How to Scan Documents from Chrome, Firefox, Safari & other Browsers

Feb 22, 2022
How to Scan Documents from Chrome, Firefox, Safari & other Browsers

Web-based document management systems that leverage JavaScript/JQuery on the client-side and PHP/ASP.NET/etc on the server-side are widely utilized by businesses of all sizes. These systems allow users to scan documents directly from a browser using a client-side scanner, edit them, and subsequently upload images to a server-side database. Given the variety of browsers users might employ, this article presents a guide on how to enable document scanning across popular platforms such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and more.

Online Demo of Scanning from Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.

The Cross-Browser Scanner SDK

Document scanners aren’t natively accessible via web pages unlike web cameras. To interact with scanners through a web page, you need an ActiveX component or a third-party process such as a Windows Service or Linux Daemon to act as a communication bridge between the browser and the scanning hardware.

In choosing a scanner SDK, your first decision will revolve around the protocol to communicate with scanners. TWAIN is typically recommended when programming with scanners.

Dynamic Web TWAIN is a browser-based TWAIN scanning SDK compatible with Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari across Windows, macOS, and Linux. This SDK allows you to capture images from a scanner or load files from local or server disks. Users can then perform edits on the images in the TWAIN control, such as rotation, cropping, and others, before finally uploading them to a remote database or saving them locally.

Below is a simple illustration of the process:

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Dynamic Web TWAIN offers a JavaScript scanning library that enables scanner communication through all mainstream browsers on Windows, macOS, and Linux as well as Android. Here are some key benefits of Dynamic Web TWAIN:

  • Small: It does not use a C/C++ runtime library. Even with built-in JPEG, PNG, PDF, TIFF codecs, the size of the CAB file is very small.
  • Fast: The core engine of the image processing part of Dynamic Web TWAIN is optimized with assembly language.
  • Easy to Deploy: It enables you to copy the associated resource files to your desired web server (IIS, IBM Notes, Websphere, Apache, Tomcat) on Windows, Linux, or other platforms.

Expanding Your Image Capture Capabilities with Add-ons

Dynamic Web TWAIN also provides powerful add-ons to meet your evolving image capture needs. As your document management requirements grow, you can easily integrate these essential add-ons:

  • PDF Rasterizer: This tool lets you view and convert PDFs to images using JavaScript. You can convert PDFs into popular storage-saving formats like JPEG, PNG, or BMP or more editable formats such as TIF for better archival flexibility.
  • Barcode Reader: A powerful add-on for barcode detection in web applications. With the barcode library, you can quickly get 1D and 2D barcode information from scanned documents, IDs, or invoices.

Need a Scanning SDK for .NET Desktop Applications?

If you’re seeking to embed image capture, processing, and upload features into your WinForms or WPF applications, the Dynamic .NET TWAIN scanning component could be the perfect solution. Don’t hesitate to contact us today to learn more about this leading SDK and how it can enhance your applications.