Adding a new Epson scanner to Photoshop CS5.1 on LION computer

Question

We just recently (today, in fact) installed a new Epon flatbed scanner on an iMac running MAC OS 10.7.2.  It already had Adobe Photoshop CS5.1 on it.  It seems that no matter what we do, when we click on File on go to Import, the scanner option is not there.  I am not an experienced Photoshop user (or an experienced Mac person), I am going by what the end user tells me should be there and how its supposed to work.  She needs to be able to scan from the new scanner in Photoshop.  Is there documentation somewhere that tells us how to get Photoshop to "see" the scanner. 
The computer is a brand new (a month old) iMac that came with LION.  We had to replace to replace the old scanner becsause it was not supported in LION (supposedly the one we just bought is).
Marty

Answer 1

chessgeek wrote:
Are there scanners out there that Photoshop CS5.1 version 12.1 for Macintosh will just recognize without all the intervention by an I.T. person.  Will Photoshop allow scanning from within the application with any scanner?  (the user thinks we should just get another scanner)
It's important to understand that scanning into Photoshop is not directly between Photoshop and the scanner (hardware). The entire process depends on what scanning software mediates between Photoshop and the scanner. Photoshop just sits there and waits for software to hand it an image. The scanner just sits there and waits for some software to ask for a scan. So it should not be necessary to change the scanner itself. Instead, try changing the scanning software.
When the software that comes with the scanner doesn't do what someone wants, sometimes they turn to third-party scanning software. I use VueScan, which has historically run as a separate application, but recently added the option to be launched from within Photoshop as a plug-in and return the image straight into Photoshop, just like she wants. As long as your scanner is on the supported list, this is a possible solution. But it'll cost a little money.
VueScan is an good example of how critical software is to scanning. Many people use VueScan to get around limitations of the bundled software. Sometimes they want more features than the scanner's own software came with. Sometimes they need it because the bundled software no longer works in the latest Mac or Windows OS, so it lets people keep running old scanners for many more years, instead of having to buy a new one.