Scanmarker a must have research tool!
By Don Rittner
Ok, here is my checklist before I go out the door in the morning:
Got my keys? Check!
My iPhone? Check!
My wallet? Check!
My pants on? Check!
A writing implement? Check?
My hat? Check?
My Scanmarker? Check?
Wait, what was that last one you ask? The Scanmarker is a little portable device that everyone should own, especially students. The Scanmarker is a small lightweight digital pen size scanner. There is a USB corded version or the “Air” version which is cordless and connects via Bluetooth. The latter is the one I am reviewing. The Scanmarker works on both PC and Mac.
The Scanmarker comes with a carrying case.
If you are a student, researcher, or human, the Scanmarker is a must have tool. This lightweight pen size scanner scans at a whopping 3000 characters per minute. That is a full line of text within one second. You are limited to text size from 4 to 24 point. You can however adjust the scanning speed.
It does not matter if you scan as a lefty or a righty. You can set the scanner settings to accommodate either way.
You are not confined to your computer desktop either. There is an app so you can use it with your smartphone (iPhone for me), and other mobile devices.
I was having trouble getting it to connect to my iPhone via Bluetooth until I realized it was already connected to my iMac. Normally you would not have both on at the same time. Once I quit the application on my iMac it connected flawlessly on my iPhone.
The Scanmarker scans directly into programs such as Word, text apps, and web browsers. I tried to use it in Excel and while it works, as long as you keep hitting the tab button to move the data. I think I would like it if they brought a Table scanning option back (use to have it). Since I was not able to try it I can’t comment on its reliability. A great option would allow you to scan a word, lift the pen which would put the word in one cell, then scan the second word, put that in adjacent cell, etc. Or better yet, if the software could simply realize you are scanning a series of cells. You can do that manually (in the settings) of course but it would be nice if it were done automatically.
Here is the real kicker. Scanmarker can read over 40 different languages and translate them while you scan. What languages do you ask? Albanian, Azerbaijani, Brazilian, Bulgarian, Chinese (S Vert), Chinese (Simple), Chinese (T Vert) Chinese (traditional), Corsican, Croatian, Czech Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, Fijian, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Japanese Vert, Korean, Korean Vert, Latin, Latvian, Lithuanian, Moldovan, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Scottish Gaelic, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Spanish, Swedish, Swiss German, Tagalog, Turkish, Ukrainian, Xhosa, Zulu.
Yes Zulu too! In my case, I deal with a lot of research from the Netherlands but I do not speak or read Dutch. So you can scan in Dutch and have it translate on page to English, etc. It evens scans barcodes (CMC7 and BVR). If you would like it to read out loud while it scans it does that too. The trick is to make sure you scan quickly and straight across the page. I am really impressed how fast it scans and processes the information.
Once you set it up with software on your computer you can select whether to scan directly within scanmarker itself or select the doc icon and then place your cursor where you want it to appear, for example a blank Word Doc. It is that easy. There are settings for scanning text, image, numbers and barcode. In the manual it says tables but as I said earlier they apparently have taken it out of the software selection. As a historian, I use city directories a great deal and it would be nice to be able to scan names, addresses, occupations and year directly into Excel columns by recognizing each word as possible cell content.
You select the language you want to scan in and the language you want it translated if different. You can also have the imported text read to you out loud while you are scanning. There are settings that have scanning tips and even a practice area for beginners.
The Scanmarker menu (widget) is stuck either on the left or right side of your computer and can be moved up and down but not freely anywhere on the monitor. I find that a nuisance and would like to be able to move it anywhere on the computer. Since my apps dock is on the left it makes getting to the settings icon difficult. I have many folders on the right so it covers those up too. Free the Widget!
As an archaeologist there are professional reports in different languages that I could benefit from if I could read them. It is no longer a problem.
The Scanmarker is entirely made of plastic and is very light. My only fear is dropping it and breaking it. It comes with a USB charging cable and carrying case. They are available in several colors. Free technical support.
Pick your color.
This is one of those must have devices. If you are a student it will help immensely when you are trying to take notes from your textbook.
Back to school special now for $115
Go to https://scanmarker.com/
Don Rittner - Historian At Large 