Introduction
If you don’t have scanners, you can nevertheless scan documents fast using an app for mobile scanning. If you want to convert your pages into a document which you can edit, you’ll need the optical character recognition (OCR) to boot. If you’re looking to upload pictures of receipts to create expense reports or transform the pages of books into text could be edited, a mobile scanner and OCR application is exactly the tool you require. Although there are many applications that allow you to scan documents with your phone’s camera, the number that convert these into editable digital documents is very small. The number of apps that can do it efficiently is even smaller.
After testing various smartphone scanning as well as OCR applications, one stood at the top of the pack: QuickScan Mobile Scanning and OCR app. It did better than the other applications during our tests, and surprisingly was affordable too in contrast to another good OCR app Abbyy FineReader that costs a staggering $60. With that amount it is only those who have high-end scanning capabilities and OCR needs will likely pay for it.
QuickScan Application and few others can accomplish the task for less than $10 However, the list of options isn’t very long. Below are the applications we suggest for OCR and mobile scanning. Stay tuned for a detailed overview of each of them which includes cost, noteworthy features and their performance.
5 Mobile Scanning and OCR apps
QuickScan
If you own an iOS device or Android smartphone and are looking for an all-in-1 mobile scanning and OCR application at the most affordable price then the best option is QuickScan OCR and mobile scanning app. Like the other scanners listed here, it automatically snaps pictures of the documents you place on top of it and performs OCR on them.
QuickScan mostly did well however, a few documents required adjustments. The receipt that was oddly shaped with a black-on-white typeface was cropped incorrectly, but it was simple enough to alter the edges manually following the scan. If you crop an image that is tilted of a document QuickScan fixes the distortion automatically. When it was time to scan documents with colour certificates, the application carefully cut away all white margins. The app had me manually increase the edges to fix the issue.
The OCR performed extremely fast with decent results. Be aware that the results can vary depending on the text you’ve chosen to scan. You’ll get better results when you scan flat single sheets of standard-sized paper that is crisp black and white text, meaning distinct background and text visibility.
Scanbot
Scanbot Pro performed better than any other program in my second test scan, which was an oddly-sized page that had black and white text, as well as handwritten numbers on the bottom. Sure, it’s a challenging task. The bottom of the page was deliberately tear-off (“tear this off while preserving the upper”) and has important information across the edges. Scanbot Pro was the one application which produced a clear scan across the whole page even though it took two attempts to get it right. Other scans that I tested using Scanbot Pro also turned out clean and clear.
OCR processing is done automatically and the final document appears in the same place as your original image with tabs on top that allow for a quick jump from one view to the next. In terms of precision the OCR did a great job. When I ran my test of the book scanner the alignment and spacing of the table weren’t rendered correctly, and I noticed mistakes throughout the text. The final product needs some cleanup work manually, but doing it is quicker than writing the text on three pages with sight. With the price of Scanbot Pro and the type of job you’re doing it could be a good choice.
Anyone who needs to manage all the scans they make will appreciate Scanbot Pro. It has smart tags and other metadata that you can add on your document, like various formats for dates, locations suggestions, and more tag suggestions based upon the kind of document the application considers you’re scanning. In terms of output options, Scanbot Pro lets you share the .pdf and .jpg file with any compatible application.
Abby FineScanner
At $59.99, FineScanner Pro by Abbyy isn’t a must purchase. However, it’s the one to buy if you’re planning on high-volume scanning plans in the future. One of its most notable features, dubbed BookScan (in only the iOS Version only) allows you to scan bound books by simply pointing the mobile camera to them. It then corrects the image to correct for distortion close to the binding, and then divides the pages in two.
In my test, the OCR app digitised three pages of the book in less than one minute. While I did spot errors in the final editing text, those were all in the difficult sections, like breakout boxes or the equations that were displayed. The paragraphs of text were near-perfectly. FineScanner maintained the table’s spacing without a hitch and it delivered far fewer errors than other mobile scanning or OCR applications I’ve tested.
In different tests FineScanner performed admirably. One document only required just a tiny amount of adjustments to the edges, and is something you can perform at any time using documents that are saved to the application.
Microsoft lens
OfficeLens from Microsoft is a scan-free software that allows OCR on images that contain text, however only when you are using it alongside other apps including OneDrive as well as Word. It requires the creation of a Microsoft account, however all apps are cost-free. Instead, you need to save the image in an .docx document and upload it to OneDrive before opening it up in Word (mobile application or web-based desktop application) for the final text. This second app won’t provide the same level of convenience you’ll get using other scanners for smartphones and OCR apps, however should you be able to skip the hassle of switching to a different application and you can get greater quality in the final product that you can get from many of the single-stop stores. It’s also free.
I was amazed by the final results of the test of pages from a book. When I opened the document in Word I was able to see complete paragraphs that were well-read and with very few errors in the equations that were displayed. Word did transform three scanned pages into nine pages typed with massive swathes of blank space between parts, however overall, the quality was extremely high. The table was nearly flawless. There were some places in the text that the OCR failed to be able to render. Instead of making a prediction, Microsoft instead swapped in the image as a video (see the above). This is a fantastic solution because I , as a person, can easily read the text on the image and then type in the words I see, thereby making it easier for me to avoid checking the wrong digitised text with the original.
Scanner for me + OCR
Speed is certainly the primary reason why you should choose Scanner Me and OCR over other scanning or OCR mobile applications. It was a breeze throughout the process of scanning at times too fast that I could barely keep the pace. It also executed OCR at the speed of lightning. Edge detection was impressive in nearly all my tests, however the accuracy was not as high. The print was not recognized everywhere it had faded, and failed to recognize the handwritten numbers.
Similar to Scanbot Pro, you can switch between the rendering of the original scan and your OCR rendering through tapping the tabs near the bottom of your screen. A flag icon signifies the language that was detected, and there are 13 choices available: Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish. The app is available in some pre-installed languages Be sure to add any languages that you require by navigating to the settings.