Scan a paper
What a scan gives you
Scan a paper reads a page and hands you back its words as tidy text, with its headings and tables laid out on the page. Use it for an invoice, a contract, an ID, a whiteboard or a letter. It is one of the four tools on the home screen of The Office, beside Make me a file, Write for me and Think with me.
You need to be signed in to scan, and each page it reads uses credits. Credits says how that works on each plan.
Scan a paper
- Open The Office and tap Scan a paper. The screen is titled Let the paper speak.
- Choose one of the three ways in.
- Take the picture or pick the files. The scan starts at once.
| Way in | What it reads | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | A page you photograph now | One page each time |
| From the album | Pictures from your photo library | A set number; the app tells you when you reach it |
| A PDF | A typed or a scanned PDF | The first pages, up to a limit |
If you pick more pictures than the limit allows, the app keeps the first ones and tells you so. A longer PDF is read only as far as the limit, and the result carries a note that says so.
For a paper with several pages, photograph each page and pick them together from the album, or scan it as one PDF.
While it reads
The card shows three steps: Preparing images, Reading pages and Formatting the result. During the second step it counts the pages as they finish, and with more than one page a film strip shows each page as it is read.
You can leave the card and use the rest of the app while it reads. To end a scan, tap Stop and confirm: the work stops there. If Work is ready or stops is on in Settings › Notifications, Nourva tells you Your scan is ready when it finishes.
If nothing could be read, the card says Couldn't finish with the reason. Tap Try again to read the same files again, or New scan to start over.
What you can do with the result
The result opens under From paper… to words. Above the text, small counters show the pages, words, tables and charts it found. When only some pages could be read, a note above the text says so, for example We read 3 of 5 — retry for the rest.
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| To a document | Makes a Word document from the scanned text. |
| To a sheet | Makes an Excel file from the scanned text, with its tables in columns. |
| Translate | Opens Translate into…, where you pick one of the app's 20 languages. The translation replaces the text on the page. |
| Keep it | Saves the text in the Scans folder in My files. |
| Ask the consultant | Attaches the scan to Think with me, where you can ask about it. |
| New scan | Clears the result and takes you back to the three ways in. |
| ⋯ (More) | Copy the text, or Share it. |
To a document and To a sheet work from the text on the page, so translate first if you want the file in another language. A very long scan is converted from its first part only.
You can also type in the box at the bottom, Ask about this scan…. Your question goes to Think with me with the scan attached.
Keep a scan
- Tap Keep it on the result.
- Open My files, then the Scans folder.
Once it is saved, the button reads Saved to my papers. When the scan came from one file, the original is saved beside the text too, unless it is very large. If you translate a kept scan, the translation is new text, so Keep it is available again. The scan screen lists your Recent scans: swipe a row to rename or delete it.
Credits
Each page the scan reads uses credits. On Professional, Ultimate and Max, scanning draws on your credits. Starter includes no credits, so on Starter a scan runs on credits Nourva has given you; with none, the app says The real scanner is a paid feature — upgrade and try instantly. If those credits run out part way through, you get the pages already read, with a note such as We read 3 of 5 — retry for the rest.
What you do with the result next, such as a translation, a file or a question to the consultant, is Office work and runs on credits too.