How to Set Up Acquire Image in Affinity Photo

[Toxic-Ramen]

I just updated my Mac OS Mojave to Catalina and now my scanner driver ImageAcquire is not working. I really need to use my scanner for scanning drawings and also scanning papers for my parents.

My scanner is a Mustek Flatbed Scanner SE A3 USB 1200 Pro (It's big enough to scan comic board paper) and I know that Affinity Photo has an Acquire Image option which can allow me to scan my stuff but I don't know how to set it up. Do I need to have a special driver installed or there's a way to set up my scanner so I can scan through Affinity Photo?

[Lee D]

The Acquire Image option on the File menu uses the built in feature within macOS. Make sure your scanner is correctly installed in System Preferences > Printers & Scanners, make sure you have the latest drivers installed.

[Toxic-Ramen]

4 hours ago, Lee D said:

The Acquire Image option on the File menu uses the built in feature within macOS. Make sure your scanner is correctly installed in System Preferences > Printers & Scanners, make sure you have the latest drivers installed.

But the things is that for some reason my MAC can't seem to read my scanner. I've trying to find a driver that works with Mustek Flatbed Scanner SE A3 USB 1200 Pro on Catalina. Before, I was using ImageAcquire on Mojave and I had no problems using my scanner.

I'm asking if anyone else has a similar scanner and found a driver that works on Catalina.

[Brad Brighton]

15 minutes ago, Toxic-Ramen said:

I'm asking if anyone else has a similar scanner and found a driver that works on Catalina.

VueScan lists that scanner and despite the download button saying Mojave (which may be based on auto-detection), the supported versions text beneath the button notes 10.15 (Catalina) support. https://www.hamrick.com

FWIW, I have no personal experience with that scanner nor have I upgraded to Catalina yet.

[Toxic-Ramen]

2 hours ago, Brad Brighton said:

VueScan lists that scanner and despite the download button saying Mojave (which may be based on auto-detection), the supported versions text beneath the button notes 10.15 (Catalina) support. https://www.hamrick.com

FWIW, I have no personal experience with that scanner nor have I upgraded to Catalina yet.

I've tried but VueScan couldn't find the scanner that I had hooked up to my Mac. Two years ago the same thing happened and I thought they updated the software so I installed it again & it still can't read my scanner (I've asked for a refund but they won't give it to me)

[Brad Brighton]

21 minutes ago, Toxic-Ramen said:

I've tried but VueScan couldn't find the scanner that I had hooked up to my Mac. Two years ago the same thing happened and I thought they changed the updated the software so I installed it again & it still can't read my scanner (I've asked for a refund but they won't give it to me)

Yuck, that sucks.

Silverfast is the only other major player in the game of older scanner support AFAIK (https://www.silverfast.com) but its price point is a non-starter for most people. 

One option that might help is to run a virtual machine (VMware Fusion or Parallels) with Mojave (either from a previous backup or a clean install), connect the USB scanner to it rather than the host OS, and see if that will restore your access through "Acquire Image..." within the VM. Then scan to a shared folder destination to make the results available in both environments.

[joebotkill]

I've also just had this problem. I've emailed Vuescan and they replied rather quickly to tell me they have no plans to support this hardware.

I work from home as a freelance artist and I use my scanner daily. The fact that it isn't supported in OS Catalina is actually a nightmare. 

the next comparable scanner I can find at this size is this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Plustek-Flatbed-Scanner-1180-Blueprints/dp/B01MZXE0OV/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=308C2UKN6LPFW&keywords=11x17+flatbed+scanner&qid=1573851764&s=electronics&sprefix=%2Celectronics%2C168&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyMVY0RFlTRjFPQ1JIJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTk1MzQ0M0dLMVU0UE9ZWUFFQiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDc3NjYzMUZVRlo3WTBHTEtNRCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

[Toxic-Ramen]

On 11/15/2019 at 4:06 PM, joebotkill said:

I've also just had this problem. I've emailed Vuescan and they replied rather quickly to tell me they have no plans to support this hardware.

I work from home as a freelance artist and I use my scanner daily. The fact that it isn't supported in OS Catalina is actually a nightmare. 

the next comparable scanner I can find at this size is this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Plustek-Flatbed-Scanner-1180-Blueprints/dp/B01MZXE0OV/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=308C2UKN6LPFW&keywords=11x17+flatbed+scanner&qid=1573851764&s=electronics&sprefix=%2Celectronics%2C168&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyMVY0RFlTRjFPQ1JIJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwOTk1MzQ0M0dLMVU0UE9ZWUFFQiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMDc3NjYzMUZVRlo3WTBHTEtNRCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

I had to end up hooking my scanner to a PC that my family has in another room in the house and I was able to download a driver for it since there's one for my scanner. It works fine but now whenever I need to scan my comic pages, I would have to go to the other room to do it.

[v_kyr]

You have to check on the hardware developers (Mustek) site if they still offer working drivers for your newest MaOS version.

• Check here

[jacobhalton]

It's not only the driver that's needed. Mustek needs an app to pull the image from the scanner.

I'm using ImageAcquire (A 3rd party app, not the same as Mac's Image Capture) but it's 32bit only and will not work on Catalina.

—

I also have the same Mustek scanner and I found this thread because I've been lucky enough to not update yet, but that can't last forever and I'll have to find something to be able to scan that runs in 64bit eventually. 

[v_kyr]

Scroll down on the Mustek website link shown above to the utilities section and see the ScanMust entry there for MacOS 10.15 Catalina.

[jacobhalton]

@v_kyr Ah-HA! Yes, thanks for finding this!

[jacobhalton]

On 11/25/2019 at 9:14 PM, v_kyr said:

Scroll down on the Mustek website link shown above to the utilities section and see the ScanMust entry there for MacOS 10.15 Catalina.

Apparently this does not work for the SE A3 USB 1200 Pro, that I find a lot of artists (including myself) have.

http://www.mustek.com.tw/products/539-scanmust-for-mac-users.html

The page about ScanMust says on the right it is NOT supported, so still currently looking for a solution before I upgrade to Catalina.

[v_kyr]

I woud send an Email etc. to Mustek asking for Catalina support for their software then and describing the problem. - They should usually can tell you if something is in the pipeline here or not.

[Patrick K]

I have an old Mustek A3 USB 2400 Pro, with image aquire software. I have just updated to IOS 11. (Big Sur) Mustek do not support this model at this level it seems. I guess we a just supposed to buy a new scanner.

Does anyone know a work around?

[v_kyr]

Try out VueScan it's also available for Big Sur.

[Patrick K]

Yeah, Tried the Vuescan, It could not locate my scanner. Thanks for the suggestion though. Still no luck, maybe my scanner is just too old. It worked fine, so its a shame. Mustek should support their older models.

[v_kyr]

According to the VueScan release notes your scanner (ScanExpress A3 ) is supported! - Further for MacOS they tell ...

Quote

 

Mac OS X Release Notes

If VueScan doesn't see your scanner on Mac OS X, first make sure that "About This Mac" (in the Apple menu) in the USB devices section can see the scanner. If it doesn't, try powering off the computer, powering off the scanner, powering on the scanner and then powering on the computer.

If VueScan is crashing, try a newer USB cable and/or a different USB port.

If you're using a scanner that isn't supported by VueScan and you're using Mac OS X 10.10 or earlier, try installing TWAINBridge.app.

If you're using a Ratoc Firewire-SCSI adapter, you may need to configure one of the options. Try setting the time between the power on and the SCSI bus reset to 40.

If you're using the Ratoc USB->SCSI adapter, set up the adapter with the Ratoc utility to "Mass Storage" mode.

If VueScan still doesn't see your scanner, go into "System Preferences", "Accounts", then "Startup Items". Make sure nothing is being started that might be accessing the scanner (i.e. "Epson Scanner Monitor").

If you've installed the Umax software for a Firewire scanner on Mac OS X, you need to remove (or rename):

If you're using a Canon LiDE 40 or LiDE 50 on Mac OS X, install the Canon software for the LiDE 35. These scanners are identical except for the outside plastic, and there's a universal binary driver for the LiDE 35 on www.canon.com.

If you're using a Canon LiDE 80 on Mac OS X and are having problems seeing the scanner or starting VueScan, try re-installing the Canon scanner drivers. If you're using Mac OS X 10.6, you'll also need to copy the folder from the LIDE80_7275MXEN.dmg file in the "Into Users_Shared" folder called CanoScanLIDE80 to the /Users/Shared folder on your hard drive.

If VueScan hangs with Firewire scanners, make sure OpenFirmware has "security-mode" set to "none". Other settings cause problems.

Canon N-series and LIDE scanners are powered directly by the USB port. The USB port must provide a power supply of 500 mA. If you plug the scanner into the USB port on a keyboard or other USB device, the scanner may not work properly. Attach the scanner directly to a USB port on the computer or to a 500 mA self-powered USB hub. If you find that an N-series or LIDE scanner doesn't work with one of your USB ports, try plugging it into the other USB port.

If you're using a Microtech FireSCSI adapter, make sure that you're using SCSI ID 0 and that the SCSI termination is correct.

If you're using an Orange Micro 906F SCSI card, make sure it's upgraded to at least firmware version F1.35.

Most of the Mustek drivers are always older dated, the latest driver for you scanner seems to be this one here. - For another similar looking but slightly newer Mustek model (A3 2400S) there is MacOS 10.15 and ScanMust support.

All in all their newest drivers are all still from 2019 on their FTP servers (taiwan here, where I believe they do originate all from).

[Patrick K]

Hi Thanks for all the advice. I have managed to download the PE A3 USB 2400 onto my hard drive, but now I cannot find the driver in the applications folder or anywhere so to open it. Any suggestions?