ERD50
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I have a very old document scanner, that still works fine for my occasional needs (no longer supported on Mac or Windows, but works fine under Linux/Xubuntu). I occasionally look at new ones, thinking about the day I will need to replace it, but then...
I realize my kids don't own scanners, and my DD recently needed to scan some docs related to her summer job. She was home, so we used mine, but I started thinking about alternatives, so she could scan if she was away from home.
She has an iPad and a laptop with a webcam, so I figured in a pinch the camera would work for this, and then I started looking at specific scanner apps. I didn't do an exhaustive search, but when I came across this one (CamscannerHD), it worked well enough that I stopped looking:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/camscanner-hd/id558157442?mt=8
And on Android as well (though I have not tried this one, but I assume it is equivalent):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.intsig.camscannerhd&hl=en
I found the app to be really great. You go from 'capture' (click the camera), to a very user-friendly crop option (that uses some 'smarts' to make a good first guess at the document edges, but easy to over-ride), to an 'Enhance' (worked perfectly for my tests, adjust contrast and brightness better than I could with manual tweaking), and then you can easily email it (as either jpg or pdf), or save to an 'album' (which I could print from the iPad as I set up the 'Cortado Workplace App' printing app).
Best of all, you can 'sign' or markup a scanned document very easily, just write on it with your finger-tip, using one of the pen tools, all very easy. The app is free, for a monthly charge it unlocks some other features (you can do an OCR in the free version, but view only, you can't copy or email it - a 'teaser' for the paid version I guess).
Maybe others have found better apps? But this one is worth checking out IMO.
If you do occasional scanning, I think this is all you need. It won't replace one of those fancy sheet feeder types that does all sorts of automatic things, but it really is very useful. I plan to get all our photos scanned with my stand-alone scanner (even lighting, great rez), then probably retire it.
Also, a few other similar apps that may be of interest -
Use your iPad as a magnifying glass, most of these have a 'freeze' feature: eMagnifier, MAGNIFicent (my fav - no ads, color options, good 'freeze' - upgrade gets more options, but good as is), MagnifyHD. All free, some have an ad banner, but only ~ $2 to remove ads.
Another interesting one, SayText - scan, does OCR, and then will speak the text:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/saytext/id376337999?mt=8
The only 'problem' for some, it doesn't do the 'speak text' unless you have the iPad set up in 'assistive' mode, which changes how things work. But worth checking out, IMO.
I was thinking about making a stand and a light to make it easier to get a good 'capture', but I found it was pretty effective to just set the iPad on the kitchen table with the camera in the corner hanging just over the edge, and lay the document on a piece of cardboard on a chair. Placed near a window, we got plenty of even light. You could put some books under the document if you need to get it closer.
-ERD50
I realize my kids don't own scanners, and my DD recently needed to scan some docs related to her summer job. She was home, so we used mine, but I started thinking about alternatives, so she could scan if she was away from home.
She has an iPad and a laptop with a webcam, so I figured in a pinch the camera would work for this, and then I started looking at specific scanner apps. I didn't do an exhaustive search, but when I came across this one (CamscannerHD), it worked well enough that I stopped looking:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/camscanner-hd/id558157442?mt=8
And on Android as well (though I have not tried this one, but I assume it is equivalent):
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.intsig.camscannerhd&hl=en
I found the app to be really great. You go from 'capture' (click the camera), to a very user-friendly crop option (that uses some 'smarts' to make a good first guess at the document edges, but easy to over-ride), to an 'Enhance' (worked perfectly for my tests, adjust contrast and brightness better than I could with manual tweaking), and then you can easily email it (as either jpg or pdf), or save to an 'album' (which I could print from the iPad as I set up the 'Cortado Workplace App' printing app).
Best of all, you can 'sign' or markup a scanned document very easily, just write on it with your finger-tip, using one of the pen tools, all very easy. The app is free, for a monthly charge it unlocks some other features (you can do an OCR in the free version, but view only, you can't copy or email it - a 'teaser' for the paid version I guess).
Maybe others have found better apps? But this one is worth checking out IMO.
If you do occasional scanning, I think this is all you need. It won't replace one of those fancy sheet feeder types that does all sorts of automatic things, but it really is very useful. I plan to get all our photos scanned with my stand-alone scanner (even lighting, great rez), then probably retire it.
Also, a few other similar apps that may be of interest -
Use your iPad as a magnifying glass, most of these have a 'freeze' feature: eMagnifier, MAGNIFicent (my fav - no ads, color options, good 'freeze' - upgrade gets more options, but good as is), MagnifyHD. All free, some have an ad banner, but only ~ $2 to remove ads.
Another interesting one, SayText - scan, does OCR, and then will speak the text:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/saytext/id376337999?mt=8
The only 'problem' for some, it doesn't do the 'speak text' unless you have the iPad set up in 'assistive' mode, which changes how things work. But worth checking out, IMO.
I was thinking about making a stand and a light to make it easier to get a good 'capture', but I found it was pretty effective to just set the iPad on the kitchen table with the camera in the corner hanging just over the edge, and lay the document on a piece of cardboard on a chair. Placed near a window, we got plenty of even light. You could put some books under the document if you need to get it closer.
-ERD50