DynaRithmic TwainSave
TwainSave is a Windows command-line scanning utility that allows you to acquire images from any TWAIN compatible device, and save the images to a variety of image formats. TwainSave comes in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions to support both 32-bit and 64-bit TWAIN drivers.
The supported file formats that TwainSave is capable of saving images are as follows:
- BMP
- BMP with Run Length Encoding
- JPEG
- JPEG-2000
- TIFF (Group3, Group4, JPEG, LZW, Packbits, Flate, Uncompressed)
- GIF
- PCX
- PNG
- Targa
- Targa with Run Length Encoding
- Windows meta file (WMF)
- Enhanced Windows meta file (EMF),
- Adobe Photoshop (PSD)
- Adobe Acrobat (PDF)
- Postscript Level 1 and Level 2
- Wireless Bitmap (WBMP) format
- Windows ICON (ICO) format
- Google WEBP format
Also available are multipage TIFF, PCX, PDF, and PostScript files. When producing Acrobat PDF files, TwainSave has various options including setting the producer, keywords, encryption, and other useful PDF options.
Also, TwainSave contains many options to acquire images:
- Use the flatbed or automatic document feeder.
- Specify color and bit-depth of the images acquired.
- Job and batch control for TWAIN devices that support job control.
- Acquire images with or without the device user interface (fully TWAIN compliant devices only).
- Optional logging features for diagnostic purposes.
and many more options.
Since TwainSave is a command-line utility, end-users as well as programmers can easily utilize TwainSave in their programs to initiate TWAIN image retrieval. If the programmer desires even more control of TWAIN image retrieval, it is highly recommended that the DynaRithmic TWAIN Library be used for more programmatic control of the Twain devices.
For example, to initiate a file transfer from the TWAIN device to a BMP file, it is as simple as stating this on the Windows command-line:
twainsave --filename test.bmp
For 64-bit TWAIN devices, the command would be as follows (please note that you can only run the 64-bit version of TwainSave on a 64-bit Windows operating system such as Windows 7/64, Vista/64, XP/64, and any 64-bit Windows Server OS, 2003 and above):
twainsave64 --filename test.bmp
This simple command
- Displays the TWAIN "Select Source" dialog box, allowing you to select the TWAIN scanner, digital camera, etc. you would like to communicate with
- Once the TWAIN device has been selected, the device's user interface will appear, allowing you to start the device that was selected so as to retrieve the images (for example, if the device is a scanner, the scanner will start to scan a page).
- Once the image has been retrieved, it is saved to a file called "test.bmp".
- TwainSave then automatically shuts down (there is also an option to keep TwainSave running after pages have been retrieved)
Please note:
TwainSave will work the best on devices that adhere to the TWAIN compliancy specifications. This includes both manufacturer drivers and operating system environments.
Why choose TwainSave over other command-line scanning utilities?
- No cost.
TwainSave is completely open source (Apache 2.0 license).
- Flexibility.
With the many command-line options that exist for TwainSave, you can tailor your requirements much more easily than many other TWAIN scanning utilities.
- TwainSave uses the DynaRithmic TWAIN Library (DTWAIN) as a foundation.
TwainSave uses our DTWAIN library as its basis. DTWAIN has been developed and enhanced for 12 years, giving TwainSave a rock-steady, solid foundation.
- We will guarantee that TwainSave works for all properly functioning TWAIN devices and drivers.
There are competing console driven command-line products, utilities, and even free code "snippets" showing command-line TWAIN access. However, these products/utilities can fail to acquire images and in some cases, not even initiate acquiring images from a perfectly functioning TWAIN device. The reason for this is that the TWAIN protocol is designed for GUI (Graphical User Interface) applications that communicate with TWAIN devices, not console/command-line driven applications that have no GUI, main window, dialog boxes, etc.
On the other hand, TwainSave, even though it is a console application, correctly uses the TWAIN protocol to access all functioning TWAIN devices and drivers correctly. A TWAIN device that works correctly in a GUI application can be used with no issues with TwainSave.