12. A method for scanning an image comprising: sending, from a source manager operating in accordance with the TWAIN protocol to an acquisition layer, a request for an image, the request originating from an application; scanning the image with a scanner in response to the request for the image being sent to the acquisition layer from the source manager; performing by the acquisition layer optical character recognition on the image to obtain machine editable text, wherein the optical character recognition on the image is performed independent of the image as received by the application; forwarding the image from the acquisition layer to the application; and, forwarding the machine editable text from the acquisition layer to a location accessible by a user of the application.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein forwarding the machine editable text from the acquisition layer to a location includes at least one of the following: placing the machine editable text in a system clipboard; and placing the machine editable text in a disk file.