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E-skills for Libraries and Learning Services E-skills |
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Mobile scanning apps Module
Mobile scanning applications available on smartphones allow users to scan documents easily, often with just one click/swipe on the device. Two of the most popular and fully featured scanner apps are:
- Google Drive
- CamScanner
Please note: The University of Auckland does not promote any particular scanning application and those that are detailed here have been peer reviewed as some of the best and are generally free
Google Drive (Android)
The Google Drive application for Android allows you to scan documents easily. Some key features include:
- Organise snapshots or photos of documents and then convert them to PDF later from another device
- Scans are saved both on your device and in your Google Drive account
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR) of documents and images
CamScanner (Android/iOS/Windows phone)
CamScanner is available for free (and freemium) for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. CamScanner scans any document to PDF directly and performs OCR (Optical character recognition) to lift out important information. Some key features include:
- Multi-page or batch scanning
- Auto-crop and "enhance" scanned images
- Ability to annotate scans with notes and highlighting
- Ability to save documents to cloud storage for access on other devices
- Scans in colour, grayscale, and black and white
- Supports different sizes and document types
CamScanner App Tutorial
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Google Drive and CamScanner Functionality Comparison
Mobile Scanning Application | Google Drive | CamScanner |
Platform | iOS/Android for mobile scanning and all other major O/S & platforms for application | iOS/Android/Windows Phone |
Available on | For iOS on the App Store and for Android on the Google Play Store | For iOS on the App Store and for Android on the Google Play Store |
Cost | Free | Free (freemium) otherwise $4.99 USD per month or $49.99 per year for extra options like cloud storage/enterprise collaboration integration |
Core functionality | Colour/B&W scanning, OCR, PDF, Google account integration, simplicity as already built into the Google Drive application, auto-syncing to other devices, can take snapshots and convert to PDF from other devices at a later time | Colour/B&W scanning, OCR, Scans to PDF directly, multi-page/batch scanning support, auto-crop and auto-enhance, annotate documents/scans, integrated save to other cloud storage services like DropBox, Box, and Google Drive |
Set-up | Uses Google Account | Can create account within the application for cloud storage options |
Program updates | Via App Store | Via App Store |
Storage capacity | Based on storage limits of Google Account and physical storage on device | Freemium version has 200 MB of cloud storage. Subscription version has 10 GB. Based on storage limits on device |
Sharing Options | Uses Google Account. Can send via email or other Google application and device. Contains all sharing/collaboration functionality of the standard Google application | Can share via Box, Dropbox, email, and Google Drive and device. A standard account allows collaboration with up to 10 users. Subscription account allows collaboration with up to 50 users |
