Review: Scan Handwritten Note App (Android)

Feb 21, 2019
Android scanner app

I am looking for an Android app to scan handwritten notes

  • I wanted it saved a image (jpeg) and not pdf (need to embed them in website/blog)
  • The image need to be Black & Write to reduce file size (and improve readability)
  • Ability to remove shadow (caused by the phone while taking photo of notes on table)
  • Ability to crop, rotate and skew
  • I don't need cloud/sync function (perferbly doesn't involve account creation)
  • Share/export image (ability to save a Gallery is a plus)

Below is the Android apps I have tried in ascending preference order (the App I like most is listed first)

Microsoft Office Lens - PDF Scanner

Flow:

  • Scan (with auto edge detection and crop)
  • Edit: crop/rotate/skew, change color/style mode, add annotation.
  • Save to Gallery, PDF, OneDrive, etc.

Pros:

  • Developer is Microsoft
  • Very Simple
  • There is a few mode: whiteboard, document, business card, photo. Whiteboard works best for my use case (it reduce color depth to almost black and white quality, it cleared the shadow, auto crop/adjust/skew)
  • Can change resolution
  • No Ads

CamScanner - Phone PDF Creator

Flow:

  • Scan
  • Crop/rotate/skew
  • Style (Ligten, Magic Color, Gray Mode, B&W, B&W2)
  • Save within App (No Gallery)

Pros:

  • Simple enough (more misc features)
  • Ability to share as Image or PDF
  • Good B&W quality

Cons:

  • Ads (not too annoying)
  • Nag to Sign in

Notebloc - Scan, save & share

Flow:

  • Scan
  • Crop/rotate/skew
  • Mode (Original, Photo, Docs/Notebloc), Color or Black & White
  • Save within App (No Gallery)

Pros:

  • Simple enough
  • Ability to share as Image or PDF
  • Good B&W quality
  • Ability to save to Gallery

Cons:

  • Ads (very annoying)

Google Drive

It works pretty well (crop/rotate/skew with black&white), sadly it saved to pdf only.

Google Photos

Capture note using camera and edit using Google Photos.

There are a few filters and support for crop/rotate, but not an ideal solution for Black & White mode and removal of shadow.

PhotoScan by Google Photos

Tedious process to scan (scan, then move to four corner - about 10s per scan), no Black & White support.

PS: It is meant to scan photo without glare.

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✨ By Desmond Lua

A dream boy who enjoys making apps, travelling and making youtube videos. Follow me on @d_luaz

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