I used to rely on photos to transfer my paper papers to the digital realm for a very long time. However, I have no plans to return to the Paper Ages now that I’ve learned about the capabilities of OCR scanning software.
You may use scanning software for almost any kind of document, such as books, receipts, certifications, or even a page of your own handwriting, as you’ll see below. However, I often use them for business-related papers and identification documents.
After evaluating hundreds of mobile scanning and OCR solutions this year, I’ve been updating this post for a few years and have hand-picked nine that will revolutionize document management.
The best mobile scanning and OCR software
Adobe Scan Best free OCR software
Adobe Scan has several scanning modes, such as those for business cards, ID cards, books, papers, and even whiteboards. I began by scanning the receipt, and to my joyful surprise, I found that the program could not only identify phone numbers and URLs, but also make them clickable. This could be helpful, particularly if you’re pressed for time and don’t have time to write down a website or phone number. You can just snap a picture and quickly retrieve that information at a later time.
In terms of digitization, there were a few accuracy issues, but overall it wasn’t too bad. Here, the prices on the receipt were wrong, even though they had been pulled correctly by other applications. The certificate, however, fared much better, with Adobe capturing the most of the text save for the term “Certificate” at the top. It’s interesting to note that the book turned out to be the most accurate; while there were a few misspellings, the content was generally precise enough to understand.
All things considered, Adobe Scan is a good choice for anyone searching for a free OCR program. For a free choice, it outperforms Microsoft Lens since it has rudimentary file management and editing features. Additionally, there is a premium plan available for people who want a few extra capabilities, such as the ability to digitize up to 100 pages, compress and merge PDFs, export to Word, or password-protect PDFs.
Adobe Scan pros:
- Free up to 25 pages
- It recognizes URLs and phone numbers automatically.
Adobe Scan cons:
- A few errors in accuracy
Adobe Scan price:
Free; premium features cost $9.99/month or $69.99/year.
Apple Notes Best OCR scanner app for iPhone users
Although the primary purpose of Apple Notes is note-taking, the company has included OCR capabilities that are sufficient to earn it a spot on our list.
Scan Documents and Scan Text are two of the four options that appear when you click on the camera icon to scan and digitize text. Instead of scanning the page and adding it to a note, the Scan Text option allows you to choose a text passage and add it directly to a note.
Although I thought the OCR was precise, I would say it works best when scanning tiny text passages. I had to approach scanning each document one piece at a time since, for instance, it had some issues locating and fitting all of the text on the page within the scanning borders when I tried to scan any of the papers. However, I’m rather impressed by how exact the digital text was. There was very little editing—just the occasional punctuation mark.
I believe this is a wonderful software to consider if you ever need some fast OCR because it is totally free for iPhone users and quite useful for those who use the Notes app frequently, like me.
Apple Notes pros:
- Very precise
- comes pre-installed on your iPhone and is free.
Apple Notes cons:
- It is challenging to scan and digitize a lengthy passage of text.
Apple Notes price: Free
CamScanner Best OCR scanner app for a variety of features
During the testing process, CamScanner was a welcome change of pace. The degree of detail was exceptional, and I never had to change the borders on any of my documents. Nearly all of the information on the certificate was recognized by it, even the elusive “Certificate” title that had been causing all the other programs to malfunction. Additionally, it separated each text passage into distinct lines, which was a good touch.
The way CamScanner handled the book was another welcome surprise. A page appeared as a real photo rather than merely a digital scan when I exported it as a Word document. The paragraph placement and overall organization of the text were nearly identical to those found in the book, and everything was fully highlightable.
While adding a signature to documents is possible, unlike other applications, you can either import the signature or have the app scan it from another location. (The majority of other applications let me just sketch my signature on the phone’s screen.) A password and watermarks may be used to secure documents, though, and the file management and saving naming recommendations were a good addition. The option to alter digitized text is another useful tool; however, part of the original text was lost and the phrases I edited were bolded and deformed.
Aside from this, CamScanner still offers a ton of additional scanning and customisation options, such as the ability to create ID photos, erase text, scan PowerPoint presentations and whiteboards, and even rearrange PDF pages. Even with my sloppy handwriting, I was able to use its AI capabilities to answer math problems and interpret written material, which were my two favorites.
Considering how feature-rich CamScanner is, I believe the price is well worth it, even if it may appear a little high. In addition to being precise, thorough, and user-friendly, OCR allows you to search text within documents, make collages, scan an infinite number of documents, and access more than 10 gigabytes of cloud storage with the premium membership.
CamScanner pros:
- Within documents, you may immediately alter the text.
- Various formatting choices for materials that have been scanned
- Choices for exporting include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and images.
- Other AI-powered functions, such as text translation and arithmetic problem solving
CamScanner cons:
- OCR could overlook punctuation or spaces.
CamScanner price: $299 lifetime $9.99/month, $69.99/year
Microsoft Lens Best OCR app for text-to-speech (and Microsoft users)
What appealed to me about Microsoft Lens is its simplicity. If you try the other applications on our list, you’ll find that many of them need you to register or take a tour before you can scan your first document. Although there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with that method, Microsoft Lens eliminates all the hassle and lets you start scanning immediately.
In the past, the app was rather rudimentary, enabling merely scanning, simple editing, and exporting of scans.In the Actions mode, you may now snap a photo of a page or receipt, and the text will be created for you to copy.The receipt language was somewhat erroneous, and it refused to operate on the certificate even though it worked flawlessly with the book.
However, the new Immersive Reader mode is the impressive feature. Any text may be photographed, and it will convert it to a clear, readable eBook screen. Additionally, you may have the software read it to you aloud by pressing play.
Upon completing my document editing, the application immediately sent me to the export settings, where I could choose to save the document to the iPhone Photos app or other compatible applications. Having said that, OneDrive, OneNote, Word, and PowerPoint are just a few of the Microsoft applications that users will appreciate being able to store and import documents.
With a line or two missing, the certificate and receipt were largely correct in terms of OCR. While most programs found the book to be a bit of a Final Boss, Microsoft Lens was able to meet the challenge. It was still largely intelligible, however there were still some errors in accuracy—a few words and letters were missing.
Microsoft Lens pros:
- Easy to use
- Totally free
Microsoft Lens cons:
- Creating folders for file management is not possible.
- The software does not allow you to alter digital text.
Price: Free
Google Lens OCR app for Google bells and whistles
When you combine Google Lens with other apps, such as Google Photos, it turns into a mobile scanning and OCR program. Click the lens symbol at the bottom of the screen after selecting a picture from your Google Photos collection. As Google Lens examines the image, you’ll notice a few white dots flash across the screen. After a few seconds, all of your text will be highlighted. Another option is to use Google Lens to scan an object and then transfer it to Google Docs; Google has a really cool video that explains how to do this. (As an aside, Google Drive and Google Docs can also convert photos to text.)
Because Google is Google, there are a ton of possibilities accessible from there. For instance, the software recognized that my content was in English the moment I selected “translate,” prompting me to launch Google Translate. I also had a passage from my book read aloud to me with remarkably high accuracy using the text-to-speech tool. Even the sloppy handwriting from the trip list, which I used to test Pen to Print, was easily recognized by Google Lens.
Further capabilities of Google Lens include “visual matches,” which allow it to evaluate a document or picture and locate related results online (similar to Google image search). Upon testing it with the certificate and trip list, several certificate and travel list results appeared. In keeping with that, I was able to view results for certificates that were on sale as well as their prices when I clicked on the shopping page. Google, thank you!
Although there isn’t a scanning feature in Google Lens (i.e., it doesn’t save your scans), if you want to extract text, it’s not really required. To use Google Lens, you may just snap a photo of your document, copy the text, and then paste it somewhere else. Though it’s a highly practical alternative to have on hand, it might not be suitable for keeping digital copies of documents, particularly for professional purposes.
Google Lens pros:
- Integrated online search functionality with a scanned image or digital text
- Integrated Google Translate functionality
Google Lens cons:
- No method to save text or digital data
Google Lens price: Free