App of the Week: Genius Scan

I remember getting our first scanner at home and using it constantly – for at least a week. A week was about what it took for me to scan in all our family photos; after that there was little use for the scanner at all, especially once we had a digital camera. The scanner, I thought, had gone the way of the dodo.

Not so. The scanner has evolved and this new form is indeed a handy little tool. Available on iOS and for Windows Phone (I've not been able to find it for Android, but if you have it or know of an equivalent please let us know), Genius Scan is one of the most popular apps available, topping lists the world over.

So what does it do? Using the camera function of your phone, it scans and sends documents as PDFs.  The page you have scanned can be cropped or straightened and you can even correct the perspective if you took the image at a slightly skewed angle.

Images can be sent as single, stand-alone PDFs, or you can collate several pages into a PDF document for exporting. Exporting can be done  by email or export to iBooks – or, if you upgrade to Genius +, you can save to apps like Box, Dropbox, Evernote or Google Docs, or print to an AirPrint-compatible printer.

The beauty of this app, I found, was the possibility to collate several pages and send as a single PDF.  Whether you're using it personally to copy Aunt Mildred's prized trifle recipe or at the office to copy the whiteboard notes from the latest brainstorming meeting, Genius Scan honestly makes it easy.

The ability to crop means you can crop out any material you don't need, and send through only the important information. It's quick and it's easy and you never have to lose notes, business cards, or trifle recipes again.