Compatible Scanners

Most scanners that support the Twain scanner standard will work fine with Advisors Assistant.

The web site http://eztwain.com/vendor-summary.htm has some recommendations about scanners if you are planning to acquire a new one.  We agree with this sites recommendations.  We have used both Epson and Fujitsu (both recommended by this site) and have been please with both of them.

   

We've also used Canon multi-function Printer/Fax/Scanners with good success.  However, the paper handling of the Cannon multi-function printers is not impressive.

We use the Epson Workforce S50 and S55 in our office and they are impressive.  The S55 is the newer, replacement to the S50.  The S80 and S85 look the same, but scan faster.  The S50 is under $400.  The S55 pricing is not announced, but should be about the same.

Epson Workforce Multi-function printer/scanners also work well.  We've tested on the Workforce 545 and 645.  We also use the 645 in our office.

The Fujitsu 6000 scanners get high marks in business.  They cost in the $900 range.  If you plan to scan thousands of documents a day, look into the duty cycle of both the Epson and the Fujitsu.  We've tested both of these.

If you are considering HP, follow the HP link on the summary web page link above and read the comments about the specific models.

Advisors Assistant uses scanning routines published by Atalasoft.  Atalasoft maintains a web site which lists scanners they have tested and also provides a compatibility test program which can be downloaded and run.

You can see compatibility reports at http://inspectortwain.com/Default.aspx and check your own scanner's compatibility at http://inspectortwain.com/installer.html.

WIA Scanners are also compatible, but we do not test with Microsoft's WIA scan drivers.

Searching For Your Scanner

Before using the compatibility "Inspector Twain" consider going to http://inspectortwain.com and search for your scanner.

Running Inspector Twain Application

To actually check YOUR SCANNER, simply download Inspector Twain from http://inspectortwain.com/installer.html and install and run it.

Scanner Errors

Notice that the report above shows one error.  This does not mean that the scanner does not work with Advisors Assistant.  Actually it works very well and performs all functions.

An error just means that the Twain Inspector sent one of hundreds of test commands to the scanner and the scanner did not know what to do with it.  During the test, we just turned off the scanner as directed by the program, turned it back on, clicked OK and the test continued.

Compatibility Scores

If you search on http://InspectorTwain.com for any scanner of your manufacturer and you see generally scores of 33 or higher, you could assume that your scanner will probably work.  It simply means that the scan driver for that scanner does not have as much functionality as other scan drivers.

ISIS Drivers

ISIS (Image and Scanner Interface Specification) drivers are available, usually on high speed scanners.  They can also be purchased for other scanners.  Because of the additional cost of ISIS drivers, we do not support them at this time, but will add them if our users require their features.

ISIS drivers are especially useful for Optical Character Recognition when the words are on colored papers or dark backgrounds, such as words in shaded areas.