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Scan Business Cards to iPhone Contacts - Easy Guide

March 22, 2016
Scan Business Cards to iPhone Contacts - Easy Guide

Digitizing Business Cards with Your iPhone and CamCard Free

For professionals, marketers, or anyone accumulating numerous business cards, managing them efficiently can be challenging. Consider transitioning to a paperless system and leveraging your iPhone to convert those cards directly into contacts.

The CamCard Free application, available on the App Store, facilitates the scanning of business cards and their integration into your iPhone’s contact list. It accurately captures information from each card, creating a new contact entry. This guide will demonstrate how to utilize CamCard to minimize physical clutter.

Installation and Initial Setup

Begin by installing CamCard Free from the App Store. Subsequently, locate and tap the “CamCard” app icon on your iPhone’s Home screen to launch the application.

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Upon the first launch, a prompt will direct your attention to the camera button situated at the screen’s bottom, encouraging you to photograph your business cards. Ensure the card is placed on a surface offering strong contrast against its background color before proceeding. Then, activate the camera by tapping the camera icon.

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Scanning a Business Card

CamCard will activate your iPhone’s camera. Adjust your phone’s position to center the business card within the viewfinder. The app will automatically capture the image once it achieves focus and detects the card’s edges.

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Editing and Saving Contact Information

The Edit Card screen will appear, displaying the recognized information. While CamCard generally performs well, occasional inaccuracies may occur. If the company name was incorrectly identified, for example, it can be easily corrected. To modify any field, simply tap on it…

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…and input the correct details.

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Account Synchronization

You can designate the accounts to which the business card information will be saved. Currently selected accounts are listed under “Card saved to”. To add or remove accounts, tap “Card Saved To”.

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On the Card saved to screen, select or deselect accounts based on your preferences by tapping the corresponding circles. Green circles with checkmarks indicate accounts where the business card information will be saved. To establish these choices as the default for all future saves, toggle the “Auto save to selected accounts” slider button at the screen’s bottom. Then, confirm your selections by tapping “Confirm”.

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After completing the editing process and selecting your desired save locations, tap “Save” at the top of the screen. If the “Auto save to selected accounts” option is disabled, the Card saved to screen will reappear, prompting you to confirm your account choices.

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Adding the Back of the Card

If the business card has information on both sides, you can also store an image of the back. To do this, tap the business card within the list on the CardHolder screen.

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A message will appear upon accessing the information screen, instructing you to swipe down to view the card image. Follow the prompt and swipe down from the top of the screen.

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The front of the card will be displayed, with two lines beneath it. The currently visible side is indicated by a blue line. To view the back, tap the gray bar on the right or swipe left on the card image.

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Tap “Add Backside”.

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If you already have a photo of the back of the card on your iPhone, select “Choose Existing Photo” and locate it in the Photos app. Otherwise, tap “Take Photo” and align the card with the camera lens until the picture is automatically captured.

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The back of the card will now be displayed, and the corresponding bar below the image will turn blue. To return to the list of scanned cards, tap the back arrow.

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Additional Features and Options

Once you’ve scanned multiple cards, you can utilize sorting options and select multiple cards for various actions. Access these features by tapping the settings button in the upper-right corner of the screen.

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You can sort cards by date, name, or company name (the default). Selecting “Select” allows you to choose cards for sharing via email, sending messages, or exporting as a vCard or Excel file. You can also delete multiple cards simultaneously.

Tap the “X” in the upper-right corner to close the menu without making any selections.

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To access further options, tap the menu button in the upper-left corner of the screen.

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Here, you can find nearby contacts, manually add a card, import existing contacts, create an email signature for messages sent through CamCard, and manage groups. Tap the menu button again to close it without selecting an option.

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To edit a specific card, tap it within the list.

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Then, tap the menu button in the upper-right corner.

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Select “Edit” from the popup menu. You can also share the card from this menu, save it, or delete it.

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After scanning and saving cards to your iPhone’s contacts, you can view and edit them directly within the Contacts app, enabling you to easily email, call, or text those contacts.

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Create a free CamCard account to manage your scanned cards through a web browser on your PC or Mac. The web interface also allows for merging duplicate contacts.

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The free version of CamCard imposes a limit on the number of cards you can recognize. If you anticipate scanning a large volume of cards, consider upgrading to the full version, currently priced at $.99 (as of this article’s publication date).

#iPhone#business cards#scan#contacts#contact list#iOS