I bought a scanner at a thrift store but then had a difficult time downloading, installing and running the driver and software. I got a message saying I needed a Twain-compliant software application program running under windows. I searched the web and found this free PaperScan program, downloaded it and everything. By using few codes, this software can be turned into a robust scanning application for all twain-compatible scanners. The scanned images can be edited and saved in the desired location on the local documents or the servers. This software is compatible with Windows and Mac OS platforms. Best Twain Scanner Software for Mac – Twain Sane. Introducing TWAIN Direct ®. The first zero-footprint, mobile-ready version of TWAIN's royalty-free open standard protocol. TWAIN Direct ® expedites development of applications accessing scanners, without requiring vendor-specific drivers. TWAIN Direct ® addresses the need for something simple and direct that expedites application development and results in a feature-rich end user experience. Scan easily using any TWAIN-compliant remote desktop hosted software. RemoteScan connects your document scanners and cameras to software hosted in Azure Cloud, Terminal Server, VMware or Citrix servers. It enables a secure document scanning workflow, immediately sending documents to the server over encrypted virtual channels.

TWAIN
Original author(s)	TWAIN Working Group
Developer(s)	TWAIN Working Group
Initial release	February 1992; 29 years ago
Stable release	2.4 (11 December 2015; 5 years ago) [±]^[1]
Operating system	Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows
Platform	x86, x86-64, PowerPC
Standard(s)	TWAIN
Type	Application programming interface
License	LGPL (Data Source Manager only)
Website	www.twain.org

TWAIN and TWAIN Direct are application programming interfaces (APIs) and communication protocols that regulate communication between software and digital imaging devices, such as image scanners and digital cameras. TWAIN is supported on Microsoft Windows, Linux and Mac OS X.^[2]

The three key elements of TWAIN are:^[2]

Application software. For example, graphics software, a fax application or a word processor.
Source manager software. The source manager software is a software library provided by the TWAIN Working Group.
Device drivers (referred to as 'Source software' in the specification document)

Both the application and the device driver must support TWAIN for the interface to be successfully used.

The first release was in 1992,and it was last updated in 2015.

It was designed with the help of a number of companies from the computer industry, to try to establish a unified standard connection interface between computers and imaging devices.

History[edit]

The design of TWAIN began in January 1991. The TWAIN group was originally launched in 1992 by several members of the imaging industry, with the intention of standardizing communication between image handling software and hardware.^[3] Review of the original TWAIN Developer's Toolkit occurred from April, 1991 through January, 1992.^[4]

Source of TWAIN Name[edit]

The word TWAIN is not officially an acronym, but it is a backronym. The official website notes that 'the word TWAIN is from Kipling's 'The Ballad of East and West' — '...and never the twain shall meet...' — reflecting the difficulty, at the time, of connecting scanners and personal computers.

It was up-cased to TWAIN to make it more distinctive. This led people to believe it was an acronym,^[5] and then to a contest to come up with an expansion. None was selected, but the entry Technology Without an Interesting Name continues to haunt the standard.'^[6]^[7] For example, the Encyclopedia of Information Technology lists 'Technology Without an Interesting Name' as the official meaning of TWAIN.^[8]

Release history of the TWAIN API^[9]
Version	Release date	Changes
1.0	February 1992	Initial release
1.5	May 1993	Performance enhancements
1.6	5 February 1996	Page-length detection Buffer transfer
1.7	19 August 1997	Production scanning features
1.8	22 October 1998	Production scanning features omitted from v1.7 of the TWAIN specification Support for barcode and patch code control
1.9	20 January 2000	Support for the Cocoa software development API in Mac OS X
2.0	22 February 2008	Linux support Support for the Win64 version of the Windows API New open-source Data Source Manager, licensed under the LGPL Support for cheque-scanning
2.1	8 July 2009	Support for Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit) Support for automatic color detection
2.2	16 February 2012	Implemented self-certification and new mandatory features
2.3	21 November 2013	Improved clarity and removed ambiguity.
2.4	15 December 2015	Improved clarity and removed ambiguity

Objectives[edit]

Objectives of the TWAIN Working Group and standard include:

Ensure image-handling software and hardware compatibility
Keep the specification current with the state of current software and hardware while maintaining backward compatibility
Provide multiple-platform support
Maintain and distribute a no-charge developer's toolkit
Ensure ease of implementation
Encourage widespread adoption
Open Source Data Source Manager
LGPL Open Source License
BSD Open Source Sample Application and Sample Data Source Application

TWAIN provides support for:

Production, high-speed scanning
Multiple operating system platforms including Windows, classic Mac OS, macOS, and Linux

TWAIN Working Group[edit]

Today the TWAIN standard, including the specification, data source manager and sample code, are maintained by the not-for-profit organization TWAIN Working Group.

Board and associate members of the TWAIN Working Group include:

Atalasoft, a Kofax Company
Fujitsu Computer Products of America
InoTec GmbH
ExactCODE GmbH
Microtek International, Inc.

Notes[edit]

^'TWAIN Features'. FileZilla. 11 December 2017. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
^ ^a^b'TWAIN Specification Version 2.4'(PDF). TWAIN Working Group. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
^What is the TWAIN Initiative?Archived March 8, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
^TWAIN docs indexArchived September 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
^Chambers, Mark L. (2010). PCs All-in-One For Dummies (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons. p. 458. ISBN9780470908006.
^Pete Walsh; Francine Spiegel; Janee Aronoff

History[edit]

Source of TWAIN Name[edit]

Objectives[edit]

TWAIN Working Group[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

Twain Compliant Software