Acquire Usage: acquire [options] [filename[.ext]]

If no options and no filename are provided, Acquire displays its about box, which includes a hyperlink to this help page.

If no options are given but a filename is provided, a single image is acquired from the default TWAIN device using that device's user interface. The image received is then written to the specified file.

If the filename ends with a recognized extension (bmp, dcx, gif, jpg, jpeg, pdf, png, tif, tiff) then the corresponding format is used for the file, otherwise if one of the options /bmp, /dcx, /jpeg, /pdf, /png or /tiff was specified that format is used, otherwise BMP format is used.

If the filename does not end with any extension, the standard extension for that format is appended.

If options are given but no filename, and any images are transferred, the user is prompted for the omitted filename. For example, the following command will do a default scan of one image, and prompt the user with a Save dialog:

When multiple images are requested (with the /n option) the default behavior of Acquire is to store each image in a separate file, appending sequential numbers to the filenames. If the provided filename (not counting the extension) does not end with a number, Acquire appends a '1' and continues from there. If the provided filename ends with a number, Acquire begins by writing that file, and then increments the number for subsequent files. Note that the format of the number is retained when possible, so that 2 is incremented to 3, and 99 to 100, but 00175 is incremented to 00176.

Acquire writes a summary report to its standard output unless the report is redirected to a file with /o.

Acquire Options

Option	Description	Version
/0xNNNN=v	Set TWAIN capability 0xNNNN (NNNN in hexadecimal) to value v. Used to set exotic or proprietary capabilities of specific devices. Examples: Setting ICAP_ORIENTATION to TWOR_ROT90    /0x1110=1 Setting ICAP_HALFTONES to "Dither Pattern 0"    /0x1109="Dither Pattern 0"	2.81
/autobright	Set automatic brightness on.
/autobright=n	Set automatic brightness to n, 1=On, 0=Off.
/adf	Enable automatic feeding of documents (implies /n)
/app=name	Set application title: Use name in window titles, etc. instead of 'Acquire'.
/append	If writing in TIFF, PDF or DCX format and the file already exists, append to it.
/b=n	Set Brightness to n. Varies by device but commonly -1000 is minimum brightness, 1000 is maximum.
/bce=engine	Select Barcode Engine, from: dosadi, lead or leadtools, blackice	2.70
/bg	Send this command to another instance of Acquire running as a server.
/blank	During multipage scans, discard any blank images. An image is considered blank if it has < 2% dark pixels.	2.82
/blank=T /blankT	Discard blank images with threshold T. T is a decimal fraction or a percent of dark pixels. Examples: /blank1.5% /blank=0.01 /blank0.01 /blank=2%	2.90
/bmp	Write .bmp files by default, if no extension specified on filename.
/bw	Request 1-bit black & white (B&W) images from TWAIN device.
/cm	Set the unit-of-measure to centimeters.
/cmyk	Request CMYK data from TWAIN device. Can only be written to TIFF or PDF. Implies /mem.
/cn or /c=n	Set Contrast to n. Varies by device but commonly -1000 is minimum contrast, 1000 is maximum.
/close	Close the currently open device if any. Normally only sent as background server command.
/code39	Find and report Code 3-of-9 barcodes. Results are written to the report file: See /o command.	2.69
/d=n	Request pixels of of n bits. Support varies between devices, but some scanners support /d=16.
/deep	Request 16 bits/channel from TWAIN device. Only some scanners support this. Implies /mem.
/dcx	Write .DCX files by default, if no file extension is specified. Implies /n.
/deskew	Automatically deskew each page.
/dup	Request duplex scanning.
/enum	Enumerate installed TWAIN devices and list in report file: See also: /o command. Note: Suppresses scanning unless /scan is also specified.	2.71
/feeder	Scan from document feeder.
/file	Use TWAIN File Transfer Mode - only some scanners support this mode. Advanced TWAIN feature.
/filerev or /frev	After acquire, display saved file for review with Accept/Reject buttons. Dialog has page next/prev, zoom levels, scrolling tool.	2.85
/flatbed	Scan from flatbed (glass, platen) not from feeder.
/flate	In PDF output, prefer 'Flate' compression. If not specified, the default compression for rgb, gray and cmyk images is JPEG. With very clean grayscale or color images, such as those produced by the Kofax VRS driver, Flate compression can produce smaller files than JPEG.	2.87
/gamma=n	Set gamma to n.
/gif	Write .GIF files by default, if no file extension is specified.
/gray	Request grayscale images (8-bit/pixel by default) from TWAIN device.
/help or /?	Display help information.
/hide	Ask the TWAIN device to hide its user interface. Ignored by some cameras.
/high=n	Set highlight value to n. Only some scanners will respect this request.
/hn or /h=n	Set height of image to scan (in current unit-of-measure). For example: /h=7.25
/i or /inches	Set unit-of-measure to inches (the default).
/jpeg	Write .JPG (JPEG) files by default, if no other file extension is specified.
/jpeg=n	Write JPEG files and set JPEG compression quality to n. n=100 is best (and largest files), n=75 is default 'good', n=1 is smallest, terrible quality. See also /q below.
/keepwarm	Do something to the TWAIN device that might keep it 'warmed up' i.e. lamp turned on.
/leadtools /leadtools=key	Select LeadTools barcode recognition engine (if installed). If provided, key is passed to the LeadTools engine as an unlock key.	2.70
/log	Record a detailed log of internal activity, written to the file c:\eztwain.log Diagnosing problems with Acquire often begins with adding /log to the options and sending the resulting log file to Dosadi support.
/mem	Use TWAIN Memory Transfer Mode. A few scanners need this to deliver valid images, due to driver bugs. Certain other options also activate this mode, as noted.
/n	Transfer multiple images if the TWAIN device offers them.
/n=n	Transfer multiple images up to n images.
/native	Use TWAIN Native Transfer Mode. This is the mode Acquire usually uses, some options override this.
/neg or /negate	Negate each image received.
/noindic	Request that the TWAIN device show no progress indicators. Ignored by some devices.
/noscan	Do not scan or transfer any images. Used to suppress scanning when it would happen by default.
/noui	Same as /hide above.
/o=file	Write the summary report to file. The report includes any serious error, how many images were transferred, any barcodes found (if /code39 was specified), and other information.
/ocr	OCR each scanned page (requires Transym TOCR installed)	2.80
/paper=s	Request paper size s, such as A3 A4 A5 B4 B5 B6 LETTER LEGAL. Example: /paper=letter
/paper=n	Request paper size n, where n is a numeric TWSS_ code from the TWAIN standard. Example: /paper=3
/pixels	Set the current unit-of-measure to pixels.
/pdf	Write .PDF files by default, if no other file extension is specified.
/pdf+	Write a single multipage .PDF file, if no other file extension is specified.
/png	Write .PNG files by default, if no other file extension is specified.
/poe	Prompt On Empty - When device signals done, ask user if there is more to scan and if yes, continue.
/q=n	Set JPEG compression quality, from 1 to 100. 1 is worst and smallest, 100 is nearly perfect but produces the largest files.
/quant	Convert 24-bit color images to 8-bit palette color images.
/rn or /r=n	Set resolution to n pixels per unit. With scanners, the default unit is inches, so this will set the resolution in pixels per inch, or DPI. Cameras of all types will generally ignore resolution requests.
/refl	Request that the TWAIN device scan in reflective media mode. This is the usual mode for most scanners when scanning paper. Many flatbed scanners have an option to scan transparent media such as slides or transparencies. Film/Slide scanners may not support reflective mode. See / trans below.
/rev	Display a review window after each scan (or set of scans, in multipage mode).
/rgb	Request RGB color images from the TWAIN device.
/rotl	Rotate each received image 90° to the left (counter-clockwise).
/rotr	Rotate each received image 90° to the right (clockwise).
/rot180	Rotate each received image 180°.
/s=p	Acquire images from the TWAIN device whose name matches p, ignoring case. If p exactly matches an installed TWAIN device, that device is used. If p is a substring of only one installed device, that device is used. If p is a substring of one WIA device and one non-WIA device, the non-WIA device is used. I realize this sounds complicated, but it works out pretty well in practice. See also: /ss and /enum
/scan	Scan (transfer images) even if other options indicate not to.
/server	Begin running in background as a scan-server. See /bg above.
/shadow=n	Set shadow value to n. Only some scanners will respect this.
/simplex	Request simplex (single-sided) scanning.
/soe	Stop On Empty: Stop scanning when feeder goes empty, even if scanner dialog is displayed.
/ss	Display the TWAIN Select Source dialog, which displays all installed TWAIN drivers. The user can select the system-wide default TWAIN device. Note: Suppresses scanning unless /scan is specified.
/stop	Stop running in server mode and exit. Normally only issued to a background server using /bg.
/t=n	Set threshold for B&W images to n, where n is 1..255. Higher values give darker images and vice-versa. Not all scanners respect this.
/ta	Threshold Automatically to produce B&W output. Images received in grayscale or color are converted to B&W using an 'optimum threshold' for the image. Use in combination with /gray or /rgb. Can produce better results than scanning directly from the scanner in B&W with /bw.
/text:attrs=text	Draw some text into each image. Details.	2.85
/tiff	Write TIFF files (.tif) by default, if no other file extension is specified.
/tiff+	Collect all received images into a single multipage TIFF file.
/togray	Convert received images to grayscale.
/togray=n	Convert images to grayscale by reducing resolution by 1/n. For example, if you use /bw /r300 /togray2, you will get 150 DPI grayscale images.
/trans	Request that the TWAIN device scan in transparent media mode. This mode is supported by some scanners for scanning film and slides.
/v	Display Acquire version information. Implies /noscan.
/wn or /w=n	Set width of scan region to n (in current units.) See also /h above, and /x and /y below.
/xn or /x=n	Set left edge of scan region to n (in current units from left side of full scan area.)
/yn or /y=n	Set top edge of scan region to n (in current units from top of full scan area.)