"WIA support" says "No WIA compatible devices were detected"

[NathanRoss10]

I have just got PS6, Windows 7, 64-bit. I am trying to connect my old scanner, an Epson Perfection 4870 Photo.

The Adobe "Help" says that I must use WIA (Windows Image Acquisition) instead of TWAIN.

However, when I go File > Import > WIA support (as per many instructions online), I just get the message "No WIA compatible devices were detected".

I have ensured the driver for my scanner is up-to-date.

I am unable to find any advice online for how to determine whether I have this WIA software on my PC.

I am unable to find any advice on whether the scanner and WIA are, indeed, incompatible (in which case, I'd be fighting a losing battle).

If anyone has any experience with this issue, I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks.

[gener7 · Accepted solution]

WIA,  even if you have it is very limited. You would be better off scanning to file with the Epson scanner software and opening it in Photoshop. Twain only exists for 32 bit Photoshop, which is also installed along with the 64 bit version.  Of course there is a 2 GB limit to the memory 32 bit Photoshop can access.

Twain also holds up Photoshop until the scan is done.

If you still want Twain, a third party paid solutions is Vuescan, which supports 2500 scanners and gives you a lot of control over your scan. It comes with 32 bit and 64 bit Vuescan twain drivers if you wish to scan from the menu.

This Epson FAQ may help: Epson Perfection 4870 Pro, FAQ - Technical Support - Epson America, Inc.

Gene

[NathanRoss10]

Thanks so much, Gene.

I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling the Epson software (on the original CD) and the latest driver (from Epson's website) and now the scanner can be found in PS6 via WIA.

However, as you say, it is extremely limited.  The major limitation is that it won't scan film; only documents.

However, having reinstalled the Epson software, Epson Scan has now appeared and it works perfectly with film.

So, I have to use two programs - Epson Scan + PS - whereas I used to be able to scan from within PS, but it's a very minor inconvenience that is offset by the fact that you can keep working in PS whilst the scan is underway.

Again, many thanks.

[glamLA]

Unuseful response... We all know that we could do this.