Hi everyone!

I'm looking for a module for access to my TWAIN-compatible
scanner. After having bought MediaArchitect's modules "Twain
wizard" I was not too satisfied (it seemed buggy, bad
documented, too complicated and very slow to me).

One condition makes it a little hard: I need both a 16 bit
(VBX or OCX alright) AND a 32bit-Version., if possible from
the same manufacturer (but not neccessarily) to make coding
easier.

I would be pleased if you could write about your experiences
with other products. Thanks a lot!

Mathias Schiffer, Germany
--
VB-FAQ: http://www.*-*-*.com/
NG-tips: http://www.*-*-*.com/

Mathias,
The MediaArchitects (now Olympus) Twain Wizard is the only control I
know of which ships as a standalone Twain controller. (I nearly bought
it, but they went bust at the time I was looking).

I plumped for the Leadtools package (16 bit OCX and 32 bit OCX) as
it offered what I wanted at the time for image handling as well as
scanning. I now only use it for scanning, 32bit apps, and link it to
the Wang controls which I like for the imaging side. My scanner is a
Sharp JX330P with ships with a 32bit Twain driver to Twain standard 1.5.

I have found it to be stable if a little limited on scanner control
propereties - resolution, colour depth, scan frame size are all there
but not brightness and contrast control. I'm on ver 6.1, the latest
version is 8.0 (just released) but cannot see any 'new' scanning
features.
It works with both 16bit and 32bit Twain interfaces.
It offers a vast amount of image processing capabilities which
may be over the top if all you want is scanner control (at the
time of purchase I thought I would need these!)

They used to have a free demo version at www.leadtools.com.

On the speed side, there is a) the time to open the scanner driver and
b) the scan time.
        a) can be slow - even if you use the scanner manufacturer's own
        interface (outside VB).

        b) is obviously dependent on the scanner and on your PC's
        ability to transfer the data at a fast enough rate.

Current UK price for both OCX's is around UKP325 (or ukp275 each).
Upgrades are not cheap either - I've been quoted USD147 for an
in-line upgrade, more if not in-line. That's the main downside I
have found with Leadtools.
Presales support was excellent (as you would expect) - cannot comment
on post-sales tech support as I have not used it - I think its free but
maybe only for a year (not sure).

As you may know, there are lots of imaging packages around at varying
prices/capabilities - but all include much more than just scanning.
Sorry to go on a bit!

mkiller.?.rwth-aachen.de writes