After conducting my own personal war on paper , I ’ve add up to the grim ending that victory is unattainable — I’ll never completely eliminate paper from my life . At the very least , though , I can achieve a armistice and reduce the routine of dead tree fatal accident that litter my desk . Most of these light bits of newspaper include invoice , revenue , and the similar — all poppycock that I necessitate to keep , but not necessarily in paper form .
Scanner Pro
I regard experience a flatbed image scanner but I really do n’t want another bit of equipment cluttering up my desk . Plus , I do n’t take presentation - lineament look-alike for the type of scanning I ’m planning to do . So , while watch over a television shopping canal not long ago — actually it was my wife who was observe , I was just walk by the TV — a nifty portable scanner come on the air , aspire forthright at other poor soul in my same predicament . I — uh , I mean , my wife — wasthis closeto set the order when I realized that my iPhone or iPad might do exactly what I need . So , off to the App Store I went wait for image scanner apps . My lookup bear several good prospects , all reasonably priced ( or even free in some cases ) .
Scanner Pro
All of the iOS digital scanner apps I investigate work along the same lines . In short , here are the steps to scanning a document with your iOS machine :
So , with all these similar feature , how do you choose an iOS digital scanner app that ’s best for you ? I came up with three measure for my option .
Image quality
Doc Scan Pro for iPhone
For me , I intend to fling of most of the documents after I ’ve rake them , so the result need to be legible and high timber in case I need to re - print any of them by and by . In this category , all of the apps I tried produced acceptable result . Genius Scan+—$3 fromThe Grizzly Labs — produced very legible scans , but I was put off by the size of the files it produces . The SureScan feature in TurboScan—$2 fromPixoft — uses three individual shots , contrive to optimise scan quality , but I found the 2 - second delay in Scanner Pro—$7 fromReaddle — equally skillful at helping me keep a firm hand , which is crucial for getting clear results . The curving written document handler in Doc Scan Pro and its iPad vis-a-vis , Doc Scan Pro HD—$2 and $ 4 , respectively fromiFunplay — is a courteous feature , especially if you design to scan Page from volume , but one that I doubt I ’ll need very often . So , in this category , I would give a slight edge to Scanner Pro , with the Doc Scan fellowship of apps not far behind .
Simplicity and speed
TurboScan
I aggregate these criteria because a simple process should also be fast . In my causa , I want to skim a text file wherever I happen to be and terminate the process as chop-chop as possible without stimulate to make muckle of adjustments to the double .
As far as right guessing the scan area , Scanner Pro was the least accurate , with TurboScan getting it unaired than the others . However , none of them ever got it right mechanically , and the process of adjusting the margin guides is almost identical among all the apps , so this particular feature was a wash .
Doc Scan Pro for iPhone
In terms of line up simulacrum character , though , Genius Scan ( paid and free ) and the Doc Scan family all let you optimize a document with only a pair of tap , but I rarely had to do anything to the scans produced by Scanner Pro . So , despite its patched scan - area accuracy , I cede this category to Scanner Pro .
Flexibility
A good scanner app should sustain a variety ways of getting document into and out of your gadget . On the stimulant side , all the apps I review let you either snap a picture with your twist ’s camera or choose from an be image in your photo subroutine library or camera bankroll . The latter option is utilitarian if you have a machine with a blue quality camera , such as the iPhone 3GS or iPad 2 , or even no photographic camera at all , such as the original iPad . Here you’re able to take the photos with a higher quality television camera , sync them to your machine and then bring them into the app .
Genius Scan+
Also , all the apps I examined ply ways to lay aside and finagle the documents you ’ve created . But if you contrive to save them for descendants , then you postulate the ability to move them off your equipment . TurboScan and the barren versions of Genius Scan and Doc Scan proffer little beyond received e-mail and Open With features . Genius Scan+ , Doc Scan Pro ( and its HD version ) and Scanner Pro all countenance you upload directly to Evernote , Dropbox , and the like . ( Note : Many swarm store providers — most notably Evernote and Dropbox — leave you to upload Indian file via email attachment , so it is possible to direct files to those services with the more limited apps , albeit less conveniently . ) Scanner Pro ’s iCloud syncing and its unique power to facsimile a document give it the advantage here , in my ruling .
TurboScan
Final verdict
So , the $ 7 Scanner Pro is my overall succeeder , but not by a Brobdingnagian margin . It allow some alone features and produces consistently good results with minimal spat . If you plan to coordinate your scanning work between an iPhone and an iPad , then the worldwide app Scanner Pro with its power to synchronize via iCloud makes it a natural option .
However , the $ 2 Doc Scan Pro ( along with its $ 4 iPad twin , Doc Scan Pro HD ) and the $ 2 Genius Scan+ were n’t far behind . Of those two apps , however , I give the edge to the Doc Scan Pro apps since they tend to produce smaller file cabinet than Genius Scan+ ; they also have a duet of extra feature . The free Genius Scan , Doc Scan and Doc Scan HD come in next since they have all same features as their paid counterparts but just limit your output signal options . TurboScan ( $ 2 ) is at the back of the pack , not because of pitiful carrying into action per se , but because the gratis apps in this group are just as good . TurboScan ’s only vantage is its low barrier to submission ; since all the other apps require iOS 5.0 , the fact that the 2.5.1 interlingual rendition of TurboScan only requires iOS 3.0 makes it the only option in this group for people using older devices like the original iPhone , iPhone 3 G , and first- or 2d - generation iPod touch .
[ Brian Beam is a software program clothes designer and pardner with vane development firmBOLD Internet Solutions , living somewhere near Kansas City . ]
Genius Scan+
