We are all about saving steps in the workflow, and in this tutorial, we will highlight how the TWAIN interface does just that. This little interface packs a punch with workflows that involve third party software like Adobe Photoshop, Esri ArcGIS, and Autodesk AutoCAD, etc. Simply put, it makes the integration between the software, the scanner, and scanned image seamless.

Save steps in your scanning workflow using the TWAIN interface

First things first. What is TWAIN? It’s an applications programming interface (API) and communications protocol that regulates communication between software and digital imaging devices, such as Contex scanners. It’s integrated into every Contex scanner, since 2003 to be precise, and customers use it to scan their black and white, grayscale or color originals, select paper size, output size, scaling, rotation, scanning modes, color and image enhancement without interrupting their workflow.

In this tutorial, we will use Microsoft Clip Organizer to show how to use the TWAIN interface to save steps in a workflow.

A workflow with and without TWAIN

Without using the TWAIN interface, users open up a scanning application such as Nextimage. They scan the desired image, locate the saved image, then import it into a third party application. In this case, it’s Clip Organizer.

Click the import option and select Nextimage TWAiN to import the scanned image into Word

Using TWAIN, you can take a few shortcuts. Start with Microsoft Clip Organizer. Click on the import option and select Nextimage TWAIN. The interface starts, scans the image, then automatically closes, leaving the scanned image imported into Word. Viola! The TWAIN interface uses less steps to accomplish the same task.

The Origin of TWAIN

In the world of technology, acronyms are common place. But did you know, TWAIN is not an acronym (as one would expect since it’s written in all caps.) Instead, TWAIN is considered a backronym, a specially constructed acronym created to fit a word. The name was derived from Kipling‘s The Ballad of East and West — ‘…and never the twain shall meet…’ — to reflect the difficulty of connecting scanners and Macs and PC. It’s written in all caps just to make the name more distinctive. Well… apparently, this was unacceptable in the technology community, and a contest was held to come up with an expansion of the backronym, to authentically call it a backronym. The outcome: Technology Without an Interesting Name. Go figure.