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Re: How I scan, was Re: xsane can't see Brother ADS-2700W scanner



> Scanning the output to a server just seems plain obvious to me.
> What's the downside?

It has its advantages, indeed.  On the downsides:

- the scanner usually has a very limited UI, making it
  difficult/inconvenient (if at all possible) to control and select the
  scanning options, compared to the comfort of a large screen.

- scanning to a server implies allowing the scanner device write access
  to a server, which either implies the users authenticating themselves
  on the scanner itself (which is rather problematic and is compounded
  with the previous downside), or making the scan result land on an
  "anonymous" area where anyone can see what anyone else scans.

- It usually means you're stuck with the functionality that the
  manufacturer decided to include in the scanner's software stack,
  because it's always proprietary or "walled" (it may contain Free
  Software for all I know, but I can't access nor modify the code).

The option I favor is that the scan is controlled by your own computer,
but you can trigger new scans by hitting buttons on the scanner
(i.e. the button-presses get sent to your computer who then decides
what action to take in response to them), so that you can comfortably
setup the scan parameters on your computer and then you can comfortably
scan the various documents without having to go back to your computer
between them.

Sadly, I haven't figured out how to do that yet :-(


        Stefan


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