With just a few lines of code, you will be able to start a single or a multiple image acquisition process using any TWAIN-compliant device, edit and save scanned documents to any destination such as a local/network machine, FTP site, web server, or database.
Intuitive low-level & high-level API are provided under .NET components and TWAIN ActiveX to let you negotiate all TWAIN 2.3 capabilities from any kind of WinForm, WPF or Web application.
Our web toolkit DocuVieware provides all the necessary components to scan, edit, and save documents online. Check the live demo!
The acquisition process requires three items: a scanner, a driver, and software. Drivers are the bridges that let the software communicate with the device through standardized APIs. TWAIN is an industry-standard API for image acquisition, strongly oriented toward scanners. Of the four different scanning protocols, TWAIN is the most widely adopted by the market. Supported by most operating systems (Windows, Mac OS, Linux/Unix), the protocol defines a set of options like resolution, color, scanning areas for flatbed scanners, and more. The TWAIN Working Group develops and maintains TWAIN since 1992.
*If you have problems using CITRIX, please look at the following knowledge base articles:
API built on top of the best document imaging SDK of the market, taking benefit of more than 15 years of continuous research focused on innovation. Support for unstable TWAIN drivers thanks to continuous device diagnosing.
Add the advanced post processing features provided by the GdPicture.NET toolkit to your scanning application: PDF, OCR, formats conversion & document imaging SDK. Reduce the learning curve by using the same technology on different platforms.
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GdPicture.NET scanning SDK is compatible with the two most used scanning protocols, TWAIN and WIA. Acquisition from all types of scanner devices and digital cameras is possible with support for both 32 and 64bits.
TWAIN acquisition can be made from the dedicated snap-in or a dialog window triggered by a dedicated toolbar button.
When launching DocuVieware for the first time, the viewer will require the installation of a small software to connect to the TWAIN devices. It is a one-time step, and once it has been installed, it is silently started with Windows.
DocuVieware will then be able to trigger the device driver window so you can choose the acquisition settings you need.
Learn more about TWAIN web-scanning on the DocuVieware website.
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WIA (Microsoft Windows Image Acquisition) API is standardized for acquiring digital images from devices that are primarily used to capture still images and for managing these devices. WIA is a COM interface, very different from but overlapping with TWAIN.
Compared to TWAIN, WIA offers much better support for digital cameras and much less sophisticated support for scanners.
There are a few other parameters to keep in mind:
Check our WIA scanning page for more features and functionalities.
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There are four scanning protocols currently used by the market:
Here is a chart that synthesizes the different features of each protocol:
| TWAIN | WIA | ISIS | SANE | |
| Adoption by the market | very high | high | low | low |
| Developed by | TWAIN Working Group | Microsoft | Pixel Translations (then EMC Corporation's Captiva Software). Now owned by OpenText | SANE open-source project |
| Digital camera support | high | very high | low | very low |
| Supported OS | Windows, Mac OS, Linux/Unix | Windows | Windows | Linux/Unix |
| Licensing | LGPL (Data Source Manager only) - free | proprietary - free | proprietary - commercial | open source |
| Specification | TWAIN specification | WIA specification | ISIS specification | SANE specification |
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If you don’t have a physical TWAIN scanner to test the SDK, you can download and use a virtual scanner (32 & 64-bit) here.
Download and install GdPicture.NET package from here.
