If you're like me, here's what happens after a business event: You collect a pocket full of business cards, but never have a chance to enter the pile of cards into your contacts. A week later, you need to get back to one of the contacts and have to start searching through the piles.
Oct 22, 2018 - Business card scanner app for iPhone can help you to scan and convert visiting cards to digital format with OCR technology and add into.
Isn't there a better way? Turns out that yes, there is. Rather than muddle through the manual labor of typing in each card's contact info, let your smartphone do the heavy lifting for you. Business card scanning apps take your cell phone's rear-facing camera and put it to work as a scanner.
These apps typically take a photograph of the card and perform optical character recognition (OCR) on the image to translate the contents to editable text. They then add that info to the app's own database, to your smartphone's contacts listing or both. Most of these apps will also retain the original image for reference. Further reading: We tested seven apps that are available on both Android and iOS, and looked at both the free and paid versions where available. (An eighth app, FoxCard, is a popular newer addition, but it hasn't been tested like the other seven.) I used a set of 12 business cards chosen specifically to 'torture test' the capabilities of the apps, including cards with high visual design or glossy finishes; one with white text on a dark background; and several international cards (from Belgium, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan and Portugal). I performed most of the tests using a Samsung Galaxy S4 Android smartphone.
However, because the interfaces of Android and iOS apps often aren't similar, I tried some with an Apple iPhone 4 and an iPad as well. Another caveat: Not only can Android and iOS versions of the apps differ, but there are dedicated tablet versions of some apps.
In some cases you might get extras - for example, ScanBizCard's HD Business Card Reader costs $9.99 on iOS and also includes a year of the company's WebSync service, which normally costs $10; as of this writing, WebSync was not included with the version for Android devices. To comment on this story, visit. As always, the trick lies in picking the right app to do the job.
We spent 45 hours on research, videography, and editing, to review the top choices for this wiki. Once you've moved on from transcribing contact information to the old Rolodex by hand, you'll need to import business card data into some sort of digital address book. Designed to make light work of storing electronic versions of paper-based documents, one of these compact scanners can also be used to save photos, receipts and other records. When users buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn commissions to support our work. We spent 45 hours on research, videography, and editing, to review the top choices for this wiki. Once you've moved on from transcribing contact information to the old Rolodex by hand, you'll need to import business card data into some sort of digital address book.
Designed to make light work of storing electronic versions of paper-based documents, one of these compact scanners can also be used to save photos, receipts and other records. When users buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn commissions to support our work. Business cards are an efficient way to give an important contact all of your information. On the other hand, receiving dozens of them a day can be headache that you're unprepared for.
If you are like most people, you probably have a messy basket of business cards on your desk, organized in no particular manner. Every time you need to look someone up, you shuffle through that pile for fifteen minutes. In the worst case scenario, you may even lose somebody's card, and now a potentially valuable contact is lost. Business card scanners bring that easily lost little paper item into the digital age, allowing you to upload, save and organize the information in an efficient manner. There are different types of scanners, but each includes a and a. Some models include their own built-in software for saving data and some connect to pre-existing programs on your computer like Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes. If you collect cards for several areas of your life - spanning from personal to professional to medical - you may like a scanner that connects to a program on your computer so you can thoroughly organize and separate the contacts the way you like.
Depending on your needs, you may want a scanner that automatically uploads data to a cloud storage system - that way anybody you work with who might need to access those files can instantly do so. On the other hand, if you like to keep the contact information of your affiliates confidential, you may prefer a scanner with built-in memory, that holds the data all in one spot. The latter type usually connects to your computer through a USB cord, or lets you grab the info with an SD card or hard drive. Why Business Cards Are Relevant In The Digital Age With tools like Google and social media, you may wonder how business cards are even still relevant?
We may like to believe differently, but there are still times when accessing our social media accounts may be impossible or impractical. It could be at a business dinner when pulling out a phone would be regarded as a faux pas or just because your phone is dead, but at times like these, a traditional business card can be invaluable. Your business card can also be a little visual representation of you. People's and we often miss out on vital bits of information in a conversation because our mind wanders to other matters. For that reason, you've probably left several conversations with somebody important realizing, 'I don't remember their last name or the name of the company they work for.' That's one reason business cards are important - Facebook can't help you if you don't recall the name of the person you're trying to find.
They also serve as visual reminders. Just like you leave a photo of yourself at a loved one's place so they think to call you from time to time, you should want to leave your business card on an important contact's desk. The reality is unless you are deeply integrated into somebody's life, you won't naturally cross their mind. Your business card can also be a little visual representation of you. You can use font, images, colors and quotes to give someone a better understanding of you, all on one little piece of paper.
Eye contact and facial expressions are also important for making a lasting impression on somebody, but both of those are lost if you instantly look down at your phone to start punching in phone numbers and email addresses. Handing somebody a card lets you continue to look at them, smile at them and keep a going.
Business cards also show that you take yourself seriously; you invested in yourself by creating them and remembering to keep them on you at all times. Business cards are just as important as ever before and having a business card scanner makes keeping the information on them organized and readily accessible. The Creators Of The Business Card Scanner Inventors Wen Chen and Loi Han filed for the first patent of a business card scanner. Their patent laid out basic features that nearly all subsequent models would have, like the ability to display images in forward or reverse sequential order, and the option to enlarge or reduce the size of an image. Chen and Han filed for their patent on December 14, 2001, and had it published on June 19, 2003.
Combining much of the technology between Chen's and Han's previous patents allowed them to invent the business card scanner. Loi Han has filed for and, including a scanner projection system - a stand-alone device that could read data off of printers, computers, and other devices, and display it on a television screen or LCD projector. Han's scanner allows the user to control the degree of resolution and mode of operation. It's apparent that Han and Chen come from different backgrounds when you look at some of the Chen filed for. Chen has a patent on an organic/inorganic hybrid composite proton exchange membrane - something far more valuable to the scientific world than the technological one.
However Chen also has the patent on a method and device for drawing and formatting images, as well as a retractable scanner. Combining much of the technology between Chen's and Han's previous patents allowed them to invent the business card scanner. Thanks for reading the fine print.
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