Scanning apps

You're not always around a scanner when you need one. Perhaps you need an easy way to keep up with your receipts for travel expenses. Maybe that contract you signed has to be sent back within the next hour. You have a scanner right under your nose. Your smartphone can create excellent scans of your documents with these three apps.

Scanner Pro by Readdle: Though a little expensive for an app at $6.99 for iOS, it is one of the best apps for scanning documents with your phone. You can scan any type of document including receipts and multipage documents. Once you've made your scan, you can email or print it. If you'd like to save it, upload it to Dropbox, Evernote or Google Drive. You can also save it in your phone's photo albums. The app is better than simply snapping a photo of a piece of paper; it removes shadows and sharpens the text. This is the app that I personally use when scanning my documents.

CamScanner – Phone PDF Creator: Turn your Android phone into a scanner with this app. The trial version is free, but it is supported by ads and the scanned images are watermarked. The upgrade is $4.99. Scan, crop and enhance documents for clearer images. Save them as searchable PDF files. One of the best features of this app is its Batch Scan Mode which saves you time by allowing you to scan several documents at once before working on them. You can sync documents with their online service and share documents with the link found online.

Scan to PDF Free: This is my favorite app of the bunch (even though I use Scanner Pro for my iPhone) because it is totally free for Android devices. There are no limitations, watermarks or advertisements with this app. If you want to, you can buy the paid version to help support the developers, but again, it's not required because the free version has all the features. Scanned documents can be converted to PDF files, which are then stored on an SD card or uploaded to Google docs.

Do you use your phone to scan documents? Which app do you use?

Photo courtesy Ambernectar 13 via Flickr.