Command Overview

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TwainSave can take various command line options.  The only required command-line option is -filename (the name of the image file to be saved).  Otherwise, TwainSave uses the default setting for the option if the option is not specified.  If TwainSave detects that an illegal command-line option is given, a dialog is displayed that has a summary of all the commands, and the TwainSave program is terminated.

 

When producing Acrobat PDF files, TwainSave has various options including setting the producer, keywords, encryption, and other useful PDF options.  The options that are PDF specific start named -pdfxxxx where "xxxx" is the option.

 

For some commands, an alternate version of the command option can be used.  The alternate version of the command is specified in brackets in the table of commands next to the command option.  For example, both TwainSave commands are equivalent:

 

twainsave -f test.tif -F tif1

twainsave -filename test.tif -filetype tif1

 

 

In the table below, the TwainSave options can be one or more of the following:

 

-area

Specifies the acquisition area to acquire.

 

-autobright

Sets the auto-brightness for the TWAIN device.

 

-autorotate

Automatically rotate documents to the correct orientation (must be supported by the TWAIN driver).

 

-autofeed  [ -A ]

Use the automatic document feeder (default is feeder is not used).

 

-autofeedorflatbed  [ -AF ]

Use the automatic document feeder, and if no paper is detected in feeder, use the flatbed portion of the device (detection of paper in feeder must be supported by the TWAIN driver).

 

-bitsperpixel [ -bpp ]

Bits-per-pixel used to acquire the image.

-brightness [ -B ]

Brightness level (must be supported by the TWAIN driver).

 

-blankthreshold

Sets the threshold (percentage) value for TwainSave to determine if a page is blank.  The threshold is the ratio of white pixels to dark pixels on the page.  Use this option with -noblankpages
 

-contrast [ -C ]

Set the contrast of the image

 

-color

Sets the color setting of the device.  

 

-details

Writes to a file all TWAIN device names and color/bits-per-pixel information for each TWAIN device.

 

-deskew

Turns on automatic deskewing of images that may be distorted due to skewing.

 

-diagnose

Turn on diagnostic mode.

 

-diagnoselog

Log diagnostic messages to the specified file or to the active debug monitor.

 

-dsmsearchorder

Sets the order of directories that TwainSave will search to find the TWAIN DSM file (TWAIN_32.DLL or TWAINDSM.DLL)
 

-duplex [ -D ]

Use the duplex unit.  Default is to not use the duplex unit.

 

-filename [ -f ]

File name of the image file.
 
Unless the -details, -version, -uionly or -help option is used, the -filename option is a required command-line option.

 

-filetype [ - F ]

File type of the saved image.  Default is "bmp".  See -filetype for all the various file types.

 

-gamma [ -G ]

Gamma value used for the image.

 

-halftone

Use a halftone (dithering) pattern for the acquired image file.

 

-help

Display TwainSave help.

 

-highlight

Highlight value used for the image.

 

-imprinterstring  [ -im ]

Sets the imprinter string.

 

-jobcontrol

Sets job control options.

 

-jquality

Sets the JPEG quality factor for JPEG files.

 

-multipage

Save all pages scanned to a multi-page file.

 

-multipage2

Save all pages scanned to a multi-page file only when the device user interface is closed.
 

-negate

Makes images acquired to be a "negative" of the original image (black or dark colors are light, and white or light colors are dark).

 

-noblankpages

Discard any blank pages that have been acquired from the TWAIN device.
 

-noconsole

Do not open a console window when TwainSave starts up.

 

-noui

Do not display the TWAIN device user interface when acquiring pages.

 

-nouiwait

 

Do not display the TWAIN device user interface when acquiring pages and wait for paper to be placed in document feeder to start the acquisition.

 

-nouiwaittime

Maximum amount of time to wait for paper to be placed in document feeder before TwainSave shuts down.
 

-nopause

Do not pause TwainSave if the file name is missing from the command-line.

 

-numpages [ -p ]

Number of pages to acquire.  Default is 0 (acquire all pages).

 

-orientation

Specifies page orientation when acquiring pages.

 

-overscanmode

Sets the device's overscan mode, allowing the device to acquire the part of the page that may lie outside of the acquisition area.

 

-overwritemax

Specified the maximum number of unique files to create when

-overwritemode 3 is used.

-overwritemode

Specifies what action to take if image file(s) already exists.

 

-papersize [ -P ]

Paper size. Default is US letter (8.5" x 11").

 

-pdfascii

Turns on ASCII compression for PDF files.

 

-pdfauthor

Sets the PDF author setting for the file.

 

-pdfcreator

Sets the PDF Creator field in PDF files.

 

-pdfencrypt

Turns on encryption for PDF file generation.

 

-pdfkeywords

Sets the PDF Keywords setting for the file.

 

-pdfownerpass

Sets the PDF owner password for encrypted files

 

-pdfpermit

Sets the PDF Permissions for an encrypted file.

 

-pdfproducer

Sets the PDF Producer field for the PDF file

(deprecated -- please use -pdfcreator).

 

-pdfquality

Sets the JPEG quality used in PDF files.

 

-pdfrandowner

Sets the PDF owner password to a random string.  This permanently disallows changing the security and -pdfpermit settings.
 

-pdfsize

Sets the size of the PDF page.

 

-pdfsubject

Sets the PDF Subject field for the PDF file.

 

-pdftitle

Sets the PDF Title field for the PDF file.

 

-pdfuserpass

Sets the PDF user password for encrypted files.

 

-pdf128

Use 128-bit encryption for PDF files.

 

-pdforient

Sets the PDF orientation (landscape or portrait).

 

-pdfscale

Sets the PDF scaling for the PDF file.

 

-pdfsize

Sets the size of the PDF page.

 

-resolution [ -R ]

Sets the Resolution (DPI) of the acquired image.

 

-rotation

Sets the rotation angle of the acquired image.

 

-saveoncancel

Save image file even if user cancels scanning.

 

-sd  [ -selectdefaultdevice ]

Select the default TWAIN device.

 

-shadow

Sets the Shadow value for the TWAIN device.

 

-showindicator

 

Show progress indicator when using -noui.

-sn  [ -selectbyname ]

Select the TWAIN device by using the name of the device.

 

-st [ -selectbydialog ]

Select the TWAIN device by using the TWAIN Select Source dialog.

 

-tempdir

Denotes path where temporary image files will be stored.
 

-threshold

Sets the Threshold value for the TWAIN device.

 

-thumbnail

Produces thumbnail images.

 

-trans

Use the transparency unit to acquire from films, negatives and slides.

 

-transfermode

 

Sets the transfer mode used to acquire files from the TWAIN device.

-unitofmeasure  [ -U ]

Sets the unit of measure for the device (inch, centimeter, etc.)

 

-uionly

Displays the device's user interface, but does not allow scanning or acquiring images.  Allows setting device options without scanning pages or acquiring images.

 

-uiperm

Allows the TWAIN device's user interface to remain visible after a set of images have been acquired.

 

-usedsm2

Use version 2.x of the TWAIN Data Source Manager (TWAINDSM.DLL), if available.

 

-useinc

Use the smart auto-incrementing feature when saving multiple pages to multiple files.

 

-v

Outputs the TwainSave version in a message box.

 

-verbose

Outputs to the screen or file the current action that TwainSave is executing.

 

-verboselog

Send -verbose output to a file.

 

-version

Displays TwainSave version information.
 

-@  [-commandfile]

Use a command file to specify commands.

 

Here are a few examples of usage:

 

twainsave -sd -filetype bmp -filename mybmp.bmp

Selects the default device (-sd), saves to BMP format (-filetype bmp), and the name of the file is mybmp.bmp.

 

twainsave -filetype gif -filename mygif.gif

Displays the TWAIN "Select TWAIN device" dialog to select the device, saves to GIF format (-filetype gif), and the name of the file is mygif.gif.

 

twainsave -filetype tif3 -color 0 -filename mytifg3.tif -noui

Displays the TWAIN "Select TWAIN device" dialog to select the device (-sd), saves to TIFF Group3 format (-filetype tif3).

The color is set to black and white (-color 0) to ensure that Group 3 format is created correctly (Group 3 must use black and white).  No user interface of the TWAIN device is displayed.

 

twainsave -contrast 20 -filename mybmp.bmp

Acquires to a BMP file and sets the contrast of the image to 20.

 

twainsave -contrast 20 -filename mybmp.bmp -uiperm

Same as above, except that the TWAIN user interface for the device does not close after a set of pages are acquired (the user must close the user interface).

 

twainsave -papersize A4  -filename mybmp.bmp

Display the TWAIN "Select TWAIN device" dialog, acquire to a file called mybmp.bmp, and use the A4 paper size.  The device must support A4 paper sizes for this option to be successful.

 

twainsave -sn "Fujitsu Twain Driver" -bitsperpixel 8 -filetype tif7 -filename mytif.tif -noui -duplex

Uses the TWAIN driver named "Fujitsu Twain Driver",

bits-per-pixel is 8

Save to TIFF-LZW format

Name of the file is mytif.tif

Do not display the user interface of the device

Use the duplex unit.

 

twainsave -verbose

Uses defaults and displays the progress of the acquisition on the screen.

 

twainsave -@ "mycommands.txt"

Uses the command file called mycommands.txt.  This file contains the actual TwainSave commands to use.

 

twainsave -filename test.bmp

Just specifying the filename does the following defaults:

 

Show the TWAIN "Select TWAIN device" window to select the TWAIN driver.
Displays the TWAIN driver's user interface.
Acquires entire page to a Windows BMP file.
The color used is black and white (1 bit per pixel), or the first available color that the TWAIN device supports that is compatble with BMP files.
Closes the TWAIN user-interface displayed after acquiring the image (see the -uiperm option to leave the user interface displayed after an acquistion)
No verbose output.

 

Note that some options may cancel out other options.  For example, an option to specify the PDFpage size (-pdfsize) will override the -papersize option.  Make sure that you choose options that do not conflict with other options in terms of functionality.

 

Also note that many of these command-line options can be overridden by the user of TwainSave if the TWAIN user interface of the device is displayed (if you do not specify -noui) .  For example, if you specify on the command-line to use color (the -color 2 option), and the user changes this by selecting a different color type in the user interface, TwainSave cannot override the user's choices, and will attempt to scan and save the image based on the choices in the user interface.