ScanTailor alternative for Mac
ScanTailor Advanced has no Mac build on its own page, and the new Mac fork needs Apple Silicon and macOS 15. FixMyScan does the crop, straightening, whitening and OCR in a browser, on any Mac.
Key takeaways
- ScanTailor Advanced publishes builds for Linux and Windows only. Its README names no macOS build.
- ScanTailor Spectre runs on Macs with Apple Silicon and macOS 15 or later, and is still a beta.
- ScanTailor stops at clean page images. OCR and assembling a PDF are out of scope, so you need a second tool.
- FixMyScan takes the whole scanned PDF or DjVu file and returns one searchable PDF, with no install.
- ScanTailor is free and gives you control page by page. FixMyScan trades that control for one crop and one upload.
Which ScanTailor are you looking at?
Three projects carry the name, and they differ on the one thing a Mac owner cares about.
- The original ScanTailor. The scantailor.org archive lists Windows and Linux, a last release of 0.9.11.1 from 27 February 2012, and says it does not maintain or support the software.
- ScanTailor Advanced. The maintained fork on GitHub publishes Linux packages and Windows builds. Its README names no macOS build. Version 1.2.1 came out on 24 May 2026.
- ScanTailor Spectre. A newer fork made for the Mac. Its README asks for macOS 15 or later on Apple Silicon, and says macOS 15 itself has not been runtime-tested. It is at 2.0b7, a beta.
So an Intel Mac, or a Mac on an older system, has no official ScanTailor at all. An Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 15 can try Spectre.
How they compare
| Tool | Runs on | Takes a PDF | Searchable text | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ScanTailor Advanced | Linux, Windows | No, page images | No, out of scope | Free, GPL-3.0 |
| ScanTailor Spectre | Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 15+ | Yes | Yes, Apple Vision | Free, GPL-3.0 |
| FixMyScan | Any browser | Yes, and DjVu | Yes | $9.99 a week |
Facts on the two forks come from their own GitHub pages, checked 2 and 4 November 2026.
What ScanTailor does better
Be clear about this before you switch. ScanTailor Advanced is a precise desktop tool, and its README lists controls FixMyScan does not have:
- Per-page control. Page and content boxes you can adjust on any page, zones you can draw and edit, and a black-on-white mode you can set page by page.
- Dewarping. Marginal dewarping for pages whose top and bottom edges curve near the spine, with a manual mesh when the automatic pass is not enough.
- Output choices. TIFF pages with CCITT G4 or LZW for black and white, JPEG or Deflate for colour, and up to 1200 DPI.
- It is free and offline. Nothing leaves your computer, and there is no page limit to plan around.
Spectre adds a searchable PDF on top of that, and its README gives file sizes of about 5 to 15 MB for a 100-page black-and-white book. If you own an Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 15 and like adjusting every stage, try it first.
Where FixMyScan fits instead
FixMyScan is for the reader who wants the finished book, not a workshop. You upload the scanned PDF or DjVu file in a browser, so the Mac’s chip and system version do not matter.
- Upload the book. A scanned PDF or DjVu file, up to 1,000 pages.
- Draw one crop. The pages are shown layered on top of each other, so one box covers the text on every page. That crop applies to the whole book.
- Download the PDF. Pages come back straightened and white, text comes back black, pages with pictures stay in greyscale, and every word has searchable text underneath.
Two-page scans are split into single pages, in order. Books that read right to left are not handled by the split yet, so choose Don’t split for those.
The step ScanTailor leaves out is the one Mac users usually get stuck on: putting the pages back together with a text layer. With ScanTailor Advanced that means a second program for OCR and a third, or a script, to build the PDF. FixMyScan does both in the same upload and reads 19 languages, including English, German, French, Latin, Italian and Spanish, plus Fraktur type and Ancient Greek.
What you give up
You cannot fix one stubborn page by hand. If page 212 has a coffee stain in the text block or a fold-out map, it gets the same crop and clean-up as the rest. Pages with illustrations are kept in greyscale rather than forced to black and white, which protects most pictures, but there is no zone tool for a single plate.
There is no dewarping either. Flat scans from a flatbed or a scanning service come out best. Phone photos of a curved book near the spine will keep some of that curve.
Your files
ScanTailor never uploads anything, and for some books that settles it. FixMyScan does upload your file, keeps it private to your account, and deletes it 24 hours after the book is ready, or 24 hours after upload if you never convert it.
Which one to pick
Best suited for: ScanTailor Advanced if you are on Linux or Windows and want control of every page. ScanTailor Spectre if you have an Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 15 and are happy with a beta. FixMyScan if you are on any other Mac, or you want one searchable PDF back without learning three tools.
Not sure whether your PDF needs OCR at all? Drop it into the free scanned PDF checker, which runs in your browser and uploads nothing. If the margins are the main problem, see how a whole-book crop works.
Questions
Is there a ScanTailor for Mac?
Not from ScanTailor Advanced, whose README lists Linux and Windows builds. ScanTailor Spectre is a separate fork for Macs with Apple Silicon and macOS 15 or later, released as a beta.
Can I run ScanTailor Advanced on an Intel Mac?
Its own page offers no Mac build, so you would have to build it yourself or run Windows or Linux in a virtual machine. We have not checked either route.
Does ScanTailor do OCR?
ScanTailor Advanced does not: its README says OCR and assembling multi-page documents are out of scope. ScanTailor Spectre adds an OCR stage using Apple Vision.
Can ScanTailor open a PDF?
ScanTailor Spectre imports PDF directly, per its README. ScanTailor Advanced works on page images and outputs TIFF pages for other tools to assemble.
Is FixMyScan free like ScanTailor?
ScanTailor costs nothing and runs on your computer. FixMyScan runs in your browser; plans start at $9.99 a week, on the pricing page.
Will FixMyScan let me fix one page by hand?
No. You set one crop for the whole book and every page gets the same treatment. If you need zone editing or dewarping on single pages, ScanTailor Advanced is the better tool.
What happens to my file after upload?
It is deleted 24 hours after your book is ready, or 24 hours after upload if you never convert it.