Scan to Text Free is a mobile scanner and optical character recognition (OCR) app that allows you to save scans as PDFs and extract text from images.
From print to digital in seconds
Scan to Text Free is a smart app that allows you to scan pages from books, magazines, and hard copy documents and convert them to PDF or text files on your BlackBerry device.
After scanning a document with Scan to Text Free using your phone's camera you have the option to save it as a PDF or extract the text from the document. The app supports multiple pages of PDFs, and you can rearrange pages at your leisure.
Extracted text can be edited before you accept it. This text can then be saved, shared, or copied.
Scan to Text Free supports a wide range of different languages for text recognition. The default is set to English but you can download new language packs for free through the app.
Good reader
The optical character recognition in Scan to Text Free is quite impressive. Roughly 90% of the texts we tested using the app were reproduced perfectly. The application automatically straightens and sharpens up images you've taken, so that even if your photos aren't perfect Scan to Text Free has a good chance of being able to read it. Still, it struggles with glossy print at times, especially when there's a direct light source bouncing off the page.
One of the great things about Scan to Text Free is that it all the text recognition processing is done offline through the app itself rather than via a server. This means it won't use up precious mobile data. Also, captured images aren't stored on your photos folder, so they won't take over your album!
Scan to Text Free is a well designed app that encapsulates the BlackBerry 10 user experience. From capturing and previewing to extracting and saving, the interface walks you through the process in a seamless way. Even if you've never used an OCR app before you'll pick it up in no time.
The verdict
Scan to Text Free is an excellent OCR reader and PDF scanner for BlackBerry. It's not 100% accurate all the time but it does a fine job of text recognition and has some useful features.
Download Scan to Text 2.0.3.36 (BlackBerry 10) in
