ScanStudio is a free, open-source film-scanning app for Nikon Coolscan scanners, built first around the SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED (LS-5000). It covers the practical Nikon Scan workflow on modern computers: identify the loaded holder, preview the film, choose frames, set the recipe and outputs, scan, and stop safely when needed. When detection cannot find your frames, it works with you -- an automatic wider retry, a plain-English explanation of what the film measures, and full manual frame placement -- instead of just refusing.
The screenshot above is the installed app with an LS-5000 ED detected through the bridge and offered as a Connect target: not connected, status OFFLINE, simulator absent, no media or preview shown.
| Scanner | Connection | Status today |
|---|---|---|
| SUPER COOLSCAN 5000 ED (LS-5000) | USB | Full workflow. Real-film validated on Apple Silicon macOS (Beta). |
| Coolscan IV ED (LS-40) / Coolscan V ED (LS-50) | USB | Detected and named, not yet driven. Triage in #27. |
| LS-4000 ED, LS-8000 ED, SUPER COOLSCAN 9000 ED | FireWire | Discovery, identity, and a motion-free probe on modern macOS through the ASFireWire driver. Scanning is not wired up yet; probe output from real hardware is what unlocks it -- see #28 and the driver's FIREWIRE.md. |
Real scanning has been validated end-to-end on one Apple Silicon Mac and one LS-5000. Treat everything else as narrow results rather than a promise for every scanner, adapter, computer, or film holder. The hardware bridge can move film, so stay nearby and supervise any real job. The hardware and OS testing index is #29 -- reports from setups unlike the tested one are the most useful thing you can send.
| Platform | Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| macOS Apple Silicon | Beta | Real-scanner validated, including the detection-recovery paths live on real rolls. |
| macOS Intel | Preview | Built and package-verified in CI; not yet validated with a real scanner. |
| Windows x64 | Preview | Runs the capture path through WSL2 (Ubuntu 24.04) with usbipd-win for USB pass-through. Raw negative export is not yet supported on this path and refuses up front. |
| Linux x64 | Preview | AppImage and portable tarball; needs the distribution's SANE/libusb runtime packages and scanner permissions. |
macOS needs macOS 14 (Sonoma) or newer. The macOS packages are ad-hoc-signed
prereleases rather than notarized Developer ID builds, so macOS may require the
normal Control-click Open confirmation on first launch; do not disable
Gatekeeper globally. There is no support or release-schedule promise. The
cross-platform source, setup instructions, and live-validation runbooks are in
ports/tauri.
All prerelease packages are published together on the GitHub Releases page:
- Apple Silicon macOS Beta:
ScanStudio-<version>-macOS-arm64.dmg - Intel macOS Preview:
ScanStudio-<version>-macOS-x86_64.dmg - Windows x64 Preview: an installer (recommended on clean systems) and a portable zip for systems with WebView2 already installed
- Linux x64 Preview: an AppImage and a portable tarball
Choose the DMG matching your Mac; the in-app updater does this automatically. A release DMG contains the app, the GPL hardware bridge and CoolscanPy source required for redistribution, and the applicable dependency notices. The supported LS-5000 color-roll workflow uses the signed libusb copy inside the app, so installing ScanStudio does not require Homebrew, SANE, or a Nikon driver. The optional software-eject and legacy plain-scan paths still need a system SANE backend.
For scripting, or for running the FireWire probe without the app, the bundled
driver is also published on its own:
pip install coolscanpy. Every
ScanStudio release ships in lockstep with the matching coolscanpy release --
the pipeline refuses to build until the exact bundled driver is on PyPI -- so
the app and the package always carry the same driver code.
- Detects the reported carrier and media when the scanner can provide them, keeping simulator and real hardware visibly distinct.
- Previews the roll or strip, presents a contact sheet, and supports selected-frame or batch scanning with a Stop control.
- When frame detection fails, retries with wider limits, explains in plain English what the film actually measures (half-frame, narrow gaps, fogged or dense base, blocked film window), and offers manual frame placement -- dragged boundaries flow through the same physical checks as automatic detection, and anything recovered or hand-placed always requires your approval before scanning.
- Keeps scan settings, film stock, recipes, camera and lens metadata, naming, and save location together.
- Writes positive TIFF or JPEG outputs, an optional high-bit-depth master TIFF for archival work, and optional raw negative exports: a Linear DNG (one file, untouched 16-bit negative, infrared dust plane embedded as a marked sub-image) or a linear TIFF with the infrared plane as a fourth channel, a sidecar file, or omitted.
- Renders C-41 color through named styles: Nikon Scan (the default -- with matching builder inputs its output replays Nikon's own rendering byte-for-byte) plus experimental alternates (a gentler Noritsu-style look and a Flextight-style look). Styles only change the positive rendering; the archival scan is never touched.
- Uses Digital ICE only where a suitable infrared channel is available. For traditional silver black-and-white film, infrared ICE stays disabled and software dust cleanup is a separate option.
- Records receipts -- including authoritative per-frame timing -- so a finished scan can be reviewed after the job completes.
A Coolscan is a dedicated film scanner. It reads a negative or slide directly instead of photographing it with a camera. The LS-5000 is older hardware, but its 4000 dpi film scans and infrared capability on many color films still make it useful. ScanStudio supplies a current workflow around that hardware; the compatibility table above is the honest statement of what is driven today.
ScanStudio can create an optional archive bundle for a completed frame. It is a record of the capture, not a substitute for the image. Depending on what the job actually produced, it can include the separate RGB master, conditional infrared and meter or prepass evidence, effective settings and alignment, engine and bridge receipts, bridge attempt journals only when their exact evidence root is reported, and a manifest with checksums.
The bundle names missing evidence instead of inventing it. It does not replace or rewrite the capture files.
- Preview establishes the current registration. Preview again after a refeed or ejection.
- If Capture reports that the film shifted, physically refeed it and acquire a fresh preview; ScanStudio discards the old frame registration so it cannot be retried accidentally.
- Confirm that the app identifies a real scanner before treating it as hardware. The built-in simulator is for safe workflow exploration only.
- Keep physical film transport under supervision. Stop and inspect the scanner if the physical state is uncertain.
- Opening ScanStudio does not move film. Platforms with a hardware-motion gate, including the Windows/WSL preview, require their separately documented owner-session launcher before explicit Preview, Scan, or Eject actions are authorized; ordinary Windows Start-menu and Explorer launches remain unarmed.
- Manual placement caps frames at the scanner's single-pass capture window (38.7 mm); panoramic frames refuse with an explanation instead of silently cropping.
- Do not post scans, private paths, device serial numbers, or raw capture journals in a public issue.
Source: https://github.com/rohanpandula/ScanStudio
Issues: https://github.com/rohanpandula/ScanStudio/issues
The ScanStudio app, engine, site, and documentation in this repository are
offered under MIT unless a file says otherwise. Real scanner access uses a
separate scanstudio-bridge program and its CoolscanPy dependency, both
GPL-3.0-only. The bridge is not part of the MIT-only app boundary.
Any distribution that includes the bridge must keep its GPL-3.0-only license, corresponding source, and applicable dependency notices with that distribution. Do not describe such a bundle as MIT-only.
Third-party behavioral references (the nkscan identity facts and the ASFireWire interface facts) are documented in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md; no source code from either project is vendored.
ScanStudio is independent software. Nikon, Coolscan, SUPER COOLSCAN, Nikon Scan, and Digital ICE are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. No affiliation or endorsement is claimed.