Using a desktop scanner to bring printed materials into Adobe Photoshop is as sure-enough as Photoshop itself . In fact , one of the cause Photoshop became the de facto image editor program is that Adobe licence it to be bundle up with scanners throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s when designers and publisher were buy their first scanners . In those days , if you grease one’s palms a scanner , you start out Photoshop !

Now , everything has changed . After 20 year of “ scanning into Photoshop , ” the latest Macs , OS X , and Photoshop CS6 have made so many changes to their architecture that users of some older scanners — as well as current users of Apple ’s Mountain Lion ( OS X 10.8 )   are finding it impossible to do this any longer .

There are several reasons for this breakdown , and several ways to deal with the consequences .

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What broke?

TWAIN : Beginning in the other 1990s , Apple and Photoshop supported TWAIN plug - ins . TWAINwas developed as a cosmopolitan standard so that applications programme could get at various manufacturing business ’ image scanner driver see to it . In most cases , it worked brilliantly — so brilliantly that citizenry forget about the maturate TWAIN connection technology between their apps and their digital scanner .

Since Mac OS X 10.6 , Apple has been encouraging developers to move away from TWAIN and instead apply the ImageKit technology that is at the heart of Apple ’s Image Capture utility . Photoshop CS6supports both TWAIN and ImageKit drivers , but to use a TWAIN driver , you must download and instal Adobe’soptional plug - in . Photoshop Elementsalso has a TWAIN plug - in , but you ’ll have to move it from the Optional Plug - in pamphlet to the Plug - ins folder . Clearly , Adobe is also directing users away from TWAIN .

64 - snatch vs. 32 - bit : In improver , Apple has been moving to a 64 - bit computer architecture in OS X , and away from the older 32 - scrap architecture that almost all TWAIN driver were indite for .

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AdobeCreative Suite 6offers the first version of Photoshop that runs solely in 64 - bit modal value . This means that any jade - ins you want to use in Photoshop CS6 must also be written for 64 - turn performance , or they simply wo n’t work . Unfortunately , most TWAIN scanner number one wood were write for 32 - chip operation , and unless their developers chose to re - write them for 64 - morsel operation , you wo n’t be able to use them in Photoshop CS6 . driver can be 32 - flake only , 32- and 64 - fleck ( universal ) , or 64 - bit only , although it ’s very unbelievable any driver would be 64 - bit only .

PowerPC vs. Intel : If your scanner is really old , its twosome driver may have been written only for PowerPC CPU and not for Intel CPU . In that case it wo n’t work at all on Mac OS X 10.7 Lion or high . Here ’s how to order : if your Mac is already run Lion and your image scanner is work , its TWAIN driver was written for Intel processors and will work in Photoshop CS6 . If your Mac is running Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard or originally , contact your electronic scanner manufacturer and necessitate if your number one wood is Intel - aboriginal , or check the system requirement for that number one wood online . If you have Photoshop CS5 die hard in its normal 64 - bit mode , and your scanner is available in the File > - Import - > … menu , then the scanner will continue to exercise in CS6 . To be trusted Photoshop CS5 is run in 64 - flake mode , select the Photoshop CS5 app ikon in the Finder , choose Indian file - > Get Info , and then ensure the checkbox labeled Open in 32 - bit Mode is unchecked . Conversely , if you need to run down in 32 - fleck fashion ( or expend any other plug - In that are functional only in 32 - bit manner ) in Photoshop CS5 , you would check that the 32 - flake Mode box is checked .

The bottom line is that TWAIN drivers are on their elbow room out , and ImageKit drivers are now the measure .

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Your options

If you desire to continue using an older electronic scanner , you have several pick .

Check to see if there is a 64 - minute duad driver usable from the scanner ’s manufacturing business . If so , deploy the optional TWAIN chaw - in for Photoshop CS6 and your 64 - bit gadget driver . You ’ll then be able to scan into Photoshop CS6 .

If there is no 64 - fleck driver for your electronic scanner , use an old version of Photoshop , run in 32 - bit mode . ( To run Photoshop in 32 - bit manner , choose the Photoshop CS5 covering picture in the Finder , choose File - > Get Info , and then tick the checkbox labeled Open in 32 - bit Mode . ) If necessary , give a Mac for use as a scanning workstation . This result is more common than you might call up — especially with expensive scanners .

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If your scanner has a standalone scanning utility , use it . If not , purchase a third - party skim usefulness such asVueScanfrom Hamrick Software ( $ 40 for the standard version ; $ 80 for the professional edition ) orSilverFastfrom LaserSoft Imaging ( with Leontyne Price ranging from $ 49 to $ 499 look on the specific Cartesian product ) . A side welfare of using one of these third - company utility is that they often provide more capabilities than do the scanning utility bundled with scanners , and they are often easier to utilize . Once your scanning utility has made the scan , save it in TIFF data formatting and open up it in Photoshop for adjustments .

Using ImageKit drivers

If your scanner does have an ImageKit machine driver , you ’ll be able-bodied to get at it in Photoshop by opt File - > significance - > Images from machine . In the resulting dialogue boxful , you ’ll see your digital scanner and any other devices that have images on them , such as an iPhone , iPad , or digital camera .

bakshis : If you want to test your scanner before upgrading to Photoshop CS6 , just launch Image Capture . If you may rake using Image Capture , you ’ll be able to scan into Photoshop CS6 .

Mountain Lion

While the above techniques work in Snow Leopard and Lion , they do not act upon in

MountainLion . Right now , if users are running Mountain Lion ( OS X 10.8 ) , they will not be able to read into Photoshop CS6 as described . According to Adobe , this is an across - the - plank trouble with the Cocoa classes comprising the scan interface that it is using in Photoshop . It is neither a user nor a scanner manufacturer outcome .

Adobe is aware of the trouble , has identified it as an Apple OS publication that they are working with Apple to solve , and offer no meter build for when it will be fixed .

There are workarounds , however . Adobe suggests doing the initial CAT scan with Image Capture in OS X and then opening the resulting file in Photoshop CS6 . While using two programs or else of one is not the most refined resolution — peculiarly if you ’re look for that nifty impertinent object layer workflow — this technique will allow you to work with your scan Photoshop CS6 .

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended