MDScan: Quick! I Need it Yesterday!

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” ~ Anonymous

Today, here’s on offering for you Android fans.

Let’s set the scene: You’ve found a terrific little house to buy. You’ve finally reached an agreement with the seller, but one of his requirements is a little unusual. You want to run it by your lawyer.

Unfortunately, it’s 4:00 p.m. on Friday. In one hour, your attorney is flying to the Himalayas for three weeks to climb Mt. Everest. Even if he could get a signal up there, he has no intention of answering his phone while he’s gone. If he receives the offer before he leaves, he will read it on the plane and at least send you a quick text before he piles on his mountain-climbing gear. But if you don’t get it to him in time, well, you’re going to have to rely on Bernie, your wife’s aunt’s boss’s son, a really strange guy who just passed the bar exam after failing it twelve times. You’d really, really like to use your own attorney.

Now here’s the problem: You are at the house with the seller. Neither of you has a scanner. You are 45 minutes away from your office. Your assistant has the week off. What to do?

Enter MDScan. Available for Android (but, unfortunately, not yet for iOS), MDScan uses your smartphone camera to take a picture of the document and then converts it to a pdf file. You can share the file via email or Bluetooth, or upload the file to the cloud via Evernote.

Of course, the ability to scan using a smartphone isn’t brand new. But this app doesn’t just scan. It can also improve the image significantly, making it much more legible. MDScan allows you to pinpoint edges of the image and often does a pretty good job of guessing where those edges should be. That’s a big help, because you don’t have to center the object perfectly when you snap the picture. MDScan also allows you to scan and send multiple-page documents easily with a batch function – handy when you’ve got lots of documents.

Among the many uses I can think of for MDScan: scanning receipts for tax purposes; capturing error messages on your computer screen to send to your computer guy; scanning pictures of serial or VIN numbers, or specification tags on appliances; or scanning coupons or advertisements. Oh, and sending the field-trip permission slip your fourth-grade daughter forgot to take this morning;

MDScan has gotten rave reviews. Android users gave it a 4.5 out of 5.0. My favorite review says this:

“I thank you, STOIK! I thank you from the deepest corners of my heart … for giving me a scanning app that I am actually going to use.”

I don’t know about you, but any business app that brings a person this close to tears is going to get my attention.

MDScan comes from STOIK Imaging (www.stoik.com), a company that offers an interesting blend of useful applications and fun timewasters. So while you’re waiting for your lawyer to tell you what he thinks of the contract, you can download Photo Deformer. And then you can download that photo of Bernie the bad attorney – you know, the one from your wife’s aunt’s wedding – and make him look just like the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Hey, who says you can’t be productive in your “off” moments?