# The SANE Scanner Interface

David Mosberger
`David.Mosberger@acm.org`
This article originally appeared in Linux Journal Issue 47, March 1998

Abstract

> SANE stands for ``Scanner Access Now Easy''. It is a universal interface that enables you to acquire images from any device that produces raster images, including flatbed scanners, video and still cameras and frame grabbers. The intent of SANE is to make it possible to write image-processing applications without having to worry about peculiarities of individual devices. Looking at it from the other side, SANE makes it possible to write a device driver once and only once. That same device driver can then be used by any SANE-compliant application.

## 1 Introduction

## 2 Using SANE

## 3 What Else Comes with SANE?

## 4 How Does It Work?

## 5 Programming With SANE

## 6 SANE and Commercial Applications/Drivers

## 7 Future Plans

## Acknowledgments