just the northerner inside me that wants everything for free. It had never really occurred to me to buy two scanners!

 

For those who don't want to buy any hardware, I discovered that there is a program called ScanRn (freeware) which, when used in conjunction with ScanRnServer (not quite freeware) will add the scanner to the network...apparently.

[john]

If you have budget to burn, Epson have networkable scan unit for use with the Epson scanner range. Note phrase in this post is Budget to Burn! Its for the Epson Perfection scanner range (= sexpensive!)

[limbo]

Already burnt that money (a few years ago) - complete waste of time and effort. Might be better now but it is cheaper to buy a scanner for every PC.

[mrcrazy04]

It still has to be paid for.

You dont happen to work for them do you?

[netadmin]

I install a cheap USB switcher, if the PCs are nearby. Haven't found anything for over the network use on Windows, though.

[JSmith]

You may try Capturix ScanShare, which can easily convert your ordinary scanner into a network scanner. It works pretty fine for me and completely compatible with Vista.

[srochford]

If the two machines are next to each other then a USB switch box should do the job - quick google finds this

 

If you have networked photocopiers then they can often be used as scanners as well - typically emailing the scanned image back to the user. The default is often to email as PDF but you can pick TIFF on the ones I've seen.

 

another alternative would be to dedicate one computer as the scanner computer - you're obviously going to have to physically take your image to the scanner so it's not a big deal to just sit at that machine to do the scan. Issues arise with where do you save the image. could be to a USB stick (lend it out and make sure you get it back at the end of the lesson; insist all users have them??) or a shared folder which anyone can write to and then just get back their file when they return to their own PC. Alternatively, some kind of upload system where they put int their username etc and it puts the file in their own user area.

[dhicks]

another alternative would be to dedicate one computer as the scanner computer

 

This is the approach I'm using - the most basic £30 Canon scanner works a treat, it's hooked up to its own PC and scans an image to a shared network folder whenever someone hits the "scan" button on the case. The PC doesn't need a screen or anything, you could use a snazzy fanless PC.

 

--

David Hicks

[leco]

This is the approach I'm using - the most basic £30 Canon scanner works a treat, it's hooked up to its own PC and scans an image to a shared network folder whenever someone hits the "scan" button on the case. The PC doesn't need a screen or anything, you could use a snazzy fanless PC.

 

--

David Hicks

 

Sounds interesting - how do I do that please?

[K.C.Leblanc]

Get a Canon Lide, great scanners. So small that students can just move them to whichever machine they're working on. Oh and the basic driver is a silent install.

[dhicks]

Sounds interesting - how do I do that please?

 

Nothing complex - I just set up a standard Windows XP machine (could even use a Windows XP Home machine if you have one spare that you can't figure out anything else to do with) and made sure it auto logged on and auto-started the Canoscan software that came with our scanner. I mapped a drive to a world-readable folder, then just set the Canoscan software to automatically scan and save files to that drive whenever the "scan" button was pressed.

 

--

David Hicks

[dgsmith]

Nothing complex - I just set up a standard Windows XP machine (could even use a Windows XP Home machine if you have one spare that you can't figure out anything else to do with) and made sure it auto logged on and auto-started the Canoscan software that came with our scanner. I mapped a drive to a world-readable folder, then just set the Canoscan software to automatically scan and save files to that drive whenever the "scan" button was pressed.

 

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David Hicks

 

That's an excellent idea! Don't know why we hadn't thought about that ourselves, and as you mention it is reasonably easy to configure. May give that a try ourself!

[dhicks]

as you mention it is reasonably easy to configure.

 

The most difficult bit for people to grasp seems to be how easy it is to use - I keep on having to explain to people that all they have to do is walk over to the scanner, put their bit of paper in and hit "scan", then go and load the file into their document. They seem to expect more complexity! So as to not completely waste an always-on PC I use them as print servers, too.

 

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David Hicks

[gshaw]

If you have budget to burn, Epson have networkable scan unit for use with the Epson scanner range. Note phrase in this post is Budget to Burn! Its for the Epson Perfection scanner range (= sexpensive!)

 

Hehe we've got two of those... nearly put em on the disposal list a while back as they were old but noticed the network socket at the back now they're doing a great job even with the retro Windows-95 looking software

[john]

The Epson scanners just seem to go on and on and on and on and on and on and on. The Smart Panel has aged badly on some of them but thats life, can't have everything.

 

If you want to toss them onto the bin list again i'll happily take them from you and dispose of them on your behalf

[dgsmith]

The most difficult bit for people to grasp seems to be how easy it is to use - I keep on having to explain to people that all they have to do is walk over to the scanner, put their bit of paper in and hit "scan", then go and load the file into their document. They seem to expect more complexity! So as to not completely waste an always-on PC I use them as print servers, too.

 

--

David Hicks

 

 

I have just given this a try yesterday on a spare machine we had (not great spec but it doesn't need to be), and it works flawlessly! Once I had configured the scanner to just save the document and not open mspaint after each scan (think of the memory usage after a while!), then it worked fine and did exactly as you described.

 

Beats having to log into a special machine to scan when you can have one ready to go!

[dhicks]

I have just given this a try yesterday on a spare machine we had (not great spec but it doesn't need to be), and it works flawlessly!

 

Those Canon LiDE scanners have three front buttons that can be configured in CanoScan to do different things. I've stuck little sticky embossed labels on ours and set them up for "scan", "photcopy" (i.e. scan and then print to the printer next to it) and "high-res scan".

 

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David Hicks

[dgsmith]

Those Canon LiDE scanners have three front buttons that can be configured in CanoScan to do different things.

 

Yup, that is the same as we have here, a Canon LiDE 20 with 3 front-panel configurable buttons. However, I changed our "scan" option to "save" due to what I thought would be an issue described above.

 

I don't think i'll implement the "photocopy" option, as it seems it could be prone to abuse and you wouldn't know who printed what off (as we use papercut to log each print made normally). None the less, for your average scanning, I can see this working a treat!

[leco]

Those Canon LiDE scanners have three front buttons that can be configured in CanoScan to do different things. I've stuck little sticky embossed labels on ours and set them up for "scan", "photcopy" (i.e. scan and then print to the printer next to it) and "high-res scan".

--

David Hicks

 

Many thanks for this and previous info, I intend to implement tomorrow when I'm back at work.