5 free apps to scan documents on iPhone and Android

Remember, a few years ago, digitizing a document could be compared to a real Stations of the Cross. You had to start your PC, turn on the scanner / printer, and then launch the correct scanning software. It was then necessary to place the document to be scanned in the device, to launch a pre-scan to obtain a preview, to select the zone to keep for the final document, and finally, to launch the scanning. All this obviously after having taken care to choose the right output format and the adequate resolution according to the end use of the scanned file (display on a screen, or printing).

If all these manipulations could make you waste a good ten minutes, they are now a thing of the past. Using your smartphone’s camera and a dedicated app, scanning a document shouldn’t take more than ten seconds. These scanning applications are capable of capturing the image, cropping it and straightening it when necessary, as well as improving its rendering and readability using powerful algorithms.

We have selected for you five free applications to scan documents on iPhone and Android.

1. Genius Scan

Genius Scan has the merit of being an application as simple as it is complete. Capable of creating a scan from an already existing image stored locally or in the cloud, Genius Scan also allows you to scan a document on the fly with your smartphone camera.

The application offers two types of scanning. Single Scan gives you the ability to scan a one-page document and edit it immediately, while Multi-Scan lets you scan multiple items in a row to generate a final, multi-page document that can be edited. ‘edit later. Genius Scan also allows you to manually scan your documents, or use magic mode. If the first option requires a bit of editing work, especially to properly crop the file and correct the perspective, the second does all the work automatically. All you have to do is position yourself perfectly on top of the document and focus so that Genius Scan captures the image itself, after the application has automatically detected the edges of the page to be scanned. .

When it comes to exporting scans, Genius Scan offers great freedom to its users. The application stores the scans locally but also allows them to be sent to third-party online storage services such as iCloud Drive, Box, Dropbox, Google Drive or even OneDrive. Scanned documents can also be shared by email. An export history is also available to allow you to easily find the last actions carried out, and even to recover deleted documents. Finally, note that you can rename your files and assign tags to your documents to find them easily.

The +:
+ Local backup
+ Ability to save to a third-party cloud service
+ Choice of export resolution

The – :
– RAS

Download Genius Scan for Android (Free)
Download Genius Scan for iPhone (Free)

2. Scanbot

Scanbot shines by its simplicity, but also by its perfectly polished interface which makes it a pleasant tool to use. The application activates by default the automatic mode which makes it possible to simplify the process of scanning a file. So Scanbot tells you when it finds the document, and if necessary, invites you to come closer and stop moving to start capturing the image at the best time. You have little or nothing to do. The application knows how to manage documents comprising several pages and takes care of cropping the image and straightening it by correcting the perspective.

All the elements allowing you to finalize the scan are accessible in the same window: name of the document, addition of keywords, and editing tools (cropping, orientation, filters). The saved document is added to the library grouping together all the scanned items, stored locally within the application. Here again, the interface is well thought out and allows you to access the right document in an instant, but also to interact with it.

In its basic version, Scanbot allows you in one tap to save a scan to your camera roll, share it by email, send it to the printer, or even store it on a third-party service. In this regard, Scanbot is particularly open since the most commonly used services are present. We can thus count on iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Evernote, Box, Amazon Drive, FTP, MagentaCloud, and many others.

On the editing tools side, if Scanbot only offers optical character recognition in the pro version via an in-app purchase, the application has the merit of integrating several annotation tools: pen, highlighter, note and even signature , to affix your handwritten signature on a paper document that you have just scanned!

The +:
+ Extremely well thought-out interface
+ Many built-in annotation tools
+ Compatibility with many cloud services

The – :
– Too many options available in in-app purchases

Download Scanbot for Android (Free)
Download Scanbot for iPhone (Free)

3. Google PhotoScan

While Genius Scan is ideal for scanning documents, Google PhotoScan is the perfect complement for scanning photos. The main difficulty encountered when you “digitize” a printed photo by taking a photo again with your smartphone, is the appearance of an unsightly reflection generally enthroned in the middle of the image. This effect can even be increased tenfold if the original photo uses glossy paper which then generates a halo of light making part of the image invisible.

Google has found the solution with PhotoScan, since the application scans your paper photos in several times. Google PhotoScan first asks you to take a full-frame photo of the image to be scanned, then move your smartphone’s camera to the four ends of the image. The final image is cropped using automatic edge detection, and straightened using a perspective correction system.

The app is also responsible for correctly reorienting the image regardless of its original orientation thanks to an intelligent rotation system. All scanned photos are automatically saved to your smartphone’s camera roll and can be viewed from the Google Photo app.

The +:
+ Extreme ease of use
+ Automatically save to camera roll
+

The – :
– No manual adjustment
– No direct export by email
– No export to other cloud services

Download Google PhotoScan for Android (Free)
Download Google PhotoScan for iPhone (Free)

4. Microsoft Lens

Proposed by Microsoft, Microsoft Lens has the merit of being very easy to use. As soon as you open the application, you can scan a document or an image by selecting the type of media you are working on: business card, photo, document and whiteboard.

Business card mode lets you extract data from a business card for inclusion in your address book and OneNote using an optical character recognition system. Whiteboard mode allows you to get a perfectly readable document of a photo of a whiteboard. The image is cropped, the perspective corrected, and especially the reflections are removed. The document mode, undoubtedly the most useful, cuts the image, straightens it, and recolors it for a quality rendering. The photo mode is quite confusing since it offers nothing other than the possibility of making a simple photo, without improving or editing anything.

If you are an avid user of Microsoft tools, Microsoft Lens should be the perfect fit for you. The application, which can connect to your Office account, is able to interact directly with all the Office tools available on mobile (Word, PowerPoint, Outlook or even OneNote).

Thus, printed or handwritten texts are automatically recognized using optical character recognition, which allows you to directly search for words in images, but also to extract the text content of your images to make it editable. within a Word, PowerPoint or PDF file, stored in your OneDrive account.

The +:
+ Automatic border detection when scanning a document
+ Precision of document improvement
+ Ability to extract the text contained on the documents
+ No in-app purchase, all functions are free

The – :
– Too dependent on Microsoft Office tools
– No local backup for scanned documents
– Cannot work from an already existing image
– No export to other storage services

Download Office Lens for Android (Free)
Download Office Lens for iPhone (Free)

5. CamScanner

CamScanner is not just a simple document scanning application, but an entire ecosystem for scanning, storing and even editing scanned documents. However, to get there, you must go through registration for the service, and for some premium functions, subscribe to a monthly or annual subscription.

In its basic version, CamScanner offers you to scan your documents in a few seconds whether it is a single page or a multiple document. The app takes care of everything. The edges of the document are automatically detected and the cropping is performed immediately. CamScanner is also responsible for automatically improving the rendering of the document by adjusting the brightness, contrast, etc.

The main strength of the application is the freedom it offers when it comes to editing scanned documents. Filters are available to apply predefined settings aimed at improving the rendering of the image or scanned document. But CamScanner also offers to manually modify the parameters mentioned above so that you can get the result that suits you best. The files can then be shared by email in JPEG or PDF format, sent to third-party applications or even stored on online services like Box, Dropbox, Google Drive or even OneDrive.

Too bad, however, that some functions are only partially usable. We are thinking in particular of optical character recognition which, in basic mode, allows text to be extracted from an image, but does not allow you to edit or copy the extracted text for use in an application. third.

The +:
+ Numerous manual settings available
+ Edge detection and automatic document enhancement
+ Possibility to import an already existing image

The – :
– Too much incentive for in-app purchases
– No copy and paste for OCR

Download CamScanner for Android (Free)
Download CamScanner for iPhone (Free)