Welcome back AskPerf readers! Prior to Windows 8.1, scanning could be a relatively frustrating experience with many questions coming to mind…
- Will my scanner work on Windows RT?
- Do I need to download a driver from the manufacturer?
- Do I have the necessary applications to acquire and edit an image?
With Windows 8.1, any Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) 2.0 compliant scanner will simply plug in and work, thanks to the magic of generic in-box scanner class drivers.
Since WIA 2.0 has been a logo requirement for all locally-connected scanner devices since June 2010, you can be fairly confident that any new scanner device will be supported.
The software to acquire images is also included with the operating system, thanks to the modern in-box Scan app. Start typing “Scan” at the Start screen and its tile will be displayed.
The Scan app will occupy the left side of the screen, with scanner configuration options that are automatically detected based on the device. You will also be presented with a choice of image formats and a location to save the image file to.
Once an image has been acquired, the Pictures modern app will be displayed to the right with the images you’ve scanned in.
At this point you’re free to import the image into any application of your choice, and have hopefully had a much better scan experience than in years past.
-Aaron