Choosing the best scanner for SmartScore

Musitek, the makers of SmartScore, offer the following advice for choosing the best scanner for SmartScore Lite:

• Newer Canon or Epson USB scanners.
• Scanners that have been tested with Win XP and SmartScore
• Newer Hewlett-Packard and Canon USB scanners with WIA drivers.
• Newer Microtek USB scanners with TWAIN.

Musitek recommends avoiding the following scanners:

• "All-In-One" scanners without WIA drivers.
• Older scanners that are not fully TWAIN-compliant.

Most modern scanners will work fine with SmartScore. "All-in-one" printer/copier/scanner models are becoming popular. Sadly, many have less-than-perfect software and optics. We recommend dedicated flatbed scanners as a rule.

Issues with All-In-One scanners and some workarounds
Most all-in-one printer/scanners will work in SmartScore provided you choose the right settings.

• Use SmartScore's scanning interface (File menu > Scanning: SmartScore Lite > Scan and Import).
• Turn OFF Auto-Resolution. Most all-in-one scanners do not have variable-resolution scanning. This means discrete resolution values must be selected: e.g. 300dpi, 600dpi and 1200dpi. One more reason why dedicated flat-bed scanners are preferred.
• Scan at 300 dpi and save pages in GREY as "uncompressed" TIFF files.

Note. Even if you choose "Black & White", most all-in-one scanners will actually scan in color and then "dither" the image, making the image unusable. Remember to scan in "Greyscale" (not Color or Black & White).

It is always recommended to scan using SmartScore's scanning interface with the benefits of auto-resolution, deskew and multiple-page TIFF functions. Also, newer Epson and Cannon scanners work well with SmartScore's scanning interface under Windows XP and MacOS X platforms.

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