Best Iphone Apps Review

Scanmobile Turns iPhone Camera into Portable Scanner is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Price: $4.99     Score: 9/10     By A. Papachristos

Before the creation of the all-in-one printer, easy access to a copier, scanner or fax machine was slim.  When desperate, one would have to run to the nearest office supply store and pay them to do the task for you.  However, having access to such contraptions in your home still does not help when, like most, you are on the move and simply can’t afford to slow down.

But, with Scanmobile by LocBay Ltd, iPhone users will never have to slow down again.  Scanmobile turns your phone’s camera into a quick, convenient and affordable scanner so you can copy and share text and documents everywhere you go.  Plus, the portable scanner now in the palm of your hand employs smart optical transformation technology that turns any picture into a clear, readable document as if you just used an actual scanner or copier.

For anyone who has ever tried to take a picture of text on paper, or perhaps even a board, you know that the camera’s quality distorts the photo, making it grainy, uneven and sometimes hard to read.  Such shabby quality is certainly not something you can pass along to a colleague or anyone of importance for it does not look professional in the slightest.  However, Scanmobile eradicates this problem by cleaning up the digital noise.  Scanmobile will remove any shade or unwanted light that may be detracting from the photo, as well as automatically adjust the document so it looks as if it were indeed laid flat on a scanner.  This, combined with the automatic sharpening of the lines’ texture, brings about the final product: a PDF document that can be sent via email right within Scanmobile itself.

When you startup Scanmobile, you will first need an image.  Users may use the file icon in the bottom left corner to access a pre-existing image, or use the camera icon in the bottom right corner to take a new picture right within the application.  Once you have approved the photo, Scanmobile will load the image and the auto-detection will set preliminary cropping parameters, though these can always be adjusted by hand by the user if they so choose.

To label your new document with a name, use the third icon in from the left in the bottom navigation bar.  Next to that, users will find an icon that lets them return the cropping parameters back to the original suggestion in case they attempt to adjust things on their own and are displeased.

Next to that, users will find another icon, this time allowing for the rotation of the photo before processing.  When rotating, I suggest proceeding slowly because, after multiple attempts at rotating numerous different documents, I found that rotating often led to Scanmobile freezing and then crashing, leaving me to start over.  While this may seem significant, I would hardly consider this flaw to be detrimental to the app’s overall convenience.  Though I’m sure this is bound to be fixed in future updates, as long as you proceed with caution at the moment, you should find you have no problem.  Simply have patience.

After your image has processed, you will see that the results are just what is promised.  Your image will now look like a scanned or copied document, as if you used the real thing.  Even handwritten notes come out looking clearer than the original image, and may even be more vibrant than the actual notepaper itself.  Everything truly looks like a photocopy.  Once you are satisfied, simply save your image you your photo library for future reference, or send it right along as the resulting PDF file via email.

While iPod Touch users can get some use out of Scanmobile by using pre-existing photos of text already saved to their photo library, the application becomes void of all the convenience it has to offer, basically making the investment a waste of money for users of said device.  However, anyone with an iPhone who ever has or ever will need a photocopier or scanner-like apparatus in the palm of their hand at any given moment shouldn’t hesitate to spend the $4.99, for the convenience will pay for itself after one use.

Scanmobile requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

Bookmark this Best Iphone App Review Post

Hide Sites

DocScanner is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

As a child, i.e. currently, I used to love watching secret agents and private investigators sneak into offices/unauthorized areas and, using hi-tech tools (a camera; it’s no shoe-phone, but it got the job done), take pictures of confidential/top-secret/incriminating documents. How many times have you been in a situation requiring you to do the same (if your answer is anything other than zero, you can skip this review, as I’m sure you already have access to superior technology, e.g. micro-chip/camera embedded in eyeball(s), etc., that renders this review obsolete)?

So, imagine my delight) when I learned of DocScanner, a document scanner app created by (the assumedly non-espionage-related agency) Norfello. Among other features, it boasts Optical Character Recognition, automatic edge detection, automatic perspective and rotation correction and multi-page document support.

The premise behind DocScanner is simple: Take a photo (or an existing image) or a photo of any document with the application and save it to DocScanner or your Camera Roll, send it to Evernote or email it as an attachment (PDF or JPG).

DocScanner boasts the ability to do all the above automatically, without having to manually crop, rotate, etc. According to the developers, all one needs to do is take a photo of any document with the application, or choose a picture from your Camera Roll/Photo Library and determine the options you like, e.g. image quality, aspect ratio and paper size (as long as the target is lighter than its background, DocScanner will understand the edges of the document). The application then automatically determines the edges of the document and prompts its user to decide what they want to do with the image (see above paragraph). All the user needs to do is decide the quality and size of the document. DocScanner then automatically corrects the keystones, requiring no need for manual rotating, cropping or scaling.

Despite DocScanner’s claims, I encountered problems using the app.

DocScanner has no preset image settings and its options do not definitively delineate between color and black and white documents/images. The two image settings are “Background Whiteness” and “Sharpen Image.” “Background Whiteness” is subdivided among three settings: 1) Basic, 2) Enhanced and 3) Aggressive. While scanning color and black-and-white documents/images, I found I was receiving different results with all three options, leaving me confused as to what option was best or should be used in different situations. The other image setting, “Sharpen Image,” makes text easier to read when activated, but only speeds up the scanning process when “off.” Shouldn’t these two co-exist as a standard feature? I think modifying DocScanner’s current image settings/feature set, to include the use of “presets,” would make for an easier and more efficient use of the application.

Speaking of features, DocScanner’s current interface can be a little confusing. The functional hierarchy (especially regarding DocScanner’s OCR and its integration within the application) could be better-defined/interfaced, in a more linear, cohesive, user-friendly manner. The current interface has a separate “Spooler” option that serves as the app’s text-recognition tool (OCR). One basically has to save the scan to DocScanner, then open the “Spooler” feature to process the scan.

After taking/importing images (from the Camera Roll/Photo Library), DocScanner prompts you to crop the photo/adjust the image’s geometrical proportions/perspective, by dragging the corners of a purple crop-line tool to meet the alignment of the original image. This tool, when used with the optional magnification tool, is very precise, but not without cost: The line is hyper-sensitive to touch and I often became frustrated trying to move the line and have it stay in the spot where I moved it to (after lifting my finger).

Unfortunately, I had to do this with all images (and many documents), as there is no “select all” feature. It’s not a deal breaker, though, as, in the end, the tool’s precision overshadows it’s hyper-sensitivity. That said, I wasn’t impressed with DocScanner’s auto-recognition capabilities as they relate to images. Here’s an image I loaded from my Photo Library (isn’t he a cutie? I sure would hate to do anything to mar his cute face!):

Here’s the same image after loading it into DocScanner, showing the auto-recognition line(s):

Here’s the image after DocScanner scanned it, using it’s auto-recognition:

Aye Carumba! Move onto the next picture, STAT! Now, here’s the same image after I manually adjusted the auto-recognition lines and scanned it into DocScanner:

As you can see, the image’s integrity, while for the most part, is still intact, but it has been slightly compromised. I tried scanning the image under different image settings configurations, but the end result was consistently the same.

Here’s the same image, scanned with a comparable document scanning app, using that app’s built-in auto detection/recognition:

Photographing/scanning color documents with DocScanner, using their suggestion that the document be placed on/against a dark-colored object, works very well. The auto-recognition works as advertised and the quality/integrity of the image and its attributes remain(s), for the most part, uncompromised (uh, this is my wife’s magazine):

Photographing/scanning black and white documents also works well with DocScanner (using their suggestion that the document be placed on/against a dark-colored object). Unfortunately, I found DocScanner’s auto-detection/recognition only detects the edges of a document you are photographing [black-and-white and color] in these conditions. Otherwise you have to manually adjust/define the document’s/images edges, i.e. if you take a picture of a white letter/document on a white/light background, DocScanner can’t automatically detect the edges; the user has to do it manually.
.
That said, I found it difficult to scan legible text-heavy documents, even with the use of DocScanner’s OCR (Optical Character Recognition is the mechanical or electronic translation of images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text [usually captured by a scanner] into machine-editable text). This problem is exacerbated by DocScanner’s somewhat confusing interface, which lists “Documents” separate from “Spooler,” the OCR/Text Recognition function, as opposed to integrating the two to make the app/these functions, more user-friendly.

When taking photos of any documents, especially those containing a large amount of text, the user must keep the iPhone/camera as still/steady as possible, or the words on the subsequent scan will be blurry, illegible and/or difficult to read. That said, DocScanner does not contain an on-screen camera stabilization feature in its current feature-set. Adding this feature would aid/prevent its user from taking unsteady pictures, thus saving him/her a lot of time and effort in the scanning process. Moreover, the ability to select the entire screen/image, without having to revert to (painfully) manually cropping the entire image is noticeably absent. Conversely, the option to share scans via WiFi is a nice addition to the app’s capabilities.

Despite its flaws, DocScanner works well. It’s a decent app (albeit pricey [at $5.99]) who’s developers have promised a variety of improvements/updates in the near future. They’ve created a solid foundation, but need to improve on those features the app currently boasts, e.g. automated edge detection, cropping, rotation and perspective correction (keystone mapping) and place more/added focus on simplifying their feature set/image options while adding integral features found standard in comparable apps, e.g. camera stabilization, making the app more user-friendly.

That said, I would suggest researching the free/cheaper alternatives in the app store before plunking down any of your hard-earned cash on any scanning app.

Bookmark this Best Iphone App Review Post

Hide Sites

Scanner Pro is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

It seems the number of document scanning apps in the app store is slowly beginning to increase, as developers have (finally) identified the need for a utility which allows portable, on-the-go document/image scanning. Personally, this is a Godsend for me, as, until now, I had no way to scan and post old, embarrassing family photos of my siblings on-line (Now, I have many app solutions to choose from. One of these is Scanner Pro, a member of the Readdle document and file management app family.

Scanner Pro claims to transform the iPhone into a portable scanner, allowing one to scan multi-page documents, email them and even upload them to Dropbox, MobileMe iDisk or any other WebDAV enabled server. In addition to Evernote integration, it also boasts the ability to scan documents, business cards, receipts, notes and whiteboards and subsequently email them, all using special algorithms to enhance image quality and make the scan as readable as possible. Nothing we haven’t already heard (at least in theory). Does Scanner Pro deliver?

The very first thing I noticed when opening Scanner Pro, is it’s “New Document” menu/ interface:

It’s refreshingly clean, straight-forward and not confusing and the icons are all labeled, instructing you exactly where to go. Similar apps I’ve reviewed were clunky, confusing and non-linear. This is not the case with Scanner Pro, which also contains a built-in user guide.

Scanner Pro’s main screen is also clean, linear and intuitive. You can choose an existing document or press the “+” in the bottom-left corner to enter the “New Document” screen (above). Pressing “?” brings up the User Guide and the IP address is displayed at the bottom of the screen:

The only preset image settings within Scanner Pro’s main “Settings” are the ability to turn “Enhanced Image” on/off and the choice of using “Grayscale” by default. All other image options present themselves after the image is imported, during the “Preview” process, allowing you to make the proper adjustments after the image/document is initially scanned and before it’s final “process.” Users can make the correct image adjustments in “real-time,” (including changing the page size and image orientation) without having to rescan the image/document repeatedly, using different image setting variables. Simply choose the adjustment(s) you want to make (contrast, brightness and grayscale) and use/move the slider accordingly. After a second, the image is processed accordingly and the changes are displayed:

The “Preview” menu also features “undo” and “redo” options, making it much easier for the user to make corrections to the image. After processing the final scan, users can save the document in Scanner Pro, send it to Evernote or save the image to the Photo Library.

While Scanner Pro does not possess such advanced image processing features such as automatic perspective and rotation correction, it does feature advanced image/edge detection. Users simply tap anywhere on the screen to move the crop lines to their desired/target location. After taking/importing images (from the Camera Roll/Photo Library), Scanner Pro allows you to crop the image by dragging the corners of the image to your desired location. This feature is precise, but, like similar apps, the crop lines are sensitive to touch and I often had to move the line several times before I got it to stay in its proper spot. This issue in Scanner Pro is far less pronounced when compared to similar apps.

Because I’ve no tolerance for “sissy” applications, I went straight for the Achilles heel of those scanner apps I’ve tested/used; one area where similar apps have consistently failed: Scanning text-heavy documents.

The first document I scanned was a page from a W-9 tax form and I was amazed at the results:

The subsequent PDF scan was clear and legible. Additional scans would produce the same results. Scanner Pro: 1. Similar apps I’ve tested: 0. I was able to combine these scans, thanks to Scanner Pro’s “user-friendly,” linear interface, into a multiple-page PDF with relative ease.

Next, I scanned an imported image from my Photo Library. Here’s the original:

Here’s the scanned JPG I imported using Scanner Pro:

As you can see, aside from lighting enhancements, the image’s integrity is, by far and large, uncompromised.

Scanner Pro is capable of scanning any type of documents ranging from simple one page letters to multi-page documents. It’s “user friendly” interface allows it’s user(s) to add, move, delete pages and even combine pages in landscape and portrait orientations. These files can, in turn, be emailed, uploaded to WebDAV or any FTP application and can even be transferred to your Mac or PC via WiFi. I was able to connect to my PC via WiFi and by typing my IP address into my browser’s address bar with no problems.

In addition, to protect sensitive documents, users can assign passwords to documents/ images by tapping the lock icon on the bottom bar.

Other features included with Scanner Pro is a built-in PDF viewer which allows the user to preview his/her scans exactly the same as they will look on desktop computer, the ability to upload scans to online file storage venues, such as MobileMe iDisk, Box.Net, Humyo and any other WebDAV enabled online storage, the ability to print, via “Print n Share” provided by EuroSmartz (owners of both apps [Scanner Pro and Print n Share] can scan and then print documents to any printer via a Mac or PC), the ability to sync scans with Dropbox-enabled computers and the ability to upload processed images directly to an online Evernote account.

All said, As a result, I use Scanner Pro exclusively and it comes in handy often. At $6.99, it’s priced within the same range of other scanner apps in the App Store. I recommend Scanner Pro to anyone looking for a portable scanner app or anyone needing to scan, view or share documents (regardless of where you are), “on-the-fly.”

Bookmark this Best Iphone App Review Post

Hide Sites