TWAIN
Encyclopedia
TWAIN is a standard software protocol and applications programming interface (API) that regulates communication between software applications and imaging devices such as scanners
and digital camera
s.
The latest version of the TWAIN standard is TWAIN 2.1, released on July 8, 2009. TWAIN 2.1 features include support for MICR
, PDF/A
, automatic image rotation, infrared pixel type, auto-sized images, automatic color detection, and automatic selection between feeder and flatbed.
The word TWAIN is not an official acronym; however, it is widely known as "Technology Without An Interesting Name." The official website notes that "[this name] continues to haunt the standard."
The word TWAIN is from Rudyard 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 computer
s.
Board and associate members of the TWAIN Working Group include:
Image scanner
In computing, an image scanner—often abbreviated to just scanner—is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object, and converts it to a digital image. Common examples found in offices are variations of the desktop scanner where the document is placed on a glass...
and digital camera
Digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that takes video or still photographs, or both, digitally by recording images via an electronic image sensor. It is the main device used in the field of digital photography...
s.
The latest version of the TWAIN standard is TWAIN 2.1, released on July 8, 2009. TWAIN 2.1 features include support for MICR
Magnetic ink character recognition
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition, or MICR, is a character recognition technology used primarily by the banking industry to facilitate the processing of cheques and makes up the routing number and account number at the bottom of a check. The technology allows computers to read information off...
, PDF/A
PDF/A
PDF/A is an ISO-standardized version of the Portable Document Format specialized for the digital preservation of electronic documents.PDF/A differs from PDF by omitting features ill-suited to long-term archiving, such as font linking...
, automatic image rotation, infrared pixel type, auto-sized images, automatic color detection, and automatic selection between feeder and flatbed.
History
The design of TWAIN began in January, 1991. The TWAIN group originally launched in 1992 by several members of the imaging industry, with the intention of standardizing communication between image handling software and hardware. Review of the original TWAIN Developer’s Toolkit occurred from April, 1991 through January, 1992.The word TWAIN is not an official acronym; however, it is widely known as "Technology Without An Interesting Name." The official website notes that "[this name] continues to haunt the standard."
The word TWAIN is from Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's "The Ballad of East and West
The Ballad of East and West
The Ballad of East and West is a poem by Rudyard Kipling. It was first published in 1889, and has been much collected and anthologised since. Its first line is often quoted, sometimes as an example of Kipling's attitudes to race and to the Empire; but those who quote it thus often completely miss...
" — "...and never the twain shall meet..." — reflecting the difficulty at the time of connecting scanners and personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s.
Release history
- TWAIN 1.0, February, 1992 - Initial Release.
- TWAIN 1.5, May, 1993 - Performance Enhancements.
- TWAIN 1.6, February 5, 1996 - Page Length Detect & Buffer Transfer.
- TWAIN 1.7, August 19, 1997 – Production Scanning Features.
- TWAIN 1.8, October 22, 1998 – More production scanning features that were omitted in version 1.7 of the Specification.
- TWAIN 1.9, January 20, 2000 – ICC Color Profiles, Mac Support for Cocoa.
- TWAIN 2.0, February 22, 2008 – Unix/Linux support, check scanning support, open source, 64-bit.
- TWAIN 2.1, July 8, 2009 – Supported on Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit), support for automatic color detection.
Vision statement
The TWAIN Working Group is a not-for-profit organization which represents the imaging industry. TWAIN's purpose is to provide and foster a universal public standard which links applications and image acquisition devices. The ongoing mission of the organization is to continue to enhance the standard to accommodate future technologies.Objectives
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
Supported technologies
TWAIN provides support for:- Production, high-speed scanning
- ICC Color profilesICC profileIn color management, an ICC profile is a set of data that characterizes a color input or output device, or a color space, according to standards promulgated by the International Color Consortium...
- Digital cameras
- Multiple operating systemOperating systemAn operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
platforms including Windows, Mac OSMac OSMac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
, and LinuxLinuxLinux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
TWAIN Working Group membership
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:
- Adobe SystemsAdobe SystemsAdobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
, Inc. - AnyDoc SoftwareAnyDoc SoftwareAnyDoc Software, founded in 1989 as Microsystems Technology, Inc., is a company based in Tampa, Florida that develops, sells, installs, and supports enterprise content management software which captures data from scanned documents or images into machine-readable text for back-office applications...
, Inc. - Atalasoft Inc.
- AvisionAvisionAvision is a Taiwan based company that designs and produces image scanners and multifunction printers. The company was established in Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park in 1991....
Inc. - Dynamsoft Corporation
- Eastman Kodak Company
- FujitsuFujitsuis a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....
Computer Products of America - JFL Peripheral Solutions, Inc.
- Epson, Inc.
- Hewlett-PackardHewlett-PackardHewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
, Inc.
See also
- Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)Windows Image AcquisitionWindows Image Acquisition is a Microsoft driver model and application programming interface for Microsoft Windows Me and later Windows operating systems that enables graphics software to communicate with imaging hardware such as scanners, digital cameras and Digital Video-equipment...
- Scanner Access Now Easy (SANE)Scanner Access Now EasyScanner Access Now Easy is an application programming interface that provides standardized access to any raster image scanner hardware ....
- Image and Scanner Interface Specification