Image Scan! for Linux
=====================
Copyright (C) 2010, 2012 SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
ABSTRACT
--------
Image Scan! is a graphical scanner utility for people that do not
need all the bells and whistles provided by several of the other
utilities out there (xsane, QuiteInsane, Kooka).
At the moment it only supports SEIKO EPSON devices. However, the
device driver it provides can be used by any other SANE standard
compliant scanner utility.
Note that several scanners require a non-free plugin before they
can be used with this software. Using a scanner directly through
a network interface also requires a non-free plugin.
LICENSING
---------
This software is primarily covered by the terms of the GNU General
Public License (version 2 or later) with exceptions that allow for
the use of several non-free plugins.
The graphical user interface, iscan, carries an exception to allow
linking with the non-free 'esmod' library. Copies of that library
are included in the 'non-free/' directory and covered by the terms
of the AVASYS Public License.
The device driver (backend) carries a similar exception to provide
for the use of plugins. Such plugins are packaged and distributed
independently from this software and are only required for certain
models and/or hardware options.
A verbatim copy of the GNU General Public License can be found in
the file 'COPYING'. A verbatim copy of the AVASYS Public License
can be found in the file 'non-free/AVASYSPL.en.txt'.
NEWS
====
For the latest user visible changes, please refer to the 'NEWS' file.
INSTALLATION
============
REQUIREMENTS
------------
The device information files provided by iscan-data must be installed
prior to the installion of Image Scan! for Linux. These files are
necessary for Image Scan! for Linux to function properly and may be
downloaded via:
http://download.ebz.epson.net/dsc/search/01/search/?OSC=LX
BINARY PACKAGES
---------------
For help on installation of Debian and RPM binary packages refer to
your distribution's documentation. In most graphical environments
just double clicking does the right thing. If that does not work
for you, you can always install from a command line with the least
common denominator tools as follows:
For Debian packages:
# dpkg --install iscan_$version-$release_$architecture.deb
For RPM packages:
# rpm --upgrade iscan-$version-$release.$architecture.rpm
Both commands require root user privileges and assume that package
dependencies have been taken care of already.
BUILDING/INSTALLING FROM SOURCE
-------------------------------
Generic installation notes can be found in the 'INSTALL' file. See
the `./configure --help` output for details on additional options.
When using the `--prefix` option with configure, make sure you do
the same when configuring `iscan-data`, otherwise the device
information files necessary for the proper functioning of the
software will not be found.
After you have installed the software, you may need to arrange for
your device to be recognised automatically by the operating system
and give read/write permissions to the appropriate users. Details
on how to do this may be found in the SANE documentation:
http://sane.alioth.debian.org/docs.html
The binary packages take care of this during their installation as
much as possible.
Users of Debian or RPM based Linux distributions can easily build
their own binary packages (if no binaries are available for their
distribution already). For Debian based distributions, all you
have to do is:
$ tar xzf iscan_$version-$release.tar.gz
$ cd iscan-$version
$ dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot
Alternatively, you should be able to use any other Debian package
building utility. There are just too many to document ;-)
For RPM packages, you would just:
$ rpmbuild -tb iscan_$version-$release.tar.gz
The above assumes that you have the privileges needed to build RPMs
or configured things to build in a user writable location.
NON-FREE PLUGINS
================
Non-free plugins that add support for certain models and/or hardware
options can be downloaded via:
http://download.ebz.epson.net/dsc/search/01/search/?OSC=LX
Plugins required and/or available for your device are listed on the
download page for the device. Please be sure to download a version
that matches your system.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
===================
We recommend using one of the major Linux distributions with a Linux
kernel version of 2.6.3 or later (you can check with `uname -r`) as
that is what we normally test with.
However, the software should still work with kernel versions as far
back as 2.4.8. If you happen to use a pre-2.6.3 kernel version you
may want to take a look at the info in the 'KNOWN-PROBLEMS' file.
When scanning large originals and/or at large resolutions, the image
files can get pretty big, in the order of tens (or even hundreds) of
megabytes for each scan. You need enough free disk space to store
such large images. Also note that scanning to printer roughly needs
twice the disk space needed for the image in order to succeed.
The software has been designed so that it does not need to keep the
whole image in memory. As a result, 'iscan' can be used on systems
with relatively little memory.
OPERATION
=========
The software can always be started with the 'iscan' command from the
command line or your desktop's "command runner" utility.
You may also find it in your desktop menu in the "Graphics" section.
PRINTING
--------
Scanning "directly" to a printer, by default, sends the image data
to your system's default printer using the 'lpr' command. You can
modify the command used to print via the "Configuration" button.
GIMP PLUG-IN
------------
The software can also be used as a GIMP plug-in to acquire images
directly from the GIMP. After installation of a binary package,
the plug-in is (normally) automatically registered and available
from the "File" -> "Acquire" or the "File" -> "Create" menu.
The exact menu entries may depend on your language settings and
GIMP version.
OTHER SANE FRONTENDS
--------------------
If you prefer using another SANE frontend, you can use the device
driver included with this software by selecting a device with the
"epkowa:" substring in its device name.
NETWORK SCANNING
----------------
Scanning directly via a device's network interface is supported
with the help of the non-free 'iscan-network-nt' package. Once this
package has been installed you need to tell the 'epkowa' backend
what network devices it should try to access. The details of how
you do this can be found in the 'epkowa.conf' file.
This file is included in the sources and typically installed as
'/etc/sane.d/epkowa.conf'.
Notes:
1. 'iscan' does not support setting the IP address of the device
itself. Please consult the device manual for instructions on
how to do this.
2. The download site only lists the iscan-network-nt module for the
devices that are known to work with it.
3. For network scanning via a server connected device please see
the user manual.
-- AVASYS CORPORATION <http://avasys.jp/>