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Scan a business card

This guide walks through scanning a paper business card into a SnapContact contact, from capturing the image to confirming the OCR-extracted fields. The text recognition runs on your device, so the card image stays private unless you choose to attach it. See Business-card scanner for the feature reference.

Before you start​

  • Use the Android app or the web app while signed in.
  • Have the card and decent lighting. A flat, sharp, glare-free shot scans best.

Steps​

  1. Open the scanner. From the dashboard or contacts area, start a business-card scan.
  2. Capture the card. Choose the camera to take a photo, or pick an existing photo from your gallery. On Android, the camera permission is requested only now; on the web, the browser prompts for camera access. If you'd rather not grant the camera, use the gallery option.
  3. Wait for recognition. Tesseract.js reads the card locally and shows progress. No image is uploaded for this step.
  4. Review the extracted fields. SnapContact pre-fills the name, phone(s), and email(s) with a confidence indicator. Correct anything the OCR misread — names with unusual fonts and stylized logos are the usual culprits.
  5. Add context (optional). Tag the contact (for example event-2026) and write a note about where you met.
  6. Save. The contact is created in your account. If you want to keep the card image for reference, attach it — only then is the image stored under your account via FilesHub.

Tips for a clean scan​

  • Fill the frame with the card and avoid steep angles.
  • Even, diffuse light beats direct glare.
  • If the card is double-sided, scan the side with the contact details; add the rest as a note.
  • Low confidence is a signal to slow down and fix fields by hand rather than save and forget.

Frequently asked questions​

Is my card photo uploaded? No, not unless you attach it to the contact. OCR runs on your device.

Can I scan from a photo I already took? Yes — pick it from your gallery instead of using the camera.

What if the name comes out wrong? Edit it in the review step before saving; you always confirm fields.

Does scanning need internet? Recognition is local; saving the contact syncs to your account when you're online.