Scan Thing: Scan Anything 4+

This app is nearly very good at clipping objects on the fly or from photos, except it often leaves a bit behind, the cause, simply because the missing piece is tonally different to the rest of the object. The app also does the opposite and ads pieces that are not part of the object because it buts up against and is tonally the same as the object. I feel that a little bit of manual control of the clipping process would be a great help to an otherwise excellent app. It’s not always possible to have the object surrounded with a neutral background. Something to think about for a fourth coming update perhaps.

Scanner apps were amongst my first purchases on buying iPads when they were first released. The apps - even now - range from adequate to embarrassing. If you want ultimate control of scans - and the increase in time required for even the simplest scan - then look elsewhere.

However, I have never owned an app that scans more accurately and the speed, particularly for multi-page documents, is second to none. I use Scan Thing because it is reliable and efficient. It’s automatic processing beats what I manage in other, more complex, scanning apps 99% of the time and the finished PDF requires no separate compression, this is also handled automatically.

If you need to adapt for severe page distortion, then you may need a second app, otherwise Scan Thing just quietly gets on with producing top rate scans quickly and effectively. Having tried well over 20 apps over the years, this is my favourite scanner app.

I am absolutely gobsmacked by the effectiveness of this app in isolating objects in pictures. You can take a photo of an object, or even select one of your currently saved pictures, and (the unimaginatively-named) Scan Thing will crop out everything in the background. It even works with the television screen in the unlikely event of your wanting a cropped-out picture of the newsreader. You do have to be a little careful about the background if there is a complete lack of contrast between it and parts of the subject’s edge, but that’s no great surprise.
I’ve not made great use of the convert image to editable text feature, but from a quick play it also seems to work well.
In short, it’s a great app, and well-worth the small charge for unlimited use.