Remove Fingers from Scans in One Tap!

Scanning book pages or passports with your mobile phone can be tricky because they sometimes refuse to stay put. Some book-scanning enthusiasts even use translucent polycarbonate plates to flatten a book spread, but most people use their fingers. This technique yields good results, and fingers are convenient tools that are always on hand. However, it’s not like they are a valuable addition to the overall document design. If you share our dislike for fingers on scans, we’ve got great news for you—with our new feature, you can remove fingers from scans in one tap!

With iScanner, a PDF scanner app, you can get perfect scans of any document in seconds, even if you’re on the go and there’s nowhere to set it down. Just hold the document with your hand, and the app will take care of any fingers that get in the way. No more wasting time on retakes or editing!

How Does the New Feature Work?

The new feature is an AI algorithm that we developed from scratch and named the AI Finger Eraser. It’s been trained to accurately identify fingers on scans and remove them to help you create perfectly legible and professional-looking scans.

How Does the Algorithm Remove Fingers from Scans?

It processes the image around the document’s edges
Identifies fingers
Analyzes the background around the fingers
Removes them
Fills in the void with the same background color

As a result, you get a perfect, clean, and finger-free scan. The highlight of it all is that it works not only with regular white printer paper but also with all sorts of colored documents.

When Can the AI Finger Eraser Come in Handy?

If you’re on the go and there’s no available surface to lay your document on. You can simply hold it in one hand while scanning with the other. The app will detect and remove all accidental fingers in seconds.
If you need to scan your passport. Passports are notoriously stubborn, and most refuse to lie flat. The important thing to keep in mind when dealing with passports is to make sure that your finger is not covering any important information. That’s because the AI algorithm, while perfectly capable of detecting and removing fingers, can’t restore the text underneath. It will merely fill in the blank with a similar background.
If you need to scan a page from a thick book with a rigid spine. The pages are unlikely to lie flat and stay put when you’re dealing with such books. Pin it down with your finger, and the app will clean up after you.
If you need to scan any piece of paper that has assumed a certain shape from being bent, folded, or wrapped around something. With this kind of paper, there’s little to no chance you’ll manage to tame it and make it lie flat.
When scanning glossy or coated paper (thick photo paper likes to curl) or adhesive labels and stickers.

How to Use the Finger Removal Feature

We’ve now created a category for the AI features in the app that can enhance the quality of the scans. You can find them both if you tap the AI Enhance button at the bottom of the screen.

Within the next menu, you will see two options: Straighten, which allows you to use the Scan Straightener (our AI algorithm that fixes the geometry of the page and removes skews and warps), and Erase Fingers, which allows you to remove fingers from scans.

Next, you need to tap Erase Fingers, and the app will do the rest. All done!

Limitations to Keep in Mind When Using iScanner’s AI Fingers Eraser

As we’ve already mentioned, it’s crucial to ensure that your finger doesn’t cover any text, numbers, or complex images, such as logos or signatures, because the algorithm will not be able to restore any visual information underneath your finger. What it does is detect fingers, remove them from the picture, and fill in the blank spot with a similar-looking background color.

Don’t waste any more time on retakes or editing—remove fingers from scans in one tap! We’re psyched about our new feature and can’t wait to hear what you think. Please let us know your thoughts through reviews or on social media.