Mustek Scanexpress A3 USB 1200 Pro Problems

Hi Henry. Same problem with no response from Mustek. Ay luck since?

- Brad

Same thing over here.
I was using it with AdobePhotoShop 3 since it didn't work with AdobePhotoShop 4 in Leopard.
Now it doesn't work not even with AdobePhotoShop 3.
I think this Snow Leopard is close to break Vista's record of incompatibilities!
Every day I find a new problem that delays my work thanks to the lack of integration of this new OSX 10.6. Instead I have to work anonymously and for free as tester for this Apple people.
It should be called then: "Slow Leopard"

Yes! Same problem. Have you heard back from Mustek?

Same here.
I wrote emails to Mustek support and also called them up and asked them to update their driver. Even in Leopard the driver wasn't working well, so let's hope they will provide a better driver soon.

Sorry to go slightly off track here, but I just got the A3 USB 1200 Pro and using the provided drivers thru CS1 find the scanned images VERY soft. The optics are much more blurry than scans from my previous Epson large format scanner. The Mustek is a fraction of the price, but I was hoping to have much better scan quality than what I am seeing. Anyone have any ideas? Would a different drive yeild better results? Could the scanner be off?
Thanks.

I should mention that though I installed SL on an external drive, I am running this in 10.5.8.

...

Hey Henry -

Yep - same here. I have an iMac and soon after I installed Snow Leopard I lost all scanning ability. Just like you said, my computer doesn't even recognize the scanner any longer. I also wrote Mustek but it's been weeks so I'm not sure this is a priority.

Is this something Apple can address, or are we at the mercy of Mustek?

I'm desperately searching for a solution. Any help would be much appreciated from anyone out there.

-bob.

I have an A3 USB 1200 Pro that I've been using the latest drivers through Photoshop CS4 until I updated to Snow Leopard...

In my experience, the scanner was working great and I can't say any scans of mine turned out "soft" or "blurry". I've owned and operated several scanners over the years and they all basically yield the same results - maybe some color shifts or slight graininess between different scanners/manufacturers, but if you notice significant blurriness, I'd say you're noticing the difference between cheaper and more expensive models.

I don't think different drivers will help you - in my experience drivers solve compatibility and stability issues but rarely have I seen quality improvements.

I'd guess the Mustek is simply yielding less than stellar results compared to the more expensive Epson.

Just my guess 🙂

-bob.

I've yet to hear back from Mustek either, I guess that is how they operate.

I'll try once more and if I hear nothing I'll return the scanner to Amazon. I've used a variety of scanners over the years from cheap to expensive, and all basically got the same results, though the more expensive ones tend to deliver greater depth and detail. This time though the quality was just frightful, not usable at full resolution at all. The image only looks good at screen resolution, but blow it up and it is hopeless.

The latest drivers they have available are for 10.5, so I guess we wait until Mustek gives Mac users a 10.6 driver.

Hello Henry I just got a return email from Mustek, the following is a copy of it:

Unfortunately, there currently is no available driver for snow leopard for
this scanner. We are looking to release this driver in December.

Thank You,
Technical Support
www.mustek.com/onlinestore/
www.mustek.com
(408) 387-6571

I have the same scanner and the same problem hope this helps. I am also looking online for someone who may have written a driver I can use before Dec. Good Luck! If you fine one please post it for others like myself that need a scanner before Dec..

thanks melinda

mmmggg wrote:
I have the same scanner and the same problem hope this helps. I am also looking online for someone who may have written a driver I can use before Dec. Good Luck! If you fine one please post it for others like myself that need a scanner before Dec..

Though not ideal, a temporary workaround would be to have either a bare-bones partition or external drive running 10.5.x, scan in that, then go back to 10.6.

Kort,
Do you mean to use bootcamp, install 10.5 , and scan from there ?
using bootcamp?
If I have snow leopard on one side of the partition, then bootcamp and 10.5 on the other?

I have adopted a work around to solve (my) problem.
I don't trust Mustek nor Apple to find a solution any time soon, or later.

I'm using a virtual machine created with Parallels Desktop 4. VMWare can be used too.
I use the virtual machine as a "layer" that supports a scanner application. I mean, with Windows 7 running, optimized for speed, set with a large virtual memory and the strictly necessary programs running in the background.
The virtual machine itself was optimized accordingly with my MacMini.

Once I got this light and fast machine and a fast and light Windows 7, I installed "Vuescan", and (among other preferences), I set it to save the scanned files in the Mac Desktop.

It runs and scans even faster that in the previous OS X Leopard, when ironically the scanner drivers ran natively in the Mac and with Photoshop CS3 and CS4 (for MAC)

Here you have some shots of my configuration:

Parallels machine menu: The scanner-machine in suspend mode for faster start:

http://img.skitch.com/20091031-geqkrjwakfjnusxw7w6k73p5qm.jpg

The machine selected and ready to start:

http://img.skitch.com/20091031-gkkpwsaia7a7axu3e2g7tq8rsw.jpg

The (application) started maximized in the machine, so it looks like the application running by itself on the Mac desktop:

http://img.skitch.com/20091031-fx6fafedcicj54iqgjx3gjsgpq.jpg

Making a preview with the scanner:

http://img.skitch.com/20091031-bia7w5pucb9rfx7isjsbg5dwwq.jpg

Scanning the selection field:

http://img.skitch.com/20091031-8t3ngftuyyas526a2ugybfypga.jpg

Setting up the default "Save" folder:

http://img.skitch.com/20091031-rk6ekhjcygkbkd8y8up3kg3hdj.jpg

File saved conveniently on my desktop, so I don't have the go for it through the virtual machine and do additional steps like drag 'n drop or copy and paste:

http://img.skitch.com/20091031-j7bs7pxuaftcpxx3finx428tx3.jpg

This can be made using Windows XP, Vista and any other application for scanning, i.e. Photoshop.

I will stick with this solution until I can!

mmmggg wrote:
Kort,
Do you mean to use bootcamp, install 10.5 , and scan from there ?
using bootcamp?
If I have snow leopard on one side of the partition, then bootcamp and 10.5 on the other?

No, there is no need for bootcamp unless you want it, just a simple alternate startup with 10.5 to use the current driver for the scanner.

Same problem Mustek don't reply. Can't find generic A3 scanner driver that might work.

The driver for 10.6 is up at the mustek.com support section. Of course I've installed it and it doesn't seem to work, but I also have their old scanner driver installed and twain-sane installed so I'm probably not the best one to test it.