Turn your iPhone into a portable scanner

TurboScan makes it easy to get exact scans of paper documents.

First iPads were chart viewers, then they became navigators, and lately they are being used in large numbers as in-flight weather receivers. But an under-appreciated feature for pilots is document storage and organization. As we’ve pointed out before, apps like ForeFlight Mobile (with its Documents feature) and GoodReader make it easy to store a wide variety of paper documents on your iPad, from POHs to maintenance records.

But one issue with these apps is that you first have to get your paper documents into a digital format. This can be a difficult process in some cases, so we were excited to find TurboScan, a handy app that lets you scan almost anything using your iPhone and turn it into a PDF.

Simply take a picture (with your iPhone’s built-in camera) of almost anything, and the app will auto-detect the edges of the paper. You can adjust the corners, so you’re only saving the parts of the document you need. From there, you can adjust the color, name your document and email the file to yourself or save it to a Dropbox account. There’s even a SureScan feature that takes three images for maximum clarity.

You can easily stitch pages together, so multi-page documents are saved as a single file instead of a confusing set of individual pages. TurboScan will also convert images stored in your Camera Roll to PDF or JPG, with all the cropping and color adjustment features.

This app makes it easy to digitally store performance charts, weight and balance data, minimum equipment list (MEL) paperwork, maintenance logs or insurance information. Really, the uses for TurboScan are almost limitless (and obviously not limited to aviation), so use your imagination.

TurboScan is a bargain at $1.99 and is available in the iTunes App Store. Get the app here.