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Are there good, free, preferably FOSS document scanning software for Windows 7+ with network support?

HP's printer/scanner software recently stopped working due to a dependency on Flash. With Flash deprecated, HP also left the printer/scanner support high and dry: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c02463264

Most of the alternatives they suggest don't work for networked printer/scanner devices. https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01796879

On Linux I'm happy with XSane and Gnome's simple Document Scanner.

Is there something similar for Windows?

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  • I added what I hope is the correct link for XSane. Is it correct? In doing so, I noticed the site indicates a Windows version. I've never tried it though. Would that help?
    – Amazon Dies In Darkness ♦
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 1:58
  • The website for Sane is sane-project.org and XSane is a front-end for it but its old site xsane.org now redirects to wiki.ubuntuusers.de/XSane. Installing on linux is easy as it is available through most distros' package manager. I read it was possible to get it working on Windows but it was complicated, requiring cigwin, etc. I have no idea about the site you linked.
    – adatum
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 2:26
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    Thank you! I will update the link to what you provided.
    – Amazon Dies In Darkness ♦
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 2:28

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Yes! I can highly recommend NAPS2. It is completely open-source, and is available here:

Main page:
https://www.naps2.com/

GitHub:
https://github.com/cyanfish/naps2

SourceForge:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/naps2/

In my experience, NAPS2 works very well. The quality of the output is excellent. The OCR works great too.

It works wonderfully with networked devices, and does not require Flash.

The software is available as portable software, or with an installer (whichever you prefer).

The only downside to it is that a new version has not been released for about 2 years (as of 2021 January), and there are currently 9 pull requests that have not been integrated. Hopefully, development will continue. That said, I have not encountered any significant issues.

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  • NAPS2 looks promising but it fails to detect the networked device when clicking the "Choose device" button with both the WIA and TWAIN drivers. I can access the printer/scanner at its local IP, so I know it is available. Is there something that needs to be done for NAPS2 to see the device?
    – adatum
    Commented Jan 27, 2021 at 21:24
  • @adatum I think you're seeing the same thing I'm seeing, but are getting a different result. When I click the 'Profiles' button in NAPS2, a window appears. Then, I click the 'New' button, which brings up a dialog box. In that dialog box, there are the WIA and TWAIN buttons. If I then select 'WIA' and press 'Choose device', I'll see the WIA network scanners. If I select 'TWAIN' and press 'Choose device', I'll see the TWAIN network scanners. If you're not getting the same results, perhaps try hardcoding the IP addresses for the scanners instead of using DHCP.
    – Amazon Dies In Darkness ♦
    Commented Jan 27, 2021 at 21:53
  • How do I know if the network scanner (HP L7700 all-in-one) is using WIA, TWAIN, or neither? The device is assigned a static IP by the DHCP based on its MAC, but I don't see anywhere to enter it in NAPS2's Profiles window. The "Choose device" field is not editable.
    – adatum
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 1:08
  • I am not sure. In my experience (which is not unlimited!), HP all-in-one (AIO) devices typically use WIA. Can you scan or print from other applications? Can you assign a static IP directly on the AIO device without having to use DHCP to create the static IP assignment (don't let DHCP use that IP though!)? Yes, the 'Device' field is not editable for me either... it wants to get a value from the 'Choose device' button. To set up the HP AIO, did you run the massive HP installer package and install its network drivers? I know HP also has/had a free download called the 'HP Print & Scan Doctor'.
    – Amazon Dies In Darkness ♦
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 1:52
  • To be clear, the device is not being shared via a Windows computer. It is simply assigned a static (reserved) IP on the network by the router's DHCP. Other computers can see it and add it as a network printer/scanner, at least on linux. Is it possible to access a network device directly with NAPS2, or does WIA/TWAIN require installing drivers on a Windows machine then sharing that device on the network via Windows?
    – adatum
    Commented Jan 28, 2021 at 2:29

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