sane - Scanner Access Now Easy: API for accessing scanners
SANE is an application programming interface (API) that provides standardized
access to any raster image scanner hardware. The standardized
interface makes it possible to write just one driver for each scanner
device instead of one driver for each scanner and application.
While SANE is primarily targeted at a UNIX environment, the standard
has been carefully designed to make it possible to implement the API on
virtually any hardware or operating system.
This manual page provides a summary of the information available about
SANE.
An application that uses the SANE interface is called a SANE frontend.
A driver that implements the SANE interface is called a SANE backend.
A meta backend provides some means to manage one or more other backends.
SANE STANDARD AND WRITING BACKENDS [Toc] [Back] The SANE standard defines the application programming interface (API)
that is used to communicate between frontends and backends. It can be
found at /usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/sane.ps (if latex is installed on your
system) and on the SANE website: http://www.mostang.com/sane/html/
(HTML), or http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane.ps (Postscript).
There is some more information for programmers in
/usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/backend-writing.txt. Some of the internal SANE routines
(sanei) are documented using doxygen: http://sanei.meier-
geinitz.de/ . Before a new backend or frontend project is started, have
a look at /usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/PROJECTS for projects that are planned or
not yet included into the SANE distribution.
Your help is always appreciated. Look at /usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/TODO for
things that should be done. Not only programmers are needed, but also
reading and fixing the documentation and reporting bugs would be nice.
Further more, translations of the backend options are needed. Contact
the SANE mailing list for details.
The package `sane-backends' contains a lot of backends, documentation
(including the SANE standard), networking support, and the command line
frontend `scanimage'. The frontends `xscanimage', `xcam', and
`scanadf' are included in the package `sane-frontends'. Both packages
can be downloaded from the SANE homepage
(http://www.mostang.com/sane/). Information about other frontends and
backends can be found on the frontend page
(http://www.mostang.com/sane/frontends.html).
The following sections provide short descriptions and links to more
information about several aspects of SANE. A name with a number in
parenthesis (e.g. `sane-dll(5)') points to a manual page, in this case
`man 5 sane-dll'. Entries like `/usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/sane.tex' are references
to text files that were copied to the SANE documentation directory
(/usr/doc/sane-1.0.7) during installation. Everything else is an
URL to a resource on the web.
SANE homepage [Toc] [Back]
Information on all aspects of SANE including a tutorial and a link to
the SANE FAQ can be found on the SANE homepage:
http://www.mostang.com/sane/.
SANE mailing list [Toc] [Back]
There is a mailing list for the purpose of discussing the SANE standard
and its implementations: sane-devel. Since this is currently
the only mailing list devoted to SANE, it's perfectly OK to ask questions
that are not strictly related to SANE development. How to subscribe
and unsubscribe: http://www.mostang.com/sane/mail.html
Compiling and installing SANE [Toc] [Back]
Look at /usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/README and the os-dependent README files
for information about compiling and installing SANE.
SCSI configuration [Toc] [Back]
For information about various systems and SCSI controllers see sanescsi(5). USB configuration For information about USB configuration
see sane-usb(5).
FRONTENDS AND MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAMS [Toc] [Back] scanimage
Command-line frontend. See scanimage(1).
saned
SANE network daemon that allows remote clients to access image acquisition
devices available on the local host. See saned(1).
sane-find-scanner
sane-find-scanner is a command-line tool to find SCSI and some USB
scanners and determine their Unix device files. See sane-find-scanner(1).
Also, have a look at the sane-frontends package (including xscanimage,
xcam, and scanadf) and the frontend information page at
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-frontends.html.
BACKENDS FOR SCANNERS [Toc] [Back] abaton
The SANE backend for Abaton flatbed scanners supports the Scan 300/GS
(8bit, 256 levels of gray) and the Scan 300/S (black and white,
untested). See sane-abaton(5) for details.
agfafocus
This backend supports AGFA Focus scanners and the Siemens S9036
(untested). See sane-agfafocus(5) for details.
apple
The SANE backend for Apple flatbed scanners supports the following
scanners: AppleScanner, OneScanner and ColorOneScanner. See saneapple(5) for details.
artec
The SANE Artec backend supports several Artex/Ultima SCSI flatbed
scanners as well as the BlackWidow BW4800SP and the Plustek 19200S.
See sane-artec(5) for details.
as6e
This is a SANE backend for using the Artec AS6E parallel port interface
scanner. See sane-as6e(5) for details.
avision
This backend supports Avision AV 630 CS flatbed scanners. See saneavision(5) for details.
bh
The bh backend provides access to Bell+Howell Copiscan II series document
scanners. See sane-bh(5) for details.
canon
The canon backend supports the CanoScan 300, CanoScan 600, and
CanoScan 2700F SCSI flatbed scanners. See sane-canon(5) for details.
coolscan
This is a SANE backend for Nikon Coolscan film-scanners. See sanecoolscan(5) for details.
epson
The SANE epson backend provides support for Epson SCSI, parallel port
and USB flatbed scanners. See sane-epson(5) for details.
hp
The SANE hp backend provides access to HP ScanJet scanners and
OfficeJet multi-function peripherals (MFPs) which support SCL (Scanner
Control Language by HP). See sane-hp(5) for details.
m3096g
This backend supports the Fujitsu M3096Gm flatbed scanner. See sanefujitsu(5) for details.
microtek
The microtek backend provides access to the "second generation"
Microtek scanners with SCSI-1 command set. See sane-microtek(5) for
details.
microtek2
The microtek2 backend provides access to some Microtek scanners with
a SCSI-2 command set. See sane-microtek2(5) for details.
mustek
The SANE mustek backend supports most Mustek SCSI flatbed scanners
including the Paragon and ScanExpress series and the 600 II N (nonSCSI).
Some Trust scanners are also supported. See sane-mustek(5) for
details.
mustek_pp
The mustek_pp backend provides access to Mustek parallel port flatbed
scanners. See sane-mustek_pp(5) for details.
mustek_usb
The mustek_usb backend provides access to some Mustek USB flatbed
scanners. See sane-mustek_usb(5) for details.
nec
The SANE nec backend supports the NEC PC-IN500/4C SCSI scanner. See
sane-nec(5) for details.
pie
The pie backend provides access to PIE and Devcom SCSI flatbed scanners.
See sane-pie(5) for details.
plustek
The SANE plustek backend supports Plustek parallel port scanners. See
sane-plustek(5) for details.
ricoh
The ricoh backend provides access to the following Ricoh flatbed
scanners: IS50 and IS60. See sane-ricoh(5) for details.
s9036
The s9036 backend provides access to Siemens 9036 flatbed scanners.
See sane-s9036(5) for details.
sharp
The SANE sharp backend supports Sharp SCSI scanners. See sanesharp(5) for details.
sm3600
The SANE sm3600 backend supports the Microtek ScanMaker 3600 USB
scanner. See sane-sm3600(5) for details.
snapscan
The snapscan backend supports AGFA SnapScan flatbed scanners. See
sane-snapscan(5) for details.
sp15c
This backend supports the FCPA ScanPartner 15C flatbed scanner. See
sane-fujitsu(5) for details.
st400
The sane-st400 backend provides access to Siemens ST400 and ST800.
See sane-st400(5) for details.
tamarack
The SANE tamarack backend supports Tamarack Artiscan flatbed scanners.
See sane-tamarack(5) for details.
umax
The sane-umax backend provides access to several UMAX-SCSI-scanners
and some Linotype Hell SCSI-scanners. See sane-umax(5) for details.
umax_pp
The sane-umax_pp backend provides access to Umax parallel port
flatbed scanners and the HP 3200C. See sane-umax_pp(5) for details.
umax1200u
The sane-umax1220u backend supports the UMAX Astra 1220U (USB)
flatbed scanner (and also the UMAX Astra 2000U, sort of). See saneumax1220u(5) for details.
Also, have a look at the backend information page at
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-backends.html and the list of projects
in /usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/PROJECTS.
BACKENDS FOR DIGITAL CAMERAS [Toc] [Back] sane-dc210
Backend for Kodak DC210 Digital Camera. See sane-dc210(5).
sane-dc240
Backend for Kodak DC240 Digital Camera. See sane-dc240(5).
sane-dc25
Backend for Kodak DC20/DC25 Digital Cameras. See sane-dc25(5).
sane-dmc
Backend for the Polaroid Digital Microscope Camera. See sane-dmc(5).
sane-gphoto2
Backend for digital cameras supported by the gphoto2 library package.
(See http://www.gphoto.org for more information and a list of supported
cameras.) Gphoto2 supports over 140 different camera models.
However, please note that more development and testing is needed
before all of these cameras will be supported by SANE backend. See
sane-gphoto2(5).
sane-qcam
Backend for Connectix QuickCam cameras. See sane-qcam(5).
Also, have a look at the backend information page at
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-backends.html and the list of projects
in /usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/PROJECTS.
MISCELLANEOUS BACKENDS [Toc] [Back] sane-dll
The sane-dll library implements a SANE backend that provides access
to an arbitrary number of other SANE backends by dynamic loading. See
sane-dll(5).
sane-net
The SANE network daemon saned provides access to scanners located on
different computers in connection with the net backend. See sanenet(5) and saned(1).
sane-pnm
PNM image reader pseudo-backend. The purpose of this backend is primarily
to aid in debugging of SANE frontends. See sane-pnm(5).
sane-pint
Backend for scanners that use the PINT (Pint Is Not Twain) device
driver. The PINT driver is being actively developed on the OpenBSD
platform, and has been ported to a few other *nix-like operating systems.
See sane-pint(5),
sane-v4l
The sane-v4l library implements a SANE backend that provides generic
access to video cameras and similar equipment using the V4L (Video
for Linux) API. See sane-v4l(5).
Also, have a look at the backend information page at
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-backends.html and the list of projects
in /usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/PROJECTS.
Please note that the default configuration uses sane-dll as the toplevel
backend. Hence it is probably a good idea to start with reading
sane-dll(5). The top-level backend is determined by the libsane.* symlinks
in /usr/lib/sane.
For SCSI scanners reading of sane-scsi(5) is recommended. For USB scanners,
sane-usb(5) may help.
If you encounter any problems with getting your device(s) recognized,
try setting the various environment variables that are available to
assist in debugging such problems. The environment variables are documented
in the relevant manual pages. For example, to get the maximum
amount of debug information when testing a Mustek SCSI scanner, set
environment variables SANE_DEBUG_DLL, SANE_DEBUG_MUSTEK, and
SANE_DEBUG_SANEI_SCSI to 128 and then invoke scanimage or whatever program
you're trying to debug. For a Mustek scanner at /dev/scanner, you
might want to invoke scanimage as follows:
scanimage -d mustek:/dev/scanner -h
If this works, you could try to acquire an image with:
scanimage -d mustek:/dev/scanner >t.pnm
If you are not sure what generic SCSI or USB device your scanner is
connected to, try the command sane-find-scanner. Usually, It's sufficient
to invoke the program without any arguments. Invoking this command
should produce output similar to this:
$ sane-find-scanner
sane-find-scanner: found "MUSTEK MFC-06000CZ 1.01" at device
/dev/scanner
sane-find-scanner: found "MUSTEK MFC-06000CZ 1.01" at device
/dev/sge
Note that sane-find-scanner will find any scanner that is connected to
a SCSI bus. It will even find scanners that are not supported at all
by SANE.
There may be several causes for the following messages from the frontends:
"scanimage: no SANE devices found" or "xscanimage: no devices
available.".
* Your scanner is not recognized by any backend. It is not supported.
You may ask the maintainer of your backend (see
/usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/AUTHORS) or the SANE mailing list (see above) if
support is planned.
* SANE can't access the device files (e.g /dev/sga). Check the permissions.
* Your backend is not listed in /etc/sane.d/dll.conf (or commented
out).
* There are older installations of SANE on your system. If you
installed the SANE libraries in /usr/local/lib (default) you should
check if there are older SANE libraries at /usr/lib. Remove them (rm
-r /usr/lib/libsane* /usr/lib/sane).
* If you can use SANE with scanimage but not with other (graphical)
frontends, check that /etc/ld.so.conf contains /usr/local/lib and
does not contain /usr/local/lib/sane. See also the documentation of
the frontends.
If you think you found a bug in a backend, contact the author of your
backend. Usually the email address can be found in the
/usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/AUTHORS file. If he isn't marked as `active maintainer'
you can also contact the SANE mailing list sane-devel (see
http://www.mostang.com/sane/mail.html for details). You must be subscribed
to the list, otherwise your mail won't be sent to the subscribers.
If you want to report bugs concerning compilation, installation, porting,
and documentation of SANE, you can also contact the author of this
manual page: <[email protected]>.
David Mosberger-Tang and many many more (see
/usr/doc/sane-1.0.7/AUTHORS for details). This man page was written by
Henning Meier-Geinitz. Quite a lot of text was taken from the SANE
standard, several man pages, and README files.
24 Jan 2002 sane(7)
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