Take Handwritten Notes Into the Digital Age with These Android Apps

Today, most of our important documents are stored digitally to prevent them from getting lost or damaged. But what about handwritten notes? We all have stacks of handwritten notes and documents that we would like to convert into digital format. Thankfully, there are Android apps available that can help us with this task. These apps use advanced OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology to convert handwritten text into digital text. In this article, we will explore a few Android apps that not only convert handwritten notes into digital documents but also allow us to edit them.

Microsoft Office Lens

Microsoft Office Lens is a powerful scanner app developed by Microsoft. It works seamlessly with OneNote, another popular note-taking app from Microsoft. With Office Lens, you can quickly snap a picture of your handwritten text and convert it into a digital format. Here's how it works:

1. Open the app and point the camera towards the text you want to convert. The app will automatically detect the handwritten text and scan it.
2. After taking the picture, you can edit the selection if needed. You have various crop, edit, and adjustment tools available.
3. Once you are satisfied with the selection, you can save the file in different formats such as Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, PDF, or photo.

Office Lens integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft products like Office 365 suite and OneDrive. It is a great tool for scanning and storing all your notes, whether they are handwritten or printed.

Text Scanner OCR

Text Scanner OCR is another high-quality image-to-text OCR scanner app. It is a great choice if you often come across website URLs and phone numbers in newspapers, magazines, or visiting cards. With Text Scanner OCR, you can quickly extract text from an image without having to type it manually. Here's how it works:

1. Launch the app and point the camera towards the handwritten note or document you want to scan. You can manually adjust the focus if needed.
2. Take a picture of the text, and the app will process the image and extract the text onto a blank white canvas.
3. From here, you can choose to edit the text or share it.

Text Scanner OCR is known for its speed and accuracy. It also offers additional settings like vibrating the phone when the text is read successfully. The app is free but contains ads. You can upgrade to the premium version to remove the ads.

Post-It

If you are a fan of taking notes on Post-Its, then this app is for you. Post-It has developed an official app that allows you to digitize your notes effortlessly. Simply point the camera towards the notes, and the app will recognize and organize them for you. You can even keep the original layout or rearrange the notes as needed. The app can detect slightly bent notes and align them using advanced algorithms. While it doesn't convert the handwritten text into editable text, it is still a handy tool for organizing and digitizing your notes.

In conclusion, Microsoft Office Lens and Text Scanner OCR are two excellent options for converting handwritten text into digital format. Office Lens is recommended for typed texts and offers seamless integration with other Microsoft products. On the other hand, Text Scanner OCR is ideal for handwritten notes and provides a quick and easy way to convert images to text. The choice ultimately depends on your specific needs and preferences.

Let us know in the comments if you have any other recommendations for converting handwritten text.