One of the best things about Evernote is that you can add multiple file types to a note. This means you can add images, and one of the best ways to get images into Evernote is to use the built-in Evernote camera. The Evernote Camera has evolved over the years, and now has four modes to choose from. Each mode performs a specific function that makes getting images and information into Evernote even easier.
Note: These examples show the iOS version of the mobile Evernote app.
To open the Evernote Camera, create a new note, then tap the camera icon at the bottom of the screen.
To switch between camera modes, swipe your finger across the screen.
Post-It Note Camera
Let’s start with the Post-It Notes camera. I love Post-It Notes, so I was incredibly happy when Evernote announced at EC3 last year the new partnership with 3M. If you have a Post-It Note that you want to capture in Evernote, swipe over to the Post-It Note Camera, center the Post-It Note in the camera window (the edge of the screen will darken to show you where to center the Post-It Note.) Tap the green button to take a photo.
Evernote will detect the edges of the Post-It Note, and the color of the note, replacing the note background with the same solid color. In the app preferences, you can assign notebooks, tags, and reminders to Post-It Notes based on their color.
Photo Camera
The original Evernote Camera mode is still there. Use it to capture a photo of anything you want to include in a note. Tap the switch camera icon in the top right to add a selfie to a journal note.
Document Camera
The document camera is great when you don’t have access to a scanner, or want to scan through a bunch of documents quickly. Similar to the Post-It Notes camera, make sure your document sits in the unshaded area of the screen, and take a photo. Evernote will detect the edges of your document, and adjust contrast to help with character recognition. It helps to place your document on a contrasting surface.
Business Card Camera
The Business Card Camera mode makes short work of business cards. Line up the business card in the unshaded area, take the photo, and Evernote will pull the pertinent information off the card. You can even set the business card scanning preferences to automatically add card information to your contacts.
Four camera modes, four awesome ways to get images into Evernote. Have you tried them all? Which is your favorite?
Hi Daniel: I found this post while trying to find a way to use Evernote on my Android to scan paper documents directly to PDF. When using the document camera mode in Evernote, it creates a JPG and I can’t find a way to change that. Also, it creates an Evernote folder in camera photo gallery, so then I have to remember to go clean that up every once in a while. Have you experienced these same behaviors?
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Hi Dave,
I don’t have a lot of experience with Evernote on Android (and the Scannable app is currently iOS only,) but the Evernote iOS client is similar in function. The document camera in Evernote only shoots JPGs. In the Scannable app, single page scans are saved as JPG, but multi-page scans are converted to PDF. The images are saved to the phone’s photo library, as well.
Before the Evernote document camera, and Scannable, I used a third party app called Scanner Pro to scan on my phone. That app had an option to scan to PDF or JPG, and send the final scan to Evernote. I’m guessing there has to be an Android app similar to Scanner Pro.
This one seems to get pretty good reviews, and appears to be able to send scans to Evernote: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thegrizzlylabs.geniusscan.free
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