fixed : CanoScan 5600F driver for macOS 15 Sequoia

Question :

I have a Canon CanoScan 5600F scanner that worked great with my previous Mac, but now I have upgraded to a new M4 Mac running macOS 15 Sequoia.

I’ve looked on the Canon website and searched the internet, but there is no macOS 15 Sequoia compatible driver available for this scanner.

Is there any way to use this CanoScan 5600F scanner in macOS 15 Sequoia ?

Answer :

Yes, there is …and it still works (nearly) the same way on Intel Macs and Apple silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) Macs running macOS 15 Sequoia :

  • goto Canon’s US website : https://www.usa.canon.com
  • choose Support > Scanners > Film & Negative Scanner > CanoScan 5600F
  • or use this link : https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/scanners/film-negative-scanner/canoscan-5600f/canoscan-5600f?subtab=downloads-drivers
  • there, click on the “Drivers & Downloads” tile (huge button)
  • then, choose “macOS Mojave v10.14” (even though your on macOS Sequoia v15 – don’t worry) as your operating system and “English” as your language
  • now, you will see 2 drivers listed :
    • > 5600F Scanner Driver Ver.14.11.5h (Mac) : msd_-mac_cs5600f-14_11_5h-ea8_2.dmg
      • > ICA Driver Ver.4.1.4a (Mac) : misd-mac-ijscanner2-4_1_4-ea21_3.dmg
  • download both of them
    • note that despite the fact that both are versions from 2018, these will still work with macOS 15 Sequoia
  • goto your downloads folder
  • first, double-click on the file named msd_-mac_cs5600f-14_11_5h-ea8_2.dmg
  • this will mount the ScanGear_CanoScan 5600F_141105.pkg
  • again, click on that and version 14.11 of the ScanGear driver installer will open
  • now, follow the on-screen directions and the latest ScanGear driver will be installed
  • if you have an M1/M2/M3/M4 Mac, you will need to allow to allow the Rosetta Intel-simulator software too (probably only needed for the installer, the actual driver can probably do without)
  • then, double-click on the file named misd-mac-ijscanner2-4_1_4-ea21_3.dmg
  • this will mount the Canon IJScanner2_040104.pkg
  • again, click on that and version 4.1.4 the IJScanner2 driver installer will open
  • now, follow the on-screen directions and the latest IJScanner2 driver will be installed
  • when done, click on the Apple-logo top-left in the top menu bar
  • in the pulldown menu that appears, click on “System Settings”
  • in the window that opens, scroll down in the menu list on the left and click on “Printers & Scanners”
  • if the CanoScan 5600F is already listed in the Scanners chapter, click it
  • if not, click the “Add Printer, Scanner or Fax” button first to add the scanner
  • when done, click the CanoScan 5600F in the Scanners chapter
  • when the scanner details open on the right, click on the “Open Scanner”-button
  • now, the built-in macOS ImageCapture.app will open and it will immediately do a preview scan of whatever is in the scanner

NOTE : you might run into a small problem every once in a while ; when the automatic scanning preview starts, you might get an error saying “Scanner reported an error – Cannot communicate with scanner for these reasons: – Scanner is turned off. – USB cable is disconnected. Please check and try again.” If so, just flip the scanner’s ON/OFF-switch in OFF-position manually and then back into ON-position. Then click “OK” in the error message window, then click the “Overview” button in the ImageCapture window. That should help in making the scanner preview work again.

enjoy 😉

fixed : CanoScan 5600F driver for macOS Sonoma

Question :

I have a Canon CanoScan 5600F scanner that worked great with my previous Mac, but now I have upgraded to a new M1 Mac running macOS 14 Sonoma.

I’ve looked on the Canon website and searched the internet, but there is no macOS 14 Sonoma compatible driver available for this scanner.

Is there any way to use this CanoScan 5600F scanner in macOS 14 Sonoma ?

Answer :

Yes, there is …and it still works this way on Intel i5/i7-Mas running macOS 14 Sonoma, and almost certainly on M1 (and M2) Macs also (since it worked on M1/M2-Macs in macOS 13 Ventura) :

  • goto Canon’s US website : https://www.usa.canon.com
  • choose Support > Scanners > Film & Negative Scanner > CanoScan 5600F
  • or use this link : https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/scanners/film-negative-scanner/canoscan-5600f/canoscan-5600f?subtab=downloads-drivers
  • there, click on the “Drivers & Downloads” tile (huge button)
  • then, choose “macOS Mojave v10.14” (even though your on macOS Sonoma v14 – don’t worry) as your operating system and “English” as your language
  • now, you will see 2 drivers listed :
    • > 5600F Scanner Driver Ver.14.11.5h (Mac) : msd_-mac_cs5600f-14_11_5h-ea8_2.dmg
      • > ICA Driver Ver.4.1.4a (Mac) : misd-mac-ijscanner2-4_1_4-ea21_3.dmg
  • download both of them
    • note that despite the fact that both are versions from 2018, these will still work with macOS 14 Sonoma
  • goto your downloads folder
  • first, double-click on the file named msd_-mac_cs5600f-14_11_5h-ea8_2.dmg
  • this will mount the ScanGear_CanoScan 5600F_141105.pkg
  • again, click on that and version 14.11 of the ScanGear driver installer will open
  • now, follow the on-screen directions and the latest ScanGear driver will be installed
  • then, double-click on the file named misd-mac-ijscanner2-4_1_4-ea21_3.dmg
  • this will mount the Canon IJScanner2_040104.pkg
  • again, click on that and version 4.1.4 the IJScanner2 driver installer will open
  • now, follow the on-screen directions and the latest IJScanner2 driver will be installed
  • when done, click on the Apple-logo top-left in the top menu bar
  • in the pulldown menu that appears, click on “System Settings”
  • in the window that opens, scroll down in the menu list on the left and click on “Printers & Scanners”
  • if the CanoScan 5600F is already listed in the Scanners chapter, click it
  • if not, click the “Add Printer, Scanner or Fax” button first to add the scanner
  • when done, click the CanoScan 5600F in the Scanners chapter
  • when the scanner details open on the right, click on the “Open Scanner”-button
  • now, the built-in macOS ImageCapture.app will open and it will immediately do a preview scan of whatever is in the scanner

NOTE : you might run into a small problem every once in a while ; when the automatic scanning preview starts, you might get an error saying “Scanner reported an error – Cannot communicate with scanner for these reasons: – Scanner is turned off. – USB cable is disconnected. Please check and try again.” If so, just flip the scanner’s ON/OFF-switch in OFF-position manually and then back into ON-position. Then click “OK” in the error message window, then click the “Overview” button in the ImageCapture window. That should help in making the scanner preview work again.

enjoy 😉

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

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 😉