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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/1500862
No Country for Old Scanners VueScan (hamrick.com) is the elder statesman of this group, celebrating its quarter-century anniversary this year. There are two things that make it so notable. The first is that it is the best and most capable software that will ever drive your scanner. Secondly, it works on just about every scanner ever built, even that fifteen-year-old Epson you picked up at an estate sale for ten bucks. The interface is pretty much all business and hasn’t changed very much through the program’s long history. There are three versions, ranging from a Basic Edition at $24.95 that will easily put that garage-sale scanner to good use to the full Professional Edition ($99.95) that will save RAW files and work with film/slide scanners and can be shared on four of your computers. You have a lot of control, far more in the pro version, and some solid autopilot defaults. Behind the scenes, the Hamricks have adding AI features help the program make better judgements. The documentation even explains how to use professionally-made targes to create custom ICC color profiles for your specific scanner. Then again, it does great work even if neither know no care what ICC profiles are.