Use your smartphone to scan photos and documents?

Anoop Verma

You don’t even have to invest in the costly scanning infrastructure. Just download a free app that will turn your smartphone into an efficient photo and document scanner. Using your smartphone as a scanner is convenient as it lets you scan important documents and pictures while you are on the go and email or archive the information in an easy and seamless manner. The images created after scanning can be saved after tagging people, dates and location info. 
However, even though these apps are easy to use, they do require a steady hand and movement for achieving a good enough scan quality.  Also, before taking an image you should ensure that the picture or the document is lying on an even surface with adequate lighting to avoid blurriness in the final image.

For iOS devices

In case you are using the iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, you can download the app called Genius Scan, which will enable you to quickly scan documents on the go and email the scans as JPEG or PDF. The 8 MB app comes incorporated with a range of smart technologies like smart page detection, perspective correction, image post-processing. You can use it to build a complete PDF document through multiple scans and the same can then be saved to your computer.

If you still continue to remain unconvinced about the app’s capabilities, consider the fact that more than 200,000 users have already downloaded Genius Scan. Genius Scan is one of the top ten Apple apps. The power packed app also offers easy ways of backing up your scanned files to the cloud rather than your PC. You can direct the PDF of JPG files to Evernote, Box.net, Facebook, Twitter, Google Docs, Dropbox and much else. Of course, there are no ads, so you can work in peace.

There is also the app called ShoeBox, which poses as a really fast way of scanning your old paper photos and share them with family and friends. You can use the app to rotate, crop, date and tag your photos, which are also stored on 1000memories.com, the website of the start-up behind the ShoeBox app. The website is also where ShoeBox users can go to control their privacy settings if they don’t want their old photos shared publicly. Available at: iTunes store Price:  Free

For Android devices

Majority of smartphones in India are running various versions of Android OS. The Android marketplace too is full of apps that can be used for scanning. For instance, there is the app called CamScanner, which is packed with features to let you scan documents quickly and simply. In order to take out a scanned image, you simply need to take a picture of any paper documents such as receipts, whiteboards, notes, agreement and so forth. CamScanner can auto-crop image, enhance image quality and create an industry standard PDF or JPG file.

More than 30,000 users have downloaded this five star rated app. As in case of the iPhone app, the CamScanner too offers direct sharing and upload features for the cloud and popular social networks. Thus, you can use it to directly upload a scan from the app to Dropbox, Google Docs, Box.net, etc. The CamScanner also allows you to save scanned files, auto crop scans, password-protect documents and even batch scan and merge multiple documents. You can also go in for the licenced version of the app, which is available for Rs. 266.03.

You can also go in for apps like Document Scanner, which is available in both free and paid versions. Then there is the Droid Scan Pro PDF, available for Rs. 399.30, and the Droid Scan Lite, which is for free. ShoeBox for Android is expected to arrive shortly. Almost all the document scanning apps for iOS and Android come with built in safety features and hence you can set aside your privacy related worries. Available at: Google Play Marketplace Price: Free?