so is there no hope?
There is always hope that people buy proper printers and not HP.
Back in 2000-2010 HP used to release Linux drivers which helped CUPS that lead to being able to use the scan function like a normal flatbed/page-feed scanner, in their growing desire to turn printers into a service of customers paying for pages on the ink program its a lost cause on consumer HP printers/AIOs. From a budget price point you can buy small business printers for not that much more than a consumer printer and avoid bloatware.
At the current management direction of HP, if you buy any of their consumer printers they’re expecting you to be running Windows for their optional ink program and not using Linux so they have less reason to open loopholes to bypass their Windows bloatware. From personal experience if you plan to heavily use an AIO for daily copying/scanning you’re better off with one of their OfficeJet models as they’re built for being used–if you want to completely avoid HP, I’ve had great luck with Epson WorkForce and Canon printers as they don’t have bloatware.
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But OP IS running windows… just wants an alternative software package to scan stuff?
I would not suggest Adobe, but have you, OR ANYONE ELSE HERE encountered a different scanning app for windows?
I mean, printer drivers should still work without the bloat, but scanning needs a 3rd party app? Or, am I wrong @Matt_Parker and you need the whole shebang?
I have given up on printers and scanners to the point where passing a webcam through to a VM running Android with Microsoft Office Lense installed is a valid option.
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Have you tried uninstalling all but the essential portions of the driver, then using Windows Fax & Scan to scan the document?
Apart from the actual driver, most of the printer software for Windows is unnecessary. If it is a newer printer, and supports IPP and WSD or mDNS/Zeroconf/Bonjour there is a chance that the driver package is entirely unnecessary.
For printing, but not scanning, Gutenprint might have Windows drivers? Whatever you do, be careful what and where you download it from, especially if it is unsigned.
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I skipped the primer all together and just use my phone.
A bit annoying setting up a box out of junk every now and then I need a set focus, but preferred over having a whole printer &scanner etc
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May as well as here: what do you guys consider the least bad printer?
Looking to get away from HP, I went with a Brother MFC-J497DW since it was on sale and paid for by work. It’s complete dogshit. Chokes on Avery labels, needs to be turned off and then on to connect to it via Wi-Fi if you haven’t used it in the last hour, loves to complain about low ink, and the print head likes to clog.
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VueScan in my experience works if an AIO doesn’t have a crippled driver, back in the early 2000s I made the mistake of telling my mom to get an OfficeJet that was based on a HP Deskjet AIO and it only worked with HP’s scanning software. The only upside for my mom was she encountered a page feeder flaw and HP replaced it with a normal OfficeJet which worked out of the box with any program. The downside is VueScan will put you nearly halfway into the cost of a new printer at $75 USD for a lifetime license.
The tricky part is ever since HP stopped much of their AIO consumer printer drivers on Linux there is less documentation on direct interacting with the scanner function–HP consumer AIO printers don’t always support TWAIN which means 3rd party scan software such as VueScan may never work.
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I am running windows 10, and don’t plan on switching to Linux. Ever. Also I need something that is free. I have included the printer model in the description of the post to aid in finding specifics drivers.
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Going by the user manual you’re stuck installing HP’s software for the scanning to the computer part. I wasn’t suggesting Linux, the ability for open source software to work on many AIO/scanners is for the makers’ driver to support TWAIN-if a printer/scanner doesn’t its relying on custom firmware/middleware that HP may not fully control or own(back in the 90s there were flatbed scanners that used middleware & wouldn’t work on anything past a certain version of Windows).
HP hasn’t been the same company due to the last several CEOs, they used to fully design their printers from consumer to enterprise and they slowly turned their consumer products into near throw-away eWaste after 2-3yrs–if your printer lasted past 2yrs it was more about luck. (over the years I’ve met ex-HP employees who left between 2007-2012 and they always complained about bad management decisions)
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ok, interesting, but once again, is there anything that will be FREE and that will WORK right now? Basically I only need to scan in one document, if I had more I would jump through all of HPs stupid hoops, but I don’t.
You really need to install the HP printer driver, if applications such as GIMP, Paint.Net, etc can import from a scanner then you’ll know what the limits of the HP printer driver–I have no idea if GIMP supports Adobe PS scanner plugins but its worth looking into. Some HP AIO printers only support payware which use plug-ins(ex: Adobe Photoshop/Elements). I don’t own a HP printer so I can’t help beyond that.
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Have you tried using the Windows Fax & Scan program I mentioned above? You do not need to install or uninstall anything to test it, Fax & Scan is part of Windows.
If you search for “Fax” from the start menu is likely to be the first and only result, unless your printer includes fax functionality, and the HP software included something to control that.
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I’m checking it out now. it tried to connect and then said failed could not complete scan. 
Hmm. I have seen a scanner never show up, but outright errors are a bit more rare; are you sure you are in Scan mode, not Fax mode; there is a control to change between the two at the bottom left of the window.
Otherwise, I would try uninstalling the driver and trying again, sometimes Window’s built-in default IPP and TWAIN drivers are less problematic than the one’s shipped by the vendor.
Have you mentioned what model printer this is? The thread title says it is a HP DeskJet 1510.
never mind, I followed your directions and managed to get it to work. FINALLY. Thanks everyone!
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Details please sir, feedback is important; especially for avoiding XKCD/979 or Rossmann:LinuxForumMan scenarios.
Did you need to uninstall anything?
Was it accidentally in Fax mode?
What was causing the “failed could not complete scan” error?
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I have no idea what caused the error, might have been my printer was off? I didn’t need to uninstall anything, In the future I will just look for native support before involving people on the forum, I feel kinda silly.
Do not worry about it; this forum is fairly visible to search results, so this thread could help someone else with similar issues.
I feel rather silly as well, I asked what the model of printer was, although you listed it in the thread title.
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