Were's the Twain?

[georgetroy]

With every upgrade witch I have, back to the Original Xara, I have asked for a Twain module. It sure would be simple to scan from within the program. Must be like Illustrator you have to go elsewhere if you want this function. Otherwise all is good, well almost.

[steve.ledger]

Very much doubt it will ever happen because it's too easy to scan to clipboard then paste into Xara Designer.

[tonylondon]

Very much doubt it will ever happen because it's too easy to scan to clipboard then paste into Xara Designer.

That's a cop-out if ever I saw one!

[steve.ledger]

That's rather hostile. It's actually exceptionally convenient and works very well.

[tonylondon]

That's rather hostile. It's actually exceptionally convenient and works very well.

Didn't mean to be hostile, sledger; in fact I'm in awe of your contribution to this forum. By scan to clipboard, do you mean using the scanner's own software?

[pauland]

I'm with Steve. Xara should stick to developing things people can't do, not things they can.

[slavelle]

If I understand the development of this correctly, adding a TWAIN menu choice would really just be a hook into calling the built-in software and then transferring the image back from either the clipboard or something very similar. I don't think it would be a major undertaking to "take away" from program development. I work with a lot of businesses that use a lot of software with this feature in it and the software is not very complex - doesn't have its own scanning engine or even UI, just calls the existing one when it's needed, and for those who use it, it's a big convenience.

One could say that you can resize a photo in Paint, so why add it to Xara, you could just leave the program and then copy/paste it back in, right? How about the table creation people have been asking for for years - yeah, you can create a pretty table in Excel then paste it in and it really works pretty well, but it would be nice to a. not have to have Excel and b. be able to do it right in Xara without any kludgy workarounds.

Just my $.02.

[steve.ledger]

By scan to clipboard, do you mean using the scanner's own software?

I haven't used every scanner on the market of course, but I've owned many and installed lots, and yes - they all seem to have basic options to scan to file, scan to email scan to clipboard. Some even have buttons on the lid (like my HP) which are configurable in the driver software.

With regards to this scanning method, it ain't no kludge - why else would scanner manufacturers have such an option?

[pauland]

I think the difference is that if you have a scanner, you also have the ability to use it and the added value of Xara adding Twain support is low.

The other examples - using word or excel as a workaround, or paint, sucks because it's a pain to do and you may not even have the software and the expectation is that a company that's building a page layout solution should be able to incorporate good table support inside the software.

If they added Twain support, fine, but it wouldn't add much value for the typical Xara user, I suspect, while table support would be greeted with rapturous applause.

No religious wars over this, but I stick by my original comment. I suspect that if it were that easy Xara would have just added Twain years ago.

[tonylondon]

I haven't used every scanner on the market of course, but I've owned many and installed lots, and yes - they all seem to have basic options to scan to file, scan to email scan to clipboard. Some even have buttons on the lid (like my HP) which are configurable in the driver software.

With regards to this scanning method, it ain't no kludge - why else would scanner manufacturers have such an option?

Right, I'll investigate my scanner. Up until now I've always used an intermediate program. If I am able to avoid this then that's going to be a distinct improvement and I'll have learned something new.