Image Access WideTEK CIS scanner Contex large format scanners

REVIEW:

Contex SD4490 large format scanner

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Scan-to-Copy

The full version of Nextimage Scan+Copy includes Contex's own dedicated drivers for a wide variety of large format printers. This makes it easier to select print settings and allows more predictable prints than those produced using standard Windows printer drivers. There is Windows printer support for any printer unsupported by Contex's drivers.

There is a multi-copy option (up to 9 copies) and an easy resize option - select the size and orientation of the sheet you're going to print to, or enter a scale. There is also full closed loop colour calibration, although this is unlikely to be of interest if you are simply scanning technical documents.

If you receive or choose only Nextimage Scan, there is no copy facility. However you can load previously scanned files and print them out. Like the copy facility in full Nextimage Scan+Copy, the print facility in Nextimage Scan has dedicated printer drivers, a multi-copy option and you can easily resize prints.

TWAIN Support

The Contex SD we reviewed in September 2008 did not include TWAIN support.

Since our review, Contex has added TWAIN support, allowing the SD Series to scan directly into any software application that supports TWAIN, such as raster to vector conversion software, Photoshop, CorelDRAW, etc.

The TWAIN settings and interface mirror the settings and interface available in the Nextimage Scan task. This means that all of Nextimage's scan functionality including easy settings selection and adaptive thresholding are available in the TWAIN.

TWAIN support is included free of charge with all Contex SD scanners, providing users who do not want Nextimage's print, copy or colour management functionality with competent scanning software at no extra cost.

Network Scanning

The WIDEsystem driver supplied with the SD scanner series makes it extremely easy to scan across a network.

All you have to do to set up network scanning is to select the WIDEsystem "Share your current scanner" option on the PC that the scanner is connected to. Then, on the remote PC, install the WIDEsystem driver and select the scanner from a drop down list. That's it!

If you install Nextimage on the remote PC, you can scan from the scanner in exactly the same way that you would scan if your PC was connected to it directly. It is a bit slower - we found that scanning over our network was 2 to 4 times slower than scanning direct - but still perfectly workable.

The usual objection to network scanning is that "you still have to go to the scanner to put the paper in", but in a small office like ours this is simply not an issue. In our office there is no dedicated scanning PC and the ability to access the scanner from any PC is a positive benefit, as anyone can use the scanner without disrupting someone else's work.

In addition to sharing the scanner it is possible to scan to a designated secure folder on a remote PC.

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