VueScan Newsletter - March 2022

Welcome!

This is our first newsletter of 2022 and you may have noticed that we have been very busy as we continue to improve on our recently added feature – PDF thumbnails. Further details follow on below so please continue to read!

We say this regularly (We know!) But please continue to contact us with your product suggestions and comments. These are invaluable to us, as much of our development work is based on your input.

And if you do use Facebook please continue to add reviews for us. As a small company it really helps us – so, once again, thank you. (And thank you for telling your friends and colleagues about us.)

Remember you can contact us for technical support (we need a Problem Report) and any general enquiries, suggestions or feedback here

Stay safe and we look forward to hearing from you.

Beverley.

Please remember: If you have changed your email address, PLEASE do not email us!

Remember! You do not have to tell us about an email address change for your use of VueScan, it is only relevant for the newsletter.

You can subscribe to the newsletter with your new email address here

You can unsubscribe the old email address here

You can contact us with questions or for technical support here

Thank you and happy reading!

VueScan Updates

Since the last newsletter, we’ve released VueScan 9.7.79, 9.7.78, 9.7.77, 9.7.76, 9.7.75, 9.7.74, 9.7.73, 9.7.72, 9.7.71, 9.7.70, 9.7.69 and 9.7.68.

You can access all version changes here

What’s new in version 9.7.79

Fixed problem with occasional VueScan crashes
Eliminated flickering when scrolling thumbnails
Fixed small problems with thumbnails
Fixed problem with long file names

What’s new in version 9.7.78

Added to right-click menu popup on thumbnails
Rotate Right, Rotate Left, Flip and Delete have three options
- ‘This page’ acts on the page selected with a right-click
- ‘Selected pages’ acts on all selected pages
- ‘All pages’ acts on all pages
Reverse, Interleave, Separate and Swap even/odd act on all pages
Added multi-selection of thumbnails
- Multi-select using shift key and Up/Down/PageUp/PageDown/Home/End keys
- Multi-select using shift key and clicking with mouse
- Add to selection using control key (command key on Mac) and clicking with mouse
- Reset selection using Up/Down/PageUp/PageDown/Home/End keys
- Reset selection by clicking on a thumbnail
Fixed problem with drag/drop of thumbnails on Linux
Improved scrolling of thumbnails when dragging near top/bottom
Fixed problem finding some networked scanners (mDNS scanners)

What’s new in version 9.7.77

Added Quick View mode to display larger version of thumbnails
Added dock bar to options and thumbnail panels
Improved VueScan startup time
Improved Dark Mode support
Fixed numerous small problems

What’s new in version 9.7.76

Added a full-size popup of thumbnail pages when mouse is over a thumbnail
PDF files can be edited while scanning, useful for flipping or rotating pages
Tested with a 600 page, 50 MByte PDF file, similar to using Adobe Acrobat
Fixed a few problems with thumbnails

What’s new in version 9.7.75

More responsive user interface
Significantly faster scanning to PDF files
Significantly faster thumbnail display
Thumbnails refresh properly when window is resized

What’s new in version 9.7.74

Further increased speed of reading and writing JPEG files
Speeds up scanning with in-scanner JPEG compression
Fixed problem with creating some multi-page PDF files
Modified ‘Prefs | Disable scanners’ to add ‘Webcams’ option

What’s new in version 9.7.73

Increased speed of reading and writing JPEG files by up to six times
Uses the SIMD instructions in Intel, ARM and M1 processors
Also speeds up reading and writing of color PDF files
Works on Windows, Mac and Linux

What’s new in version 9.7.72

Added support for Plustek OpticFilm 8300i
Added tips for drag and right-click on thumbnails
Added tip when Plustek scanner detected without required plugin
Simplified Help menu

What’s new in version 9.7.71

Added support for 10 Epson scanners
- Epson DS-530 II
- Epson DS-770 II
- Epson ET-M16680
- Epson ET-16680
- Epson ET-2810
- Epson ET-2820
- Epson ET-2850
- Epson ET-3850
- Epson ET-4800
- Epson ET-4850
Fixed problem clicking ‘@’ button next to ‘Prefs | Viewer’ on Linux

What’s new in version 9.7.70

Fixed problem installing drivers on some Windows 10 and Windows 11 systems
Improved messages when vendor driver needed for plugin libraries
Added support for some kinds of WIA scanner drivers on Windows
Fixed problem installing Photoshop plugin
Removed PDF menu, right-click on thumbnails instead
Fixed problem with some right-click options on thumbnails
Fixed some small problems with thumbnails

What’s new in version 9.7.69

Rearranged order and visibility of buttons to make usage more intuitive
Moved ‘Email’ button to ‘File | Email file’ (Professional Edition)
Removed ‘Options+’ button (use ‘Input | Options’ instead)
Improved choice of default button in different modes
Improved display of spinning progress indicator
Added indication of when a file has been saved (green checkmark)
Fixed problem with auto length detection with some Fujitsu scanners
Improved scan speed with some older Fujitsu scanners

What’s new in version 9.7.68

Doesn’t ask for file name if ‘Scan+’ or ‘Save+’ button is pressed
Added support for Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1300
Added support for 14 HP LaserJet MFP scanners
- HP LaserJet MFP M182n
- HP LaserJet MFP M182nw
- HP LaserJet MFP M183fw
- HP LaserJet MFP M184n
- HP LaserJet MFP M184nw
- HP LaserJet MFP M185fw
- HP LaserJet MFP M282nw
- HP LaserJet MFP M283cdw
- HP LaserJet MFP M283fdn
- HP LaserJet MFP M283fdw
- HP LaserJet MFP M284nw
- HP LaserJet MFP M285cdw
- HP LaserJet MFP M285fdn
- HP LaserJet MFP M285fdw
Fixed problem with Canon MG6700 at resolution higher than 600 dpi
Fixed problem with Brother MFC-L2740DW
Fixed problem with Brother DCP-J1100DW
Fixed problem with Epson WF-C5790 with duplex scans

Frequently Asked Questions

Q) My scanner is a ScanSnap S1500 by Fujitsu. I can’t figure out how to simultaneously scan both sides of the paper. On the Fujitsu version (gone forever) there is a toggle for this. How about for VueScan? Otherwise VueScan is leagues ahead of Fujitsu.

A) Set “Input | Mode” to “Duplex feeder” to scan both sides.

Q) Hi Hamrick folks. I can’t remember how long I’ve used ViewScan, but it’s been a long time. I’ve been using an HP ScanJet G4050 for about 11 years.

Sorry if this has been asked and I missed it, But I am wondering whether you are able to provide information about Kodak’s Digital technology, which I believe will remove blemishes from slides, do color correction, etc. I am wondering whether there is anything new in this arena.

A) VueScan’s “Filter | Infrared clean” option works pretty well, as does the “Filter | Restore fading” option. Both work with Kodachrome and Ektachrome too. The “Filter | Restore color” option is a bit hit and miss – don’t use it unless the image really needs it.

Q) VueScan looks a bit blurry on some high-resolution displays. The buttons are a strange size and the scroll bar hides some buttons. How can I fix this?

A) We re-released VueScan 9.7.79 with a fix for this. It was a small bug with high-DPI support.

Q) VueScan crashes every time I use OCR in a different language than English. How can I solve this?

A) Try downloading the ocr_xx.bin file from www.hamrick.com/ocr.html - this file is sometimes corrupt when downloaded with some web browsers.

Q) VueScan is sometimes crashing. How can I fix this?

A) Download a fresh copy of VueScan 9.7.79. If this doesn’t solve the problem, delete vuescan.ini and run it again.

Q) The ‘Prefs | Dark mode’ option also affects other running Applications. How can I un-do this?

A) Yes, Microsoft’s dark mode usually only works on Apps from the Windows store. We’re working on making it work better in VueScan (which is a normal Win32 App), but this will take some time. Just un-check this option to un-do this option.

Further development work on PDF thumbnails

Many of you will have noticed that we have been working hard on updating this new feature.

The latest update scrolls the thumbnails much faster and uses variable-height thumbnails that match the aspect ratio of the page. There’s also no flashing on the screen when you resize the display or scroll.

This update also has a ‘Quick View’ feature. Just click on a thumbnail to make it bigger and click on it again to make it disappear. You can click on a thumbnail and use the arrow keys, PageUp/PageDown keys, Home and End keys.

We’ve worked hard to make this fast, even with 600 page PDF files.

Just one of the emails we have received about PDF thumbnails! Thank you for letting us know how much it helps you!

I do not have a problem. To the contrary I just wanted to thank you for version 9.7.64. This is a C change upgrade. The ability to work on multi page pdf documents within the Vuescan application will save me a lot of time and simplify my workflow significantly. As usual, the added feature is very elegant and easy to use. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Customer Corner

In the last newsletter one of our customers kindly sent his Slide Cleaning Tips. We heard from many of you and we thought this follow up may be helpful:

Cleaning Slides with Rubbing Alcohol

The isopropyl alcohol (Rubbing Alcohol) should be 99% pure if it us used to clean goop from slides. Drug store rubbing alcohol is typically 70% pure isopropyl alcohol, which means it contains 30% water.

Water should be avoided when cleaning slides - the reason- it is absorbed by the slide and the slide will swell in places, damp slide surface attract dust particles which glue themselves to the slide surfaces, and the water possibly causes other deformities. Don’t take the risk.

No isopropyl alcohol regularly available is 100% pure, because it starts absorbing moisture vapor as soon as the bottle is opened. 99% is about the purest that is readily available, if the container is closed every time it is not being used. After a while it will deteriorate to 94 to 96% or less if you are not very careful. I buy small bottles of 99% isopropyl alcohol by the case to ensure purity.

As with any chemical strong enough to clean film or slides, please test the suggested options, such as 99% isopropyl alcohol, on a slide that has no intrinsic value, such as an out-of-focus one, a picture of a non-subject, or the slide with the image of the processing tag which sometimes comes along with the rest of the slides.

Customer Comment

Please carry on sending us your scanning projects. We will try and include all of them – and we will certainly reply to all your emails. So please continue to send them all in!

Thank you to Bob in the USA for this email:

I forget which version of VueScan first offered the ability to make multipage pdfs. I’ve been using that feature occasionally for some time, but I didn’t realize how useful it would be to me until a recent project scanning a book of sheet music. My usual method in the past was to scan the individual pages and then compile them into a single pdf file using FineReader OCR software. I had digitized this book that way a number of years ago, but recently noted how fuzzy some of the features were so I decided to try rescanning it. This time I eliminated FineReader and just had VueScan make a multipage pdf for me. Not only was the music more crisp and clear, but the file size of the roughly 60 page book went from 11 Mb down to about 2 Mb. I’ll also add that having the ability to see thumbnails is very useful when you’re mindlessly scanning page after page and lose track of which page you just scanned.

And a big thank you to Marcus in Germany for sending this to us:

Dear Hamrick Team,

After installing WIN11 on my system (hp-Notebook from 2016, CPU Intel i5-6200U, GPU Radeon M330 2GB, RAM 16GB DDR3, Samsung SSD EVO850 w. 512 GB), I revised function of VueScan64 (actual version) on my scanners with the following results:

old Flatbed Scanner Epson Perfection 2450 Photo (via USB) : no problems, full functionality w. VueScan, no adaptions/software modifications required
old 35mm Film/Slide scanner Canon CanoScan FS-4000US : no problems, full functionality w. VueScan, no adaptions/software modifications required
new (2019) flatbed scanner integrated in Epson XP-6000 : experiencing hardware problems w. WIN11, scanner/printer not recognized by WIN11 on USB ports, after Firmware and Software updates from Epson normal function w. Epson software and no problems, full functionality with VueScan as well

Thus you made another step staying a really “green” company, saving many still well working hardware equipment from becoming obsolete and going into the trash bin due to lack of software updates from producers. This is a really important achievement in our buy-and-throw-away society, maintaining the functional value of originally good and productive hardware products.

I want to thank your team for this as I consider it very important for the ecological development of hardware use.

Warm Greetings from Germany,

Markus

http://www.sfc-betzdorf-kirchen.de