Connecting your scanner

VueScan supports more than 8,000 scanners from 42 manufacturers across USB, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet connections. This chapter covers how to get yours connected and recognized.

Quick start

1. Plug in or power on your scanner before launching VueScan. Network scanners must be on the same network as your computer.
2. Launch VueScan. It searches USB and the local network automatically.
3. If multiple scanners are connected, choose the one you want to use from Input | Source.

Setup tips by scanner type

VueScan works with four broad categories of scanners. The setup steps and the Input | Mode you’ll use depend on which you have.

Flatbed only

Single-function flatbeds (Epson Perfection V19, Canon LiDE 300, etc.). Open the lid, place the document face down on the glass, close the lid. There’s only one Mode — Flatbed — and VueScan picks it automatically.

Flatbed with document feeder (multi-function printer)

Most home and office MFPs (HP OfficeJet, Brother MFC, Canon Pixma, Epson WorkForce, etc.) combine a flatbed glass with an automatic document feeder (ADF) on top.

• Use the glass for single pages, photos, or originals that won’t survive a feeder (anything fragile, glossy, or already attached to something).
• Use the ADF for stacks of plain documents — the feeder pulls one page at a time.

Set Input | Mode to match where the original is:

• Flatbed when scanning from the glass
• ADF Front for one-sided ADF scanning
• ADF Duplex if your model supports two-sided scanning in one pass

If you load paper into the ADF but Mode is set to Flatbed, most MFPs will refuse to scan from the glass — clear the feeder first.

Film only (dedicated film scanner)

Dedicated film and slide scanners (Nikon CoolScan 5000/9000, Plustek OpticFilm series, Reflecta) only scan transparencies. There’s no flatbed glass.

• Load mounted slides into the slide adapter, or unmounted strips into the film holder.
• Insert the holder into the scanner. The scanner pulls it through during the scan.
• Mode is fixed at Transparency and isn’t worth thinking about.

The main thing that varies on these scanners is which film holder to use — most ship with separate frames for 35mm strips, mounted slides, and (on larger units) medium format. Use the one that matches your media.

Flatbed with film capability (combo scanner)

Flatbeds with a transparency unit built into the lid (Canon CanoScan 8800F, Epson Perfection V600 / V700 / V800 / V850, etc.) can do both reflective and film scanning, but film scanning needs a few extra steps.

1. Remove the document mat from inside the lid. Most combo flatbeds ship with a white plastic mat that covers the transparency lamp in the lid. Lift it out before scanning film, then put it back when you’re done — the lamp can’t shine through the mat, and you’ll get a black scan if you forget.
2. Use the right film holder. The scanner came with several plastic frames sized for 35mm strips, mounted slides, and (on larger units) medium format. Place the loaded frame on the glass in the position marked on the scanner.
3. Set Input | Mode to “Transparency.” Without this, VueScan tries to scan with the bottom lamp instead of the lid lamp and gets nothing useful.
4. Switch back to “Flatbed” when you’re ready to scan documents or prints again, and put the document mat back in the lid.

If your scanner isn’t found

The most common causes:

• The scanner was off when VueScan launched — switch it on, then choose Scanner | Find scanners from the menu.
• Network scanner on a different subnet or VLAN — VueScan finds network scanners by mDNS/Bonjour, which doesn’t cross subnets.
• macOS hasn’t granted scanner permissions — System Settings → Privacy & Security → Files and Folders.
• Driver-locked Windows scanner — some manufacturers require their own driver be installed even when using VueScan; install it first, then launch VueScan.

For the full list of supported devices, see Supported scanners.