Since 24.04 Ubuntu install in December, I’ve been looking for a scanner app sufficient for:
duplex (front/back) page scans on one pass
multi-page runs with ADF (auto-doc-feeder)
adjustable for crop / balance / color or profiles saved for such
outputs a variety of file types (.jpg, .png, .tif, .pdf, etc)
I’ve gathered that SANE (scanner access now easy) is a modern scanner feature
page sorting, OCR, and other post-processing a plus, but optional
I haven’t been able to locate anything from “a trusted source” or “highly rated”, and what I’ve tried or tested which wasn’t “highly rated” wouldn’t even initialize. So, I thought I’d seek the wisdom of this community.
I use scanners in my work nearly daily, and could really use to find a useful app for the purpose. While some manufacturers do offer Linux drivers, my lack of experience with the debian install process via the terminal has given me problems; fits actually. (or your suggestion for a good step-by-step education on installing debian packages might help).
It sounds to me as though xsane should be able to do much of what you’re looking for. I’ve used it in the past for multi-page scanning, though these were single-sided documents and thus I have no idea how it would manage a duplex setup.
xsane used to be the default scanner application but in recent releases has been replaced by simple-scanner. xsane is still in the repositories as a .deb and can be installed from there. I don’t know if there’s a snap version available; someone else may be able to chime in here.
snap search xsane
Name Version Publisher Notes Summary
iscan 2.30.4+data1.39.2+s77a8 brlin - Simple, easy to use scanner utility for EPSON scanners
And
skanlite 23.08.4 kde✓ - image scanner based on the KSane backend
$ apt search xsane
libsane1/oracular,now 1.3.0-1 amd64 [installed,automatic]
API library for scanners
sane/oracular 1.0.14-18 amd64
scanner graphical frontends
simple-scan/oracular 46.0-1 amd64
Simple Scanning Utility
xsane/oracular 0.999-12ubuntu4 amd64
featureful graphical frontend for SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy)
xsane-common/oracular,oracular 0.999-12ubuntu4 all
xsane architecture independent files
yagf/oracular 0.9.5+repack1-1build2 amd64
graphical interface for cuneiform and tesseract
That led me to this, since tesseract is the OCR part:
$ apt info yagf
Package: yagf
Version: 0.9.5+repack1-1build2
Priority: optional
Section: universe/graphics
Origin: Ubuntu
Maintainer: Ubuntu Developers <ubuntu-devel-discuss@lists.ubuntu.com>
Original-Maintainer: Boris Pek <tehnick@debian.org>
Bugs: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+filebug
Installed-Size: 1,226 kB
Depends: tesseract-ocr | cuneiform, libaspell15 (>= 0.60.8.1), libc6 (>= 2.34), libgcc-s1 (>= 3.3.1), libqt5core5t64 (>= 5.15.1), libqt5gui5t64 (>= 5.8.0) | libqt5gui5-gles (>= 5.8.0), libqt5widgets5t64 (>= 5.14.1), libstdc++6 (>= 5)
Recommends: xsane
Homepage: https://sourceforge.net/projects/yagf-ocr/
Download-Size: 484 kB
APT-Sources: http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu oracular/universe amd64 Packages
Description: graphical interface for cuneiform and tesseract
YAGF is a graphical interface for cuneiform and tesseract text recognition
tools on the Linux platform. With YAGF you can scan images via XSane, import
pages from PDF documents, perform images preprocessing and recognize texts
using cuneiform from a single command centre. YAGF also makes it easy to scan
and recognize several images sequentially.
XSane is listed in the Apps Center, available as what seems to be a deb package. Installed at [Install] button, started up without any issue.
I installed it and looked through the options, and Scan Source options (main window-drop down list) include among others duplex left aligned AND duplex center aligned options. It’s a bit daunting at first since it loads in four different windows.
I’ve got a flatbed scanner, a document scanner with ADF, and another ADF non-duplex on my color printer (which never gets used). I’ll run some tests as I have occassion to test and repost on XSane’s performance for the purpose intended.
I agree: xsane isn’t the easiest app to get your head around. But I’ve found it worth persisting with.
Let us know how you get on. If you need assistance with installing drivers, that’s a separate issue and probably someone else will need to help. My experience is only with an old HP multifunction inkjet (no drivers needed) and a Brother multifunction B/W laser printer, which did need scanner drivers installed. Anything else is probably above my pay grade.
I do appreciate the suggestion, however, my experience with XSane thus far has not been a positive one. It seems at first blush that XSane “has the tools”, I just can’t find them…
over an hour looking for controls and answers on multi-page pdf, to no avail.
what I can find on a “multipage project”, is unnecessarily complex with insufficient guidance
several attempts with this yields nothing usable
pdf images are output as separate files, no indication of how to knit together
there is a consistent border around the scans without any control to crop/preset
you need to pre-count pages, rather than scanner quitting at feeder empty
the online manual is obviously outdated, no longer matches menus and example images
XSane seems designed and geared for images with documents an afterthought
I often find that people who do such work, knowing where to find all the buttons and controls because they’ve designed it, can’t seem to shift into “what’s this look like to someone who has never seen it before” mode in order to offer a simple user interface to manipulate the most common procedures.
While I can knit pdf pages together with another app, this should be a simple and obvious option on the face of the XSane interface; that it isn’t I find rather remarkable.
So, while XSane may very well have the tools for the task at hand, finding them in this unorganized toolbox in which those tools are packaged is reason enough to keep looking.
Have you actually tried simple-scan? I’m not sure if it supports duplex since I don’t own a duplex scanner, but it will definitely automatically create a multi page PDF if you scan multiple pages in one session…
I’ll have a look at that one next on your recommendation. I’ve looked at descriptions for several, and forget all that I’ve considered. Thanks for the suggestion… I’ll have a look.
