Mark’s side-hustle is scanning documents and photos for folks who want them in digital format to share or archive. Typically he uses a flatbed scanner with his PC which can save scanned documents as PDF files.
Recently he was given a stack of several old diaries that had been written by the owner’s mother. The flatbed scanner is not the ideal device for such a task. The mechanics of removing the book from the scanner, flipping the page, and repositioning the book for each page would be time consuming and tedious. Could he do it with a webcam instead of a scanner? There is software available ... at a cost.
Is there a free workaround? Yes, using a smartphone or a tablet with either the Google Docs app, or the Microsoft Word app linked to a MS One Drive account. (If the app of your choice is not already installed on your mobile device, you will need to get it from the App/Play store.)
The setup for both approaches is the same.
Use you computer to create the document file (using MS Word or your web browser in Google Docs) into which you will insert the scanned images. In our case we set the document page orientation landscape with half-inch margins. We added page header text specific for the project, and page numbers in the footer.
Save the file either in Google Drive or MS OneDrive, depending on which app you plan to use.
Google Docs
On your phone or tablet, open the Google Docs app and find the document you created on your computer.
Tap the pencil icon at the bottom of the screen to begin editing.
Tap the plus [+] icon at the top of the screen to open the INSERT menu.
Tap IMAGE. Then tap FROM CAMERA.
Position the page that you are scanning, then tap the shutter button.
Tap USE PHOTO.
Tap the RETURN button on the onscreen keyboard to enter a new line.
Flip the page in the book you are scanning, tap the plus [+] icon at the top of the screen and repeat the process. Remember to hit the RETURN key after each new image to insert a blank line for the next image.
When you are finished scanning, close the document by tapping the left arrow in the upper left corner of the screen.
Open the document on your computer using your web browser.
Click on the FILE menu.
Select DOWNLOAD >> PDF DOCUMENT.
Save the PDF file and you are done.
MS WORD
On your phone or tablet, open the MS Word app, and find the document you created in the setup.
In the menu at the top of the screen, tap INSERT.
Tap the camera icon.
Position the page that you are scanning, then tap the shutter button.
Tap USE PHOTO.
Tap your finger below the image you just inserted.
Tap the RETURN button on the onscreen keyboard to enter a new line.
To add another image, tap the INSERT menu at the top of the screen, and repeat the process until the project is done. Remember to tap below each new image and hit the RETURN key to insert a blank line for the next image.
To close the document, tap the left arrow in the top left corner of the screen.
Open the file again in Word your computer.
Click the FILE menu.
Click SAVE AS.
Click the box that says [Word document (*.docx)].
Select PDF.
You can either click SAVE to store the PDF file in the same folder on One Drive as the original file, or click BROWSE to save it on your computer.
Correcting Errors
If you need to rescan any image, with the document open in the phone/tablet, tap on the picture. Then tap DELETE.
Then go through the steps to insert a picture from the camera.
Hardware
We built the frame to hold the phone/tablet out of foam board and hot glue. To simplify lighting and reduce ambient shadow, we added a light – an LED element from a flashlight.
Recently he was given a stack of several old diaries that had been written by the owner’s mother. The flatbed scanner is not the ideal device for such a task. The mechanics of removing the book from the scanner, flipping the page, and repositioning the book for each page would be time consuming and tedious. Could he do it with a webcam instead of a scanner? There is software available ... at a cost.
Is there a free workaround? Yes, using a smartphone or a tablet with either the Google Docs app, or the Microsoft Word app linked to a MS One Drive account. (If the app of your choice is not already installed on your mobile device, you will need to get it from the App/Play store.)
The setup for both approaches is the same.
Use you computer to create the document file (using MS Word or your web browser in Google Docs) into which you will insert the scanned images. In our case we set the document page orientation landscape with half-inch margins. We added page header text specific for the project, and page numbers in the footer.
Save the file either in Google Drive or MS OneDrive, depending on which app you plan to use.
Google Docs
On your phone or tablet, open the Google Docs app and find the document you created on your computer.
Tap the pencil icon at the bottom of the screen to begin editing.
Tap the plus [+] icon at the top of the screen to open the INSERT menu.
Tap IMAGE. Then tap FROM CAMERA.
Position the page that you are scanning, then tap the shutter button.
Tap USE PHOTO.
Tap the RETURN button on the onscreen keyboard to enter a new line.
Flip the page in the book you are scanning, tap the plus [+] icon at the top of the screen and repeat the process. Remember to hit the RETURN key after each new image to insert a blank line for the next image.
When you are finished scanning, close the document by tapping the left arrow in the upper left corner of the screen.
Open the document on your computer using your web browser.
Click on the FILE menu.
Select DOWNLOAD >> PDF DOCUMENT.
Save the PDF file and you are done.
MS WORD
On your phone or tablet, open the MS Word app, and find the document you created in the setup.
In the menu at the top of the screen, tap INSERT.
Tap the camera icon.
Position the page that you are scanning, then tap the shutter button.
Tap USE PHOTO.
Tap your finger below the image you just inserted.
Tap the RETURN button on the onscreen keyboard to enter a new line.
To add another image, tap the INSERT menu at the top of the screen, and repeat the process until the project is done. Remember to tap below each new image and hit the RETURN key to insert a blank line for the next image.
To close the document, tap the left arrow in the top left corner of the screen.
Open the file again in Word your computer.
Click the FILE menu.
Click SAVE AS.
Click the box that says [Word document (*.docx)].
Select PDF.
You can either click SAVE to store the PDF file in the same folder on One Drive as the original file, or click BROWSE to save it on your computer.
Correcting Errors
If you need to rescan any image, with the document open in the phone/tablet, tap on the picture. Then tap DELETE.
Then go through the steps to insert a picture from the camera.
Hardware
We built the frame to hold the phone/tablet out of foam board and hot glue. To simplify lighting and reduce ambient shadow, we added a light – an LED element from a flashlight.