Document Scanner

Document Scanner is the go-to app for scanning documents on the GNOME desktop. It’s super handy for grabbing images and text using your image scanner, usually a flatbed one.

History of Document Scanner

The app started its journey as Simple Scan, which was the default scanning tool for GNOME until around 2016. Robert Ancell took care of Simple Scan back in the day, but now it’s all part of the GNOME repository.

A Modern Look

These days, Document Scanner sports a sleek look with a modern GTK GUI while still using the SANE framework that works with most scanners out there. If you’re running Ubuntu or another GNOME-based distro, chances are you already have Document Scanner on your system!

Installing Document Scanner

If it’s not on your system yet, no worries! You can easily install it via Flathub, which is probably the simplest way to get it up and running. Alternatively, if you're feeling adventurous, you can build it from source using GNOME Builder. Check out more details about installation in the app's official GitLab repository.

User-Friendly Features

Once you have it installed, using Document Scanner is a breeze! The interface is clean and straightforward. You have two main options when scanning: Text and Images. Plus, you can do things like crop parts of an image you don’t need, rotate scans around, or even export your scans to PDF or other image formats.

Customizable Preferences

The Preferences section is pretty solid too! Here, you can tweak how the scanning process goes. For example, choose whether to scan just one side of a page or both sides. You can also set things like page size and scan quality—adjusting text resolution and brightness levels.

A Handy Tool for Everyone

While it might not win any awards for flashiness, Document Scanner gets the job done really well. If your GNOME OS doesn’t have this app by default and you find yourself needing to scan documents at all, there’s really no reason not to download it here!