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The development of technology has made human work easier. You may have been back and forth renting a computer or internet cafe just for the purpose of scanning documents. By installing a document scan application on your phone to convert it from a file to another file format, this will no longer happen. You can scan and convert your documents to pdf directly with a PDF scanner using the camera of your mobile phone
On Google Play and the App Store, there are many brands of document scanning applications. This will help you avoid getting confused about finding the right application.
Determine the type of document you will scan.
The type of document you want to scan will determine the document format that can be selected to display the scan results. You can also specify an application with features that support your document type. Some of the types of documents that can be scanned are:
- Photos, for digitizing your old photo albums. You can scan your old photos so they don’t get lost because physical photos can fade with age.
- An important letter, for the process of submitting an application or proposal via email. You can scan diplomas, transcripts, cover letters, stamped or signed documents to send online.
- Proof of transaction, for online shopping payment verification. You can scan receipts, ATM receipts, and purchase receipts as proof of payment to send to the seller.
- Whiteboard, to re-learn lecture material or presentations from the office. By scanning the whiteboard, you don’t have to bother taking notes on the material presented. You can focus on listening to what the speaker is saying.
- Textbooks, for the purpose of writing scientific papers. You can scan page after page of important quotes from books in the library. You don’t need to bother copying books or writing them down in a notebook. Besides being more practical, scanning book pages will also save you time and money.
- Notebook/handwritten, to convert it to digital text. You can scan handwriting that will be recognized as text characters on the computer. By scanning handwriting, you don’t have to bother typing.
Check the features provided by the application
You need to pay attention to features that match the type of document so that the results are as you expect. Some of the features in the document scan application are:
- Document edge detection, for automatic scanning of documents. You can point your phone’s camera at the document to be scanned. The screen will detect every corner of the document. You can also get scan results quickly.
- Editing, for a cleaner and more appropriate scan result. If your scan results are not clean or don’t fit, you can take advantage of the editing features. You can remove annoying blemishes, shadows, and streaks. You can also adjust the contrast, sharpness level, and filter based on the color you want.
- OCR (Optical Character Recognition), to convert letter images into computer-recognized characters. OCR functions to read/extract text from scanned typed/handwritten documents without typing/entering text manually. OCR can recognize numbers, letters, and punctuation from printed documents (hard copy) to digital (soft copy).
Usually, every document scanning application has standard document edge detection and editing features. The OCR feature is only available in certain document scanning applications. If you just want to scan photos, pictures, receipts, important letters, and whiteboards, a regular app will suffice. However, to scan text or handwritten images into digital form, you need to choose an application that features OCR.
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Pay attention to the format of the scan results
To save or share scans, you can choose the format available in the document scan application. The file format can be determined from the type of document you have scanned. The format of the document also determines whether or not other software or applications are needed to open your scanned document. Some of the file formats generated by the document scan application are:
- JPG/JPEG (Joint Photography Expert Group), suitable for documents in the form of photos. This file format can be adjusted the compression level. This allows you to set the storage quality and capacity. The greater the compression of the image, the smaller the file size. However, a compressed image will lose its detail and sharpness.
- PNG (Portable Network Graphic), suitable for documents in the form of images. This file format is optimal for storing images with many solid colors (no more than 256 colors). The result of this format can display images with transparent backgrounds, such as logo images and icons.
- PDF (Portable Document Format), suitable for documents in the form of text and images. Files in PDF format allow you to copy text within the document. This is because each PDF file saves the writing format and typeface. However, PDF format files can also only display results in the form of images. PDF files are also flexible and can be opened on certain devices without the need to install additional applications.
- DOC (Document), suitable for documents in the form of text and handwriting. You can scan text or handwriting from hard-copy documents to text in Microsoft Word. That way, you don’t have to type manually anymore. However, you still need to check the text because the OCR scan is not 100% accurate. It depends on the clarity of the characters in the scanned document.
Read app ratings and reviews
By reading app reviews, you can get information on which version of Android or iOS is compatible for your cellphone. In addition, some free scan applications also limit access to their features.
To unlock the locked features, you need to upgrade to the paid premium version of the app. Reading ratings and reviews from users can prevent you from an app that isn’t right for you.
Conclusion
The presence of a document scan application certainly makes it easier for you to complete school or office matters. You can scan documents directly from your phone. However, the thing you need to pay attention to is to keep your documents confidential. Make sure you only share the document with the intended people. A good user interface and easy use will also make the application popular in various circles.
