Business card scanner for iPhone

How to scan business cards with the Scanfone business card scanner

1. Open Scanfone and choose the ID card mode to capture the front and back of a card on one page, or use a normal document scan for one-sided cards.
2. Place the card on a dark, plain surface and hold your iPhone above it.
3. Save the scan into a folder such as "Contacts" or the name of the event.
4. Search later by name, company or job title, or copy the text to paste it wherever you need it.

Cards are small, easy to lose and hard to search

After a conference, a trade fair or a long week of meetings you come home with a stack of business cards. A month later you remember "the woman from the packaging company" but not her name, and the card is somewhere in another coat.

Scanning cards into Scanfone gives you a searchable archive. On-device text recognition (OCR) reads the text on each card, and Scanfone's search looks inside all your documents. Type the company, a city or part of a name and the card shows up.

Two sides, one page

Many cards have information on both sides: a logo on one, details on the other, or a second language on the back. Scanfone's ID card mode is built for two-sided cards. It places the front and back on one page, so a business card stays together as one item instead of two loose scans.

Copy the details instead of retyping them

Because the text is recognised, you can copy text straight from a scanned card: an email address, a phone number or a website. Paste it into your contacts, an email or a CRM. It is quicker and you avoid the classic typo in someone's email address.

To be straightforward about it: Scanfone does not automatically create contacts from cards or sync with a CRM. It scans, recognises and lets you search and copy. For many people that is all they need, without a separate app or subscription just for cards.

Organise cards your way

• One folder per event: "Berlin trade fair", "Spring conference"
• One folder per type: suppliers, clients, freelancers
• One folder for everything, and let search do the work
• Combine all cards from an event into one PDF with merge to share with a colleague

Free, private, no ambush at save

Scanfone is free to scan and free to save, with no ads and no account. You will not meet a subscription screen when you tap save. Free PDFs show one small line under each page, "Scanned free with Scanfone"; Pro removes it and adds sync between your phones and a 1 TB backup for $2.99 the first year, then $19.99 a year.

Scanning and text recognition happen on your iPhone, and nothing is uploaded unless you turn on Pro sync. Other people's contact details stay with you, which is good manners as well as good privacy.

Tips for clean card scans

• Use a dark background for white cards and a light background for dark cards.
• Glossy or foil cards reflect light. Move away from direct lamps.
• Use Color for designed cards and Black & white for plain text cards; both work with OCR.
• Very small print may need the phone a bit closer. Check the scan before you file it.

Who this suits

A business card scanner in Scanfone works well for people who meet a steady stream of contacts but do not want yet another subscription: freelancers, small business owners, salespeople at the odd trade fair, recruiters, students at careers events.

If you need automatic contact creation or a direct link to sales software, a dedicated card app may suit you better. If you want your cards scanned, searchable and safely on your phone, for free, alongside your receipts, contracts and ID scans, Scanfone keeps everything in one place. It is available in 32 languages, which helps when the cards in your pile are not all in English.

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