I have two scanners accessible from my machine (using Lion): a USB flatbed scanner, and a multifunction network printer. Whenever I launch Image Capture (either directly, or indirectly from Preview), it selects the first scanner (USB) and runs an "overview scan". Whenever I change the selected scanner (e.g. from the USB scanner to the multifunction printer), an "overview scan" is performed again.
This automatic overview is irksome:
- It is slow and takes several seconds.
- It is noisy.
- Most of the time, it is totally useless (especially when I want to use the "document feeder" of the multifunction printer, since then the overview is done with the flatbed source of the printer, so I get a blank overview).
- There is a nice "overview" button that I perfectly know how to click, if I really want an overview.
Is there a way to deactivate this automatic overview scan ?
Best Answer
Apple's Image Capture app is intentionally minimalist. It doesn't have significant Preference settings, and no user-friendly way to turn off the overview scan.
In theory, anything in OS X is hackable, given sufficient knowledge and time. In practice, you should consider a 3rd party scanner app instead.