Tag Archives: desktop scanner

fixed : create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for your printer, scanner (or any application)

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Question :
I tried your solution to create an alias on my Desktop (or in the Dock) for my printer and my scanner using customised aliases, and it works great… however, it does no longer work since I now have 2 Macs using the same iCloud account… the iCloud Syncing messes up the aliases ; the linking does not work properly any longer, and the custom icons are being replaced by the official Image Capture icon and the official Print Center icon…

Isn’t there any way to fix this ?

Answer :
Yes, there is !
If you want to recreate the old, but beloved Desktop Printer and Desktop Scanner in current-day macOS, do this :

NOTE : this works for any application that you want ot use with a custom icon without runnig the risk of iCloud Syncing messing up the custom icon

– open a new Finder window
– open the Applications folder
– typ ‘automator’ in the search field (top right)
– open the Automator app
– when asked ‘Choose a type for your document:’, choose an ‘Application’
– then click the blue ‘Choose’ button
– in the window that opens, typ ‘open’ in the search field
– from the shortened list, choose ‘Lauch Application’ and drag&drop it onto the gray area on the right (where it says “Drag actions or files here to build your workflow.”)
– now the ‘Launch Application’ action will appear and ‘Contacts’ will be listed as the default app to be opened
– click on ‘Contacts’ and choose ‘Image Capture’ (if you want to create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for a scanner) or choose ‘Other…’ and in the window that opens the Applications folder, first find the Utilities folder and inside the Utilities folder choose ‘Print Centre’ (if you want to create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for a printer)
– then, in the top menu bar click on ‘File’
– and in the pulldown menu that opens, choose ‘Save’
– in the window that opens, at ‘Save As:’ typ the name of your scanner (or printer), leave ‘File Format:’ at Application and change ‘Where:’ to Desktop
– then click the blue ‘Save’ button
– then on your Desktop, right-click on the robot icon that has your scanner (or printer) name beneath it
– from the pulldown menu that appears, choose ‘Get Info’
– then, drag&drop your custom scanner icon (or printer icon) onto the tiny icon in the left top cornet of the Get Info window
– then click the red button (top left) to close the Get Info window
– you will now see your Desktop Scanner Shortcut (or Desktop Printer Shortcut) on your Desktop
– click on it to see if it works correctly
– if you want, you can drag&drop the Desktop Scanner/Printer Shortcuts to the (left/main) applications side of the Dock and once the icons appear in the Dock, you can move the originals to your Applications folder
– or… if you want to save some extra space in the Dock, you can create a new folder, name it ‘Print & Scan’ (or something alike), drag&drop the Desktop Scanner/Printer Shortcuts into it, drag&drop the folder in the (right) documents/folders side of the Dock, right-click on the folder in the Dock and in the popup menu set ‘View content as’ to ‘Fan’ and then move the ‘Print & Scan’ folder to your Documents folder

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : have direct access buttons to printers and scanner in macOS 15 Sequoia

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|Question :
I have always had so-called ‘Desktop Printer‘ and ‘Desktop Scanner‘ buttons on my Mac, so I could access both my printer(s) and scanner(s) with just one click straight from the Desktop.

How do I do that in macOS 15 Sequoia ?

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Updated Answer :
There is a better solution for this problem in this newer post :
fixed : create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for your printer, scanner (or any application)

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Answer :
There are two options to create such ‘Desktop Printer / Scanner’ direct access buttons in macOS 15 Sequoia :

1- create new buttons : this can be done in the same way it could be done in macOS 14 Sonoma, as outlined in these previous posts :
fixed : create a Desktop Printer (one click pinter access) in macOS 14 Sonoma
fixed : create a Desktop Scanner (one click scanner access) in macOS 14 Sonoma

2- copy buttons over from your other Mac : if you already had Desktop Printer Scanner buttons on your previous Mac running at least macOS 14 Sonoma, you can them over in this way :
– have your new and your old Mac running side by side and connected to the same WiFi network
– on your old Mac, create 2 new empty folders on your Desktop
– right-click on the Desktop Printer icon on your Desktop and click on Get Info in the pop-up menu
– in the Get Info window that opens, click on the icon top left and press the [CMD]+[C] to copy the icon
– then, right-click on the first empty folder and click on Get Info in the pop-up menu
– in the Get Info window that opens, click on the icon top left and press the [CMD]+[V] to paste the icon
– then, also in the Get Info window, change the name of the folder to “Desktop Printer icon” (or something alike)
– then, take similar steps for the Desktop Scanner’s icon, and you will have a folder called “Desktop Scanner icon” (or something alike) also
– then, right-click on the “Desktop Printer icon” folder and choose AirDrop from the pop-up menu to AirDrop the folder to your new Mac
– then, repeat this to also AirDrop the “Desktop Scanner icon” folder, the “Desktop Printer” (alias) button and the “Desktop Scanner” (alias) button to your new Mac
– then, on your new Mac, open the Get Info windows of both the “Desktop Printer” and the “Desktop Printer icon” side by side and copy-paste the icon from the “Desktop Printer icon” to the “Desktop Printer” (that has lost it’s custom icon in the transfer to your new Mac)
– repeat this for the Desktop Scanner, by opening the Get Info windows of both the “Desktop scanner” and the Desktop Scanner icon” side by side and copying over the icon
– now, test both the “Desktop Printer” button and the “Desktop Scanner” icon ; the Desktop Printer button should open up the Print Center app and the Desktop Scanner button should open up the Image Capture app

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : create a Desktop Scanner (one-click scanner access) in macOS 14 Sonoma

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Question :
Back in the good old days of MacOSX we used to have direct access to our scanners using a one-click link (or ‘alias’) on the Desktop or in the Dock that was easily recognisable through a custom name and custom icon… most of the time this was referred to as the Desktop Scanner feature…
But with the introduction of macOS 13 Ventura that changed, Apple decided to make everything worse and more complex… access to Scanners was now hidden behind layers of multi-clicks… [click] Apple menu [click] System Settings [scroll down] Printers & Scanners [click] preferred scanner [click] Open Scanner…
And then the Image Capture application will open…

Anyway… in macOS 13 Ventura it was still possible to create a customised link in the Dock to have some kind of Desktop Scanner… but in macOS 14 Sonoma even that does no longer work… with some hocus-pocus you might be able to create a working link with a customised name, but the icon won’t be customisable, so quickly finding the correct scanner isn’t easy…
Utter & unnecessary bogus… Why ???

Isn’t there any option to have a ‘good old’ Desktop Scanner ?

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Updated Answer :
There is a better solution for this problem in this newer post :
fixed : create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for your printer, scanner (or any application)

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Answer :
Yes, it is still possible to get a Desktop Scanner with a customised name and icon… but it’s no longer possible to get it in the Dock, you can only get it on the Desktop… and it takes some work to set it up…

Note : since macOS 14 Sonoma uses the Signed System Volume (SSV) to protect original Apple Apps from being tampered with… it is no longer possible to even customize the icon of alias to an original Apple App and put that in the Dock…

To create a Desktop Scanner for an already installed scanner, do this :

  • in macOS, click on the Apple-icon (top-left) in the upper menu bar
  • in the pulldown menu that appears, click on System Settings
  • in the window that opens, scroll down the menu bar on the left and click on Printers & Scanners
  • then, on the right, in the Printers chapter, click on the scanner you want to create a Desktop Scanner for
  • in the window that opens, click on Open Scanner and the Image Capture app will open and the Image Capture app icon (an icon of a generic grey photo camera in front of a black background with tiny photos on it) will appear in the Dock ; if you did not have it installed in the Dock previously, it will be in the ‘recent apps’ chapter of the Dock (between the ‘docked apps’ on the left and the ‘docked files, links & folders’ on the right)
  • in the Dock, CMD-click on the Image Capture app icon and a finder window will open highlighting the Image Capture app (in the Utilities folder in the Applications folder)
  • now, CTRL-click on Image Capture in the Dock
  • in the popup menu that appears, click on Make Alias
  • in the smal grey popup Finder window that appears asking for your password, typ your computer password (the password you use to unlock your Mac from sleep) and click OK
  • then, drag&drop the “Image Capture alias” that was just created and highlighted in the Finder window onto your Desktop
  • then, on your Desktop, CTRL-click on the alias named Image Capture and in the pulldown menu that appears, click on Get Info
  • in the Image Capture Info window that opens, at Name & Extension, change the name to the name of the printer you want to have the Desktop Scanner for
  • then, find the custom icon you want to give to your Desktop Scanner and drag&drop it onto the tiny icon top left, if it’s an .icns icon file, or copy-paste it from another Get Info window it it’s a JPG, PNG or folder icon
  • >> if you already have a custom icon for your scanner, use that one
  • >> if you do not have a custom icon for your scanner yet, search in Google Images for “icon [name of your scanner]” and download that as a .icns icon file or as a .jpg, .jpeg or .png picture
  • now, if you don’t already have one, create a new folder on your Mac (e.g. inside your Documents folder), name it “Custom Icons” and save your custom scanner icon there, as you will probably need this again for every mayor upgrade of macOS from now on…
  • now, back in the Image Capture Info window, make sure you put a checkmark at “Locked” (just above the “More Info” chapter) to make sure you do not accidentally delete the Desktop Scanner
  • then, close the Image Capture Info window using the tiny red button top left
  • and in the Applications (Finder) window that is still open, you will see the “Image Capture alias” is still there… so, CTRL-click on it, choose “Move to Bin” and type your computer password in the popup window to remove it… then close the Applications (Finder) window
  • now you have a one-click Desktop Scanner on your Desktop, just like the old days !
  • move the Desktop Scanner to the most convenient place on your Desktop and you’re done…

    That’s it !
    enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : put printing & scanning shortcuts in the Dock

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Question :

Whenever I need to scan (or sometimes even to print) anything, I need to go into System Preferences, then Printers & Scanners, then click Open Scanner…

Isn’t there a one-click solution to do this ?

Answer :

Yes there is.

Back in the days of MacOSX there used to be an option for this called “Desktop Printer” : that would put a shortcut-link of your printer on the Desktop. And you could do the same for your scanner.

——————– UPDATE ———————–

With the introduction of macOS 14 Sonoma the solution outlined in this post is no longer possible – if you are running macOS 14 Sonoma, go here for the current solutions :

fixed : create a Desktop Printer (one-click printer access) in macOS 14 Sonoma

fixed : create a Desktop Scanner (one-click scanner access) in macOS 14 Sonoma

——– if you are using macOS 13 Ventura or previous you can also use the solution below —–

Nowadays, for some reason, this option is gone, and no easy alternative is given by macOS… so you will have to create some thing yourself… the easiest way is to put both your Printer’s and your Scanner’s icon in the Dock. To do so, do this :

  • go to Apple menu (Apple-icon top-left in the top menu bar)
  • when the pulldown menu appears, select “System Preferences”
  • in the window that opens, click “Printers & Scanners”
    • if there is no such option, click on the raster-icon (top-center) first and it will appear
  • in the window that opens, click on your scanner (in the list on the left)
    • if your scanner is not yet in the list, add it first by clicking the Plus-icon at the bottom and following the on-screen instructions
  • now your scanner opens in the main part of the screen (on the right)
  • click the “Open scanner” button
  • now, the Scanner-window will open, and the scanner’s icon will appear in the Dock
  • CTRL-click (right mouse button) on the Scanner’s icon in the Dock
  • from the popup-menu, select “Options”, then “Keep in Dock”
  • now, the scanner’s icon will be moved to the left and it will stay in the Dock even after you close the scanner software
  • so, next time you want to scan anything, just click on the scanner’s icon in the Dock to open the scanner software

    That’s it !

Note : creating a direct link icon in the Dock for your printer can be done in the same way

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : “Scanner reported an error” when starting scanner

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Question :

My Canon CanoScan 5600F is scanning great, even after all those years. The only problem I’m encountering with my new Mac is that I get a “Scanner reported an error” message when I try to start it from the shortlink (alias) I have in my Dock.

The exact error message is : “Scanner reported an error Cannot communicate with scanner for these reasons: – Scanner is turned off. – USB cable is disconnected. Please check and try again.” But the USB cable is connected properly and the scanner is turned on, so that can’t be the problem.

What can I do to fix this ?

Answer :

This problem was introduced some years ago, possibly somewhere within the shift from OSX to macOS. It seems to have to to with the start-up sequence of macOS’s build-in scanning software or the scanner going into some sleep mode. The solution is simple, even though it is more of a workaround than an actual fix. So if you run into this problem, do this :

  • turn the scanner off using the ON/OFF-switch on the outside of the scanner (the physical hardware button)
  • then, click the blue OK-button in the “Scanner reported an error” window
  • then, close the “Scanner” window by clicking the red dot button top-left
  • then, open the Scanner software again…
  • now, turn the scanner back on using the ON/OFF-switch on the outside of the scanner (the physical hardware button)
  • now the scanner should load the scan preview automatically (as if you had clicked the Overview-button)
  • just make sure the scan area hasn’t been reset, so…
    • …either uncheck “Use Custom Size” and make sure “size” is “A4” (or anything suitable)
    • …or manually line out the scan area in the preview

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰