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Scan it - simple document scanner with PDF export + iCloud Drive support

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Hello all!

So I wasn't happy with the document scanner I had because it had too many features and wanted me to subscribe for yet more featuresโ€ฆ and being a developer I decided to create my own. Mainly because Apple has excellent VisionKit framework that does all the heavy lifting.

Features include easily accessible sharing of scanned stuff, generating and viewing PDF documents and automatic upload to "Scan it" folder in your iCloud Drive for easy backup and availability.

It was also great excuse to play around with VisionKit, PDFKit, exploring advanced sharing, Siri Shortcuts or building a Today widget.

Features

  • Auto document detection while scanning, edges adjust
  • PDF Export
  • Text recognition (including Live Text on iOS 16)
  • Automatic iCloud Drive backup
  • Lock Screen & Home Screen widget

You can get it from the App Store. Press kit. IndieAppsCatalog.

If you have any questions (including implementation details, frameworks used etc.) please feel free to ask.

Scan documents, recognize text - new version with better OCR

7      

Nice one. A little feedback, I thought it would be really useful if you would add the option to have text recognition since it is now available in iOS13.

5      

Thanks!

Yea my future plans include adding text recognition but only as an index for search. Do you think it makes sense to present recognized text to the user?

4      

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@emin  

If you already plan to add it, it definitely makes sense to present it to the user in case...lets say...he wants to share an article with a friend and send it as a text message on a mac? So he just scans it with a phone, copies the text, and pastes it on a mac.

Not an offten occurence i belive, but not THAT rare as well. Whatever the case is and if you decide to add it, i would suggest having it as a side option or just as a button that says "Copy Text" and text is highlighted in the image. All this depends on how complicated it is and how doable ofc :)

5      

Thanks! I think I will at least try to build it to explore more parts of the VisionKit framework :-) I am also thinking about ability to open scanned images with zoom/pan etc. but so far nobody is complaining about this limitation

4      

Well done @nemecek-filip!

4      

New update available in the App Store :-) It brings mainly OCR which is automatically performed on all the scans. This recognized text is used when searching and can also be viewed. If you for example scan an business card you can tap on the phone number, url or address to easily call, open Safari or Maps. Video of this feature is here - https://twitter.com/nemecek_f/status/1284886236893716482

Thanks for checking out the app!

4      

I've just downloaded it and tried it - it's great, so well done!

That singular focus on a task and doing it well brings real dividends. It's in my dock. :-)

5      

Wonderful! Thanks. Glad you like it :)

4      

HI all! I just released new update with iPad support for Scan it :-) The main screen is brand new to better utilize available space and also the scans are displayed in biggest possible size.

Scan it - iPad promo

Also I would greatly appreaciate if someone has any tips on how to promote apps ๐Ÿ‘ So far I am just tryting to spam Medium ๐Ÿ˜†

5      

Hello again with another update ๐Ÿš€

I have added settings screen based on feedback. Now you can configure Scan it to export scans as PDFs to iCloud Drive โ˜๏ธ and also to not create folders (scans will be saved directly to the "Scan it" folder).

There are also UI improvements for iPad version. You can select the size of the items on the main screen and also quick actions like copy and share are directly accessible via buttons (no need to tap and hold)

Scan it iPad quick actions

Think this really makes it a capable mobile document scanner :-) Without hidden subscriptions or ads.

I also noticed (dunno why so late) that the built in scanner view controller let's you apply filters (like Grayscale or Black & White) on the scans + lets you crop and rotate. All for free ๐Ÿ˜Ž

4      

What app do you use for the screenshots with device body ?

4      

I do it manually with Affinity Photo. Not super ideal, but once you have the template ready, you can just swap text and the actual screenshot ๐Ÿ™‚

4      

Thanks! I am not that proficient in Affinity though ...

4      

Well these what I have are nothing fancy really. Basically a gradient background with screenshot overlaid with phone frame with transparency and finally some text :-) If it would help you, I could possibly share my template

4      

That would be nice! Currently looking into creating a landing page for my app and there I would like to have some fancy screenshots ;)

4      

Here are the templates:

https://nemecek.be/media/files/iPhoneAppStoreTeamPlate.afphoto https://nemecek.be/media/files/iPadAppStoreTemplate.afphoto

You should be able to just tweak the background, change text and paste your own screenshot where my example ones are shown :-)

5      

Thank you Filip!

5      

I am back with another update which just went live ๐Ÿš€

This one adds per-scan option to change the OCR language. So if you need to scan something in different language that is your phone/locale, you can change the language and the app will redo the text recognition.

This is only available for iOS 14, because Vision framework started supporting more languages.

4      

Back with another update 2.5.0 ๐Ÿ“œ

  • You can now view scans in full-screen with zooming (should be there since beginning but better late than never? :D)

  • Option to pin items to top on iPhone (accessible via the swipe gestures on the list)

  • Smaller UI/UX tweaks for better experience

Unfortunately I don't have screenshots, because I need to figure out how to get nicely looking demo data - I don't want to share personal stuff that I scan :D

4      

@alano  

@nemecek-filip Great job! If you allow me, I just want to send some sugestions:

  • allow partial copy of OCRed text, not just full text (since you allow selection of partial text, it should be easy);
  • scan (OCR) images from PhotoAlbum (images already scanned).

Loved you app!

Note: An article about scan-OCR (VisionKit) with examples and scan interface control/customization (+ Xcode project) would be very appreciated.

3      

@alano  

@nemecek-filip Great job! If you allow me, I just want to send some sugestions:

  • allow partial copy of OCRed text, not just full text (since you allow selection of partial text, it should be easy);
  • scan (OCR) images from PhotoAlbum (images already scanned).

Loved you app!

Note: An article about scan-OCR (VisionKit) with examples and scan interface control/customization (+ Xcode project) would be very appreciated.

3      

Thanks for feedback!

As for the "partial copy" this is already available. When you tap and select the OCR'd text, it should display the native iOS menu to "Copy", "Look Up" etc.

Regarding the import from Photos, the reason is OCR? I am not sure if this still makes sense, since iOS now does the "Live Text" feature automatically.

As for the articles, I have already written a couple:

How to scan documents in under 10 lines of code

How to implement OCR in iOS without 3rd party frameworks

3      

@alano  

For some reason, such menu does not appear over selected text (I'm using iPhone X with iOS 14.8). Only when I longpress over it, your menu appears. But not Apple's one. Single tap gives no feedback.

Regarding the import from Photos, the reason is OCR? I am not sure if this still makes sense, since iOS now does the "Live Text" feature automatically.

About scan photos, do not forget you system is a like a library, with search included. Just ideal to keep all things in one place. And... like many others, I do not use iOS15.

"Live Text in iOS 15 only works on some iPhone and iPad models".

Thank you!

4      

Just wanted to add an update that I made the app paid. It is about $3.

The free with in-apps and subscriptions category for document scanners seemed way too crowded and this gives me extra incentives to support the app going forward.

Already got a few sales which is surprising since being free it got <10 downloads a day and roughly 5K in total.

3      

New TestFlight available ๐Ÿš€

Looking for folks to help me test the newest version :-)

The text recognition (OCR) should be dramatically improved. There are also layout optimizations for iPad and various smaller tweaks as usual.

https://testflight.apple.com/join/Qjgjm2NP

3      

Created my first App Preview video. Feedback is welcomed! ๐Ÿ‘

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vGcumV-r0fc

3      

Hello again!

Another update. Scan it is once again free! Free version is limited to 5 scans each month with Pro upgrade to remove the limit.

3      

I really enjoy the app, have been using it for a while. I thought you were keeping it free. I saw the latest update and the Pro unlocked button just brings up a sheet that says Pro version unlocked, thank you for your support, it doesn't let me do anything from that point on.

Not sure whats going on with that, just thought I'd let you know.

Taz

3      

Hi Taz! The Pro version is automatically unlocked for everyone who had the app prior to switching to in-app unlock system :-)

3      

Hello!

Scan it is part of the Indie App Santa and theย Pro unlock is FREE December 5-6 ๐ŸŽ‰

3      

Hi @nemecek-filip,

Thanks for the reply, I really the app. I use it all the time. I like the new copy text and image features as well as all the others.

Well done,

Taz

4      

Save 50% in my WWDC sale.

SAVE 50% All our books and bundles are half price for Black Friday, so you can take your Swift knowledge further without spending big! Get the Swift Power Pack to build your iOS career faster, get the Swift Platform Pack to builds apps for macOS, watchOS, and beyond, or get the Swift Plus Pack to learn advanced design patterns, testing skills, and more.

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