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iPhone document scanner

by Dave Caolo Sep 5th 2008 at 10:00AM

Since the iPhone's introduction, people have been using the built-in camera for more than quick snapshots. Some have taken macro shots, used it as a webcam or even created high art (OK, so that last one was a bug).

Another popular practice is to use it to generate to-do lists and even as a scanner. People have taken photos of things they need to buy or remember to do. Others have sent snapshots of business cards, receipts, etc. into applications like iPhoto and Evernote.

That's clever, but getting a legible image of your documents is difficult. Enter the iPhone Document Scanner. This device positions the iPhone and document to be "scanned" at the perfect distance and ensures a steady hand. If you're a Ponko member, you can download a free .eps file of the plans to build your own.

We knew Apple put the camera on the back for a reason!

Thanks, Baptiste!

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Since the iPhone's introduction, people have been using the built-in camera for more than quick snapshots. Some have taken macro shots,...
 

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15 Comments

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alaa

looool
but where is the flash :D

September 22 2008 at 7:42 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ses_music

that is quite possibly the dumbest thing i have ever seen

September 07 2008 at 11:58 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Patches

you don't need an iphone for any of these tasks, and it can't do any of them particularly well. face it: it's a pretty lousy camera.

September 06 2008 at 5:53 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John B. Kendrick

While I haven't used the iPhone's camera as a scanner, I definitely use it alot to document products as displayed in stores for later recall or to mail to my family letting them know what's on sale or available. I've written about the many, many tasks I do everyday on my iPhone and iPhone 3G at http://johnkendrick.wordpress.com

September 06 2008 at 9:23 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
chadtcooper@gmail.com

I've downloaded the plans to make the scanner. But the one thing I can't figure out and it may be that I'm looking over it. What are the measurements to the parts and how should I print these out, I'm guessing not on an regular printing, I don't think these templates would even fit on 11x17 paper. Maybe someone can point this out to me. Thanks

September 05 2008 at 8:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tassia

Oh, wow! I so want this! I've been trying to figure out how to do this.

Just last week I was at the Univ library to photocopy some old art mag articles and ended up taking a few iPhone pics of the colored art images.

To my complete surprise, not only did the images of the art come out very nice, I can read the captions as well - and that's with a hand-held iPhone.

I wonder if there's a way to make this more portable. Looks like it might be easy to set up. Off to the site...

Thanks for this. (Though the mind reading is a little eerie.)

September 05 2008 at 2:42 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sockatume

Can apps use the camera yet? I have a Casio with a keystone-correcting document-capture mode, it strikes me as something which could be handy as an iPhone app.

September 05 2008 at 1:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kizor

Sounds verrryy... silly. But nonetheless, mad props.

What happened to the scanner?

September 05 2008 at 1:35 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Kyle A Koch

Here's a flickr set with more images of my iPhone document scanner: http://flickr.com/photos/kyleakoch/sets/72157606221856723/

Check out kyleakoch.com early next week for more on how you can use this with evernote.

September 05 2008 at 1:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Kyle A Koch's comment
justbn

Kyle,

Can you post an actual captured "scan" of a document? I'd like to see the quality of it.

Thanks,
Justin

September 05 2008 at 1:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mike

If someone would make an app that shoots pics with a self timer, it would give added stability!

good times.

September 05 2008 at 12:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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