sane.7
sane(7) SANE Scanner Access Now Easy sane(7)
NAME
sane - Scanner Access Now Easy: API for accessing scanners
DESCRIPTION
SANE is an application programming interface (API) that provides stan-
dardized 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.
If you have trouble getting your scanner detected, read the PROBLEMS
section.
TERMINOLOGY
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 back-
ends.
SOFTWARE PACKAGES
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).
GENERAL INFORMATION
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' will display the page. Entries like
`/usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/sane.tex' are references to text files
that were copied to the SANE documentation directory
(/usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/) during installation. Everything else
is a URL to a resource on the web.
SANE homepage
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 device lists
The SANE device lists contain information about the status of SANE
support for a specific device. If your scanner is not listed there
(either supported or unsupported), please contact us. See section HOW
CAN YOU HELP SANE for details. There are lists for specific releases
of SANE, for the current development version and a search engine:
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-supported-devices.html. The lists
are also installed on your system at /usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/.
SANE mailing list
There is a mailing list for the purpose of discussing the SANE stan-
dard and its implementations: sane-devel. Despite its name, the list
is not only intended for developers, but also for users. 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.
SANE IRC channel
The IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel #sane can be found on the
Freenode network (irc.freenode.net). It's for discussing SANE prob-
lems, talking about development and general SANE related chatting.
Before asking for help, please read the other documentation mentioned
in this manual page.
Compiling and installing SANE
Look at /usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/README and the os-dependent
README files for information about compiling and installing SANE.
SCSI configuration
For information about various systems and SCSI controllers see
sane-scsi(5).
USB configuration
For information about USB configuration see sane-usb(5).
FRONTENDS AND MISCELLANEOUS PROGRAMS
scanimage
Command-line frontend. See scanimage(1).
saned
SANE network daemon that allows remote clients to access image acqui-
sition devices available on the local host. See saned(1).
sane-find-scanner
Command-line tool to find SCSI and 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
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
sane-apple(5) for details.
artec
The SANE Artec backend supports several Artec/Ultima SCSI flatbed
scanners as well as the BlackWidow BW4800SP and the Plustek 19200S.
See sane-artec(5) for details.
artec_eplus48u
The SANE artec_eplus48u backend supports the scanner Artec E+ 48U and
re-badged models like Tevion MD 9693, Medion MD 9693, Medion MD 9705
and Trust Easy Webscan 19200. See sane-artec_eplus48u(5) for details.
as6e
This is a SANE backend for using the Artec AS6E parallel port inter-
face scanner. See sane-as6e(5) for details.
avision
This backend supports several Avision based scanners. This includes
the original Avision scanners (like AV 630, AV 620, ...) as well as
the HP ScanJet 53xx and 74xx series, Fujitsu ScanPartner, some Mit-
subishi and Minolta film-scanners. See sane-avision(5) for details.
bh
The bh backend provides access to Bell+Howell Copiscan II series doc-
ument 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.
canon630u
The canon630u backend supports the CanoScan 630u and 636u USB scan-
ners. See sane-canon630u(5) for details.
canon_pp
The canon_pp backend supports the CanoScan FB330P, FB630P, N340P and
N640P parallel port scanners. See sane-canon_pp(5) for details.
coolscan
This is a SANE backend for Nikon Coolscan film-scanners. See
sane-coolscan(5) for details.
coolscan2
This is a SANE backend for Nikon Coolscan film-scanners. See
sane-coolscan2(5) or http://coolscan2.sourceforge.net for details.
epson
The SANE epson backend provides support for Epson SCSI, parallel port
and USB flatbed scanners. See sane-epson(5) for details.
fujitsu
The fujitsu backend provides support for Fujitsu 3091, 3093, 3096 and
fi-4340 SCSI scanners. See sane-fujitsu(5) for details.
gt68xx
The gt68xx backend provides support for scanners based on the
Grandtech GT-6801 and GT-6816 chips like the Artec Ultima 2000 and
several Mustek BearPaw CU and TA models. Some Genius, Lexmark,
Medion, Packard Bell, Plustek, and Trust scanners are also supported.
See sane-gt68xx(5) for details.
hp
The SANE hp backend provides access to Hewlett-Packard ScanJet scan-
ners which support SCL (Scanner Control Language by HP). See
sane-hp(5) for details.
hpsj5s
The SANE backend for the Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 5S scanner. See
sane-hpsj5s(5) for details.
hp5400
The SANE backend for the Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 54XXC series. See
sane-hp5400(5) for details.
ibm
The SANE backend for some IBM and Ricoh SCSI scanners. See
sane-ibm(5) for details.
leo
This backend supports the Leo S3 and the Across FS-1130, which is a
re-badged LEO FS-1130 scanner. See sane-leo(5) for details.
ma1509
The ma1509 backend supports the Mustek BearPaw 1200F USB flatbed
scanner. See sane-ma1509(5) for details.
matsushita
This backend supports some Panasonic KVSS high speed scanners. See
sane-matsushita(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 (non-
SCSI). 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 ScanExpress 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 Pacific Image Electronics (PIE)
and Devcom SCSI flatbed scanners. See sane-pie(5) for details.
plustek
The SANE plustek backend supports Plustek parallel port and
LM983[1/2/3] based USB flatbed scanners. Scanners using the LM983x
chips include some models from Plustek, KYE/Genius, Hewlett-Packard,
Mustek, Umax, Epson, and Canon. 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.
sceptre
The sceptre backend provides access to the Sceptre S1200 flatbed
scanner. See sane-sceptre(5)
for details.
sharp
The SANE sharp backend supports Sharp SCSI scanners. See
sane-sharp(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 Fujitsu FCPA ScanPartner 15C flatbed scan-
ner. See sane-sp15c(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 scan-
ners. See sane-tamarack(5) for details.
teco1 teco2 teco3
The SANE teco1, teco2 and teco3 backends support some TECO scanners,
usually sold under the Relisys, Trust, Primax, Piotech, Dextra names.
See sane-teco1(5), sane-teco2(5) and sane-teco3(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
sane-umax1220u(5) for details.
Also, have a look at the backend information page at
http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-supported-devices.html and the list of
projects in /usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/PROJECTS.
BACKENDS FOR DIGITAL CAMERAS
dc210
Backend for Kodak DC210 Digital Camera. See sane-dc210(5).
dc240
Backend for Kodak DC240 Digital Camera. See sane-dc240(5).
dc25
Backend for Kodak DC20/DC25 Digital Cameras. See sane-dc25(5).
dmc
Backend for the Polaroid Digital Microscope Camera. See sane-dmc(5).
gphoto2
Backend for digital cameras supported by the gphoto2 library package.
(See http://www.gphoto.org for more information and a list of sup-
ported 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).
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-supported-devices.html and the list of
projects in /usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/PROJECTS.
MISCELLANEOUS BACKENDS
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).
net
The SANE network daemon saned provides access to scanners located on
different computers in connection with the net backend. See
sane-net(5) and saned(1).
pnm
PNM image reader pseudo-backend. The purpose of this backend is pri-
marily to aid in debugging of SANE frontends. See sane-pnm(5).
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 sys-
tems. See sane-pint(5).
test
The SANE test backend is for testing frontends and the SANE installa-
tion. It provides test pictures and various test options. See
sane-test(5).
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-supported-devices.html and the list of
projects in /usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/PROJECTS.
CHANGING THE TOP-LEVEL BACKEND
By default, all SANE backends (drivers) are loaded dynamically by the
sane-dll meta backend. If you have any questions about the dynamic
loading, read sane-dll(5). SANE frontend can also be linked to other
backends directly by copying or linking a backend to libsane.so in
/usr/local/lib/sane.
DEVELOPER'S DOCUMENTATION
It's not hard to write a SANE backend. It can take some time, however.
You should have basic knowledege of C and enough patience to work
through the documentation and find out how your scanner works. Appended
is a list of some documents that help to write backends and frontends.
The SANE standard defines the application programming interface (API)
that is used to communicate between frontends and backends. It can be
found at /usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/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/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/backend-writing.txt. Most of the inter-
nal 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/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/PROJECTS for projects that are planned
or not yet included into the SANE distribution and at the todo list:
/usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/TODO.
There are some links on how to find out about the protocol of a scan-
ner: http://www.meier-geinitz.de/sane/misc/develop.html.
If you start writing a backend or frontend or any other part of SANE,
please contact the sane-devel mailing list for coordination so the same
work isn't done twice.
FILES
/usr/local/etc/sane.d/*.conf
The backend configuration files.
/usr/local/lib/sane/libsane-*.a
The static libraries implementing the backends.
/usr/local/lib/sane/libsane-*.so
The shared libraries implementing the backends (present on sys-
tems that support dynamic loading).
/usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/*
SANE documentation: The standard, READMEs, text files for back-
ends etc.
PROBLEMS
If your device isn't found but you know that it is supported, make sure
that it is detected by your operating system. For SCSI and USB scan-
ners, use the sane-find-scanner tool (see sane-find-scanner(1) for
details). It prints one line for each scanner it has detected and some
comments (#). If sane-find-scanner finds your scanner only as root but
not as normal user, the permissions for the device files are not
adjusted correctly. If the scanner isn't found at all, the operating
system hasn't detected it and may need some help. Depending on the type
of your scanner, read sane-usb(5) or sane-scsi(5). If your scanner (or
other device) is not connected over the SCSI bus or USB, read the back-
end's manual page for details on how to set it up.
Now your scanner is detected by the operating system but not by SANE?
Try scanimage -L. If the scanner is not found, check that the back-
end's name is mentioned in /usr/local/etc/sane.d/dll.conf. Some back-
ends are commented out by default. Remove the comment sign for your
backend in this case. Also some backends aren't compiled at all if one
of their prerequisites are missing. Examples include dc210, dc240,
canon_pp, hpsj5s, gphoto2, pint, qcam, v4l, net, sm3600, snapscan, pnm.
If you need one of these backends and they aren't available, read the
build instructions in the README file and the individual manual pages
of the backends.
Another reason for not beeing detected by scanimage -L may be a missing
or wrong configuration in the backend's configuration file. While SANE
tries to automatically find most scanners, some can't be setup cor-
rectly without the intervention of the administrator. Also on some
operating systems auto-detection may not work. Check the backend's man-
ual page for details.
If your scanner is still not found, try setting the various environment
variables that are available to assist in debugging. 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 -L . The
debug messages for the dll backend tell if the mustek backend was found
and loaded at all. The mustek messages explain what the mustek backend
is doing while the SCSI debugging shows the low level handling. If you
can't find out what's going on by checking the messages carefully, con-
tact the sane-devel mailing list for help (see REPORTING BUGS below).
Now that your scanner is found by scanimage -L, try to do a scan: scan-
image >image.pnm. This command starts a scan for the default scanner
with default settings. All the available options are listed by running
scanimage --help. If scanning aborts with an error message, turn on
debugging as mentioned above. Maybe the configuration file needs some
tuning, e.g. to setup the path to a firmware that is needed by some
scanners. See the backend's maunal page for details. If you can't find
out what's wrong, contact sane-devel.
To check that the SANE libraries are installed correctly you can use
the test backend, even if you don't have a scanner or other SANE
device:
scanimage -d test -T
You should get a list of PASSed tests. You can do the same with your
backend by changing "test" to your backend's name.
So now scanning with scanimage works and you want to use one of the
graphical frontends like xsane, xscanimage, or quiteinsane but those
frontends don't detect your scanner? One reason may be that you
installed two versions of SANE. E.g. the version that was installed by
your distribution in /usr and one you installed from source in
/usr/local/. Make sure that only one version is installed. Another
possible reason is, that your system's dynamic loader can't find the
SANE libraries. For Linux, make sure that /etc/ld.so.conf contains
/usr/local/lib and does not contain /usr/local/lib/sane. See also the
documentation of the frontends.
HOW CAN YOU HELP SANE
We appreciate any help we can get. Here are some topics on which you
can work:
Writing backends
Without a backend, a scanner doesn't work. So it's crucial we
have backends for as much devices as possible. It's not neces-
sary to be an experienced programmer to start writing a backend.
If you have an unsupported scanner, writing a backend yourself
is probably the only way to get it supported. See DEVELOPER'S
DOCUMENTATION for details. But first make sure that you get any
information about your scanner that is available (see below),
and check if your scanner can be supported by an already exist-
ing backend with only small modifications.
Writing frontends
There are already some very capable frontends. So helping with
improving the existing frontends may make more sense than to
write yet another one. On the other hand there may be reasons to
start writing a completely new frontend, like support for a spe-
cific widget set, a programming language or a special type of
devices (e.g. cameras, slide scanners). In any case, keep the
sane-devel mailinglist informed of your plans.
Reporting unsupported scanners
Even if you can't write a backend for your unsupported scanner,
please send us all the information you have about it. We need
the make and the model name of your scanner. Also provide an
output of sane-find-scanner -v -v. For Linux: If it's a SCSI
scanner, show us the output of cat /proc/scsi/scsi, for a USB
scanner: cat /proc/bus/usb/devices (if the file is not there, do
mount -t usbdevfs /proc/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb). See CONTACT
section.
Reporting bugs and missing features
If you think something in SANE isn't working as it should,
please don't hesiate to contact us (see COTACT scetion). Please
provide as many details as possible. Describe which software you
are using (operating system + version, distribution, version of
sane-backends and of the frontend you use). Explain exactly what
doesn't work, is wrong or missing.
Adding and fixing documentation
If you found a bug in any documentation (man pages, web site,
READMEs), please contact us (see CONTACT section). Also write us
if you think some documentation is missing. Please include a
patch in this case, if possible. Don't hesitate to send spelling
and grammar mistakes.
Translations
The options of the backends can be translated. For some lan-
guages, the translations are almost complete, but some are lack-
ing a lot of words and for most languages there is no transla-
tion at all. If you want to help to translate the options to
your native language (or a language you speak fluently), contact
the sane-devel mailing list and have a look at the po/ directory
in the source code.
Success reports
If you had success using SANE we want to know about that, too.
Especially if your scanner is not in the lists yet or is marked
"untested".
CONTACT
If you want to comment on a backend-specific problem, contact the
author of your backend. Usually the email address can be found in the
/usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/AUTHORS file or the backend's manpage.
If the author isn't marked as `active maintainer' or doesn't answer,
you can also contact the SANE mailing list sane-devel (see
http://www.mostang.com/sane/mail.html for details). You must be sub-
scribed to the list, otherwise your mail won't be sent to the sub-
scribers.
If you want to report bugs concerning security, compilation, installa-
tion, porting, and documentation of SANE, you can also contact the
author of this manual page: <henning@meier-geinitz.de>.
SEE ALSO
saned(1), sane-find-scanner(1), scanimage(1), sane-abaton(5),
sane-agfafocus(5), sane-apple(5), sane-artec(5),
sane-artec_eplus48u(5), sane-as6e(5), sane-avision(5), sane-bh(5),
sane-canon(5), sane-canon630u(5), sane-canon_pp(5), sane-coolscan2(5),
sane-coolscan(5), sane-dc210(5), sane-dc240(5), sane-dc25(5),
sane-dll(5), sane-dmc(5), sane-epson(5), sane-fujitsu(5),
sane-gphoto2(5), sane-gt68xx(5), sane-hp(5), sane-hpsj5s(5),
sane-hp5400(5) sane-ibm(5), sane-leo(5), sane-ma1509(5), sane-mat-
sushita(5), sane-microtek2(5), sane-microtek(5), sane-mustek(5),
sane-mustek_pp(5), sane-mustek_usb(5), sane-nec(5), sane-net(5),
sane-pie(5), sane-pint(5), sane-plustek(5), sane-pnm(5), sane-qcam(5),
sane-ricoh(5), sane-s9036(5), sane-sceptre(5), sane-scsi(5),
sane-sharp(5), sane-sm3600(5), sane-snapscan(5), sane-sp15c(5),
sane-st400(5), sane-tamarack(5), sane-teco1(5), sane-teco2(5),
sane-teco3(5), sane-test(5), sane-umax1220u(5), sane-umax(5),
sane-umax_pp(5), sane-usb(5), sane-v4l(5)
AUTHOR
David Mosberger-Tang and many many more (see
/usr/local/doc/sane-1.0.12-cvs/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.
sane-backends 1.0.12-cvs 19 Apr 2003 sane(7)
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