VueScan Newsletter - September 2018
Hello!
Whether you are a new customer or one of our many long-term customers we would like to welcome you to our newsletter. We try and make this as practical and useful as possible, so we always include information about our latest updates, and a Q&A section where we answer some of the most common questions we receive. This month we also have the fourth article about scanning photos from Cathi Nelson and a YouTube video for scanning film with VueScan and Epson Scan.
As always, thank you for all your replies and suggestions. They are incredibly useful to us, and assist us greatly with product development, as well as the subjects you would like us to cover in this newsletter.
I look forward to receiving all your feedback and suggestions, If I take a while to reply it is due to the sheer volume that I receive but I will get back to you!
Thank you
VueScan Updates
Since the last newsletter, we’ve released VueScan 9.6.14 and 9.6.15
What's new in version 9.6.15
- Added support for new Canon scanners
- G2010 series
- G3010 series
- G4010 series
- XK50
- XK70
- Fixed an assortment of small problems
What's new in version 9.6.14
- Added support for user-specified watermarks
- Use 'Output | Watermark 1' and 'Output | Watermark 2'
- Set 'Input | Options' to 'Professional' to use this
- Fixed problem on some high-resolution Windows displays
- Fixed problem with some WIA scanners on Windows
To read the release notes for all previous versions, go to: https://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/vuescan.htm#changes
Remember - we announce all our releases on Facebook – make sure you have ‘Liked’ us and ‘Share’ our post to all your friends and family.
https://www.facebook.com/VueScan/
Frequently Asked Questions
Q) I sometimes get a duplicate of the last page of a PDF file. Why is this?
A) If you use the ‘Scan’ button to scan a page, don’t also press the ‘Save’ button.
Press the 'Scan' button to scan to a new PDF file, press the "Scan+" button to add a page to the same file and press the 'View' button to see the PDF file.
Alternatively, with a flatbed, press the 'Preview' button, adjust 'Input | Media' and possibly crop the page, then press the 'Save' button to scan to a new PDF file, press the "Save+" button to add a page to the same file and press the 'View' button to see the PDF file.
Q) Mac OS X 10.12 is warning me that the x32 version of VueScan is “not optimized for your Mac”. Why is this?
A) Apple has announced that they won’t fully support 32-bit programs after Mac OS X 10.13. We’ve had a 64-bit version of VueScan (the x64 version) since 2010 – more than 8 years ago. The x32 version of VueScan is only needed with some HP and Canon scanners that use plugin libraries that are 32-bit libraries. Notably, this includes the CanoScan 9950F, which unfortunately won’t work with VueScan after Mac OS X 10.13.
Q) My Canon MFP (printer/scanner/copier) sometimes hangs. What should I do?
A) Some Canon MFPs have a firmware bug that causes them to hang, and turning them off and back on doesn’t clear this hang. You need to actually unplug the power cord, wait a little while, then plug it back in. This will recover from this fault.
Q) “I am using VueScan with a Nikon CoolScan 4000 and stack loader.
When a slide fails to load, the software does not recognize the there is no slide, and produces a blank file. Is it possible to detect the absence of a slide?”
A) Make sure you have "Input | Auto focus" set to "Preview".
VueScan uses a failed auto-focus to detect when there's no slide.
(Note that this is the default setting also.)
Q) When I scan an item, even though it shows a reasonable size – for example 739 kb – when I try to print it, it comes out as a microscopic image; also, none of Paint Shop pro controls want to work on the image.
For example, when I go to use the clone tool, it produces a weird circle filled with lines
If I attach the image, it will reproduce properly, but if I try to insert it into an email, for example, it again shows up as a microscopic dot!
A) Use "Output | Printed size" to control what size an image is printed at.
B) Use "Input | Scan resolution" to control the amount of detail in the scan.
Q) Please help me! VERY frequently, when I push the button to get a preview or scan, the scanner will start chugging away and VueScan will show in the lower right corner that it is going through a “setup calibration”, and then work its way up from 0% all the way up to 100% and then stop. If I push any other button next, it just does that again.
A) If you have USB 3.0 ports, try a USB hub that has USB 2.0 ports. Sometimes this is needed with older scanners.
You might also try a newer (and preferably shorter) USB cable.
Many of the USB cables that were supplied with older scanners don't work well with the faster, new computers that are made today. We receive 5 to 10 e-mails every day from people reporting similar problems, and it's surprisingly common that using a newer (and sometimes also shorter) USB cable solves this kind of problem.
USB cables can also be subtly damaged by being bent or crimped.
Also, USB ports sometimes are problematic, especially with older scanners. You might try a different USB port.
Newsletter Subscriptions
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To access all previous newsletters: https://www.hamrick.com/about-vuescan.html#newsletter
Save your Photos!
September is called, Save Your Photos Month and to celebrate, the Association of Personal Photo Organizers has created a free on-line learning summit that provides an abundance of photo organizing strategies, tips, and resources through videos, downloadable handouts, short e-books and PDF lessons.
Each week, throughout the month, new information is released so you can move along at your own pace and you'll have lifetime access to this material, long after Save Your Photos Month is over.
VueScan is a proud sponsor, and you can register here; Save Your Photos Summit .
If you’ve enjoyed the information that has been shared in this and previous newsletters, then you’ll love the in-depth training on the summit.
All about Scanning Photos!
Cathi Nelson is the author of Photo Organizing Made Easy; Going from Overwhelmed to Overjoyed as well as the founder of the Association of Personal Photo Organizers.
In this month’s newsletter, we are going to take a look at what the photo organizers recommend as the best practices when naming your scanned photo collection.
Naming Your Digital Files
A lot of the time we think that the only important task is scanning our printed photo collection, but an equally critical task is naming your photos so you can find them in the future and backup all your hard work. That’s why this month I am going to talk about Proper Naming and Archiving Scanned Photos.
STEP 1 CREATE YOUR DIGITAL PHOTO HUB (DPH)
Your first step is to create a digital photo hub to store every photo you scan. Your 'hub' is the 'primary location' for your entire memory collection. And will be a master folder on your computer hard drive or an external hard drive. When you have one central hub to store images; you’ll streamline your ability to manage them and reduce your risk of losing them. One hub makes it easy to back up your memory collection, and you will simplify your workflow significantly.
STEP 2: CREATE A FOLDER STRUCTURE
I recommend a folder structure that is scalable and easy to understand. For example, a dated folder structure is predictable and easy to maintain if you know the dates. If you don’t know the dates, then themed folders work well. Use a numerical file, that begins with a year and includes a name for your folders, the number will allow your computer to sort your folders in date order. Here is an example of a scalable folder structure that incorporates both:
Smith Family Photos
>1980s
>Celebrations
>School
>Vacations
>2008
>01 January
>02 February
Avoid overcomplicating this process with too many folders. Folders are for storing your photos rather than organizing them. One more step before you start scanning your images. Let's get a backup in place. Yes, that's right. Let's back up the chaos!
STEP 3: BACKUP
We recommend an automatic backup to your external drive, and you want this in place before you begin scanning photos.
STEP 4 NAMING YOUR PHOTOS
Your scanning software will add a date for you but remembers this is the date you scanned the photo, not the actual date. It’s important to put the year first and not at the end. The advantage of placing the year first is that no matter how many files you throw into a folder, you are guaranteed to be able to sort every single image chronologically. For example, if you are scanning Christmas photos from the 1950’s but don’t know the exact year, you can create folder called, 1950 – 12 for December. Inside that folder; you can create themed or event folders, such as Christmas Eve to break it down further if you want, depending on your volume of photos.
Overall the most important decision you’ll make is consistency. Caroline Gunter, professional photo organizer, has additional tips for naming the photos you don’t know a lot about and shares her best practices, in her blog, Photo Organizing for the Future.
Do let’s summarize your workflow:
1. Move a group of images into your 'to organize' folder in your DPH.
2. Eliminate any photos you don't intend to keep.
3. Create a folder that represents this group of images, and give your folder a name beginning with a numeric sequence that identifies the date.
4. Create a subset of folders within that folder, to represent events or themes within that folder.
5. Rename your image files with the numeric date followed by where what, or who details.
In next months’ newsletter, I will share creative and fun ways to share all your photos once they have been scanned.
Customer Corner
This month – something a bit different. We know of a lot of people who have a lot of expertise with scanning and using VueScan. We will do our best to focus on different areas / manufacturers, but this month if you are an Epson user and scan film this might be of interest to you. (Please email and let us know any topics you want us to cover in future newsletters.)
Kyle McDougall is a contemporary landscape photographer from Ontario, Canada. He is an advocate of film and creates his images using a wide range of formats—from 35mm to 4x5 large format.
With a desire to help others learn more about the medium, at the start of 2018 Kyle created Analogue—a YouTube channel that focuses on both the craft and technique of film photography. His goal is to provide a resource for enthusiasts of all skill levels that both educates and entertains.
Scanning Film with VueScan + Epson Scan Comparison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evpjz3s1UPE
Customer Comment
Always love hearing from our customers - Thanks Bill!
Hi Beverley,
I've been meaning to drop a note for quite a while; your newsletter finally got me to respond!
I bought VueScan several years ago, because of recommendations on the web, and also after Window XP was having problems with the Nikon application for the Nikon Super CoolScan 4000 which my wife had given me for a birthday present a few years previous.
Recently I have put VueScan to quite a task as I have made well over 1,000 top-end scans since the first of the year.
VueScan has operated so flawlessly and produced such a perfect conversion; I just dread the day my aging Win 7 machine gives up the ghost; everything is going so well.
So, I just wanted to say thank you for a wonderful application.
Bill, New Mexico, USA.