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Document Scan

The Docutain Document Scanner SDK for iOS comes with integrated, ready to use UI components for the document scan process. Colors and icons can be changed to match your branding.

It is also possible to use the Document Scanner on imported images.

ScanEditPreview


Initialization

Initialize the Docutain Xamarin SDK as described here.

Scan with Camera

Camera Permission

You need to specify the reason for requesting access to the camera as part of the NSCameraUsageDescription in the Info.plist. If you don't the app will crash.


NSCameraUsageDescription


Start Camera Scan

To start the scan process you only have to implement our predefined ScanDelegate, implement it's didFinishScan method and call the static UI.scanDocument method at the place you want to start the document scanner, e.g. in a button click handler.

An instance of DocumentScannerConfiguration is required to launch the document scanner. It provides the possibility to change some behaviours to adopt it to your needs. See Change default scan behaviour for possible custom settings.

import DocutainSdk

class ViewController: UIViewController, ScanDelegate {

//...

func didFinishScan(withResult result: Bool) {
if(result){
//user finished scan process, continue with your workflow
//generate PDF by using Document.writePDF()
//get detected Text by using DocumentDataReader.getText()
//get data by using DocumentDataReader.analyze()
} else{
//user canceled scan process
}
}

@objc private func scanButtonClicked(){
let scanConfig = DocumentScannerConfiguration()
UI.scanDocument(scanDelegate: self, scanConfig: scanConfig)
}

//...
}

Scan from imported images

It is also possible to use the Document Scanner on already taken images, for example images selected from the users photo gallery. The process of starting the scanner on imported images is the same as when scanning with the camera. The only difference is defining a different source in the DocumentScannerConfiguration. Possible values are:

  • camera : This is the default value. Starts the Document Scanner using the devices camera.
  • image : Starts the Document Scanner on images provided by you via code. Pass sourceImages to the DocumentScannerConfiguration containing the paths to the images to be scanned.
  • gallery : Opens the user's photo gallery in single select mode. The Document Scanner is run on the selected image.
  • galleryMultiple : Opens the user's photo gallery in multi select mode. The Document Scanner is run on the selected images.

The following sample shows how to open the photo gallery in multi select mode and run the Document Scanner on the selected images:

import DocutainSdk

class ViewController: UIViewController, ScanDelegate {

//...

func didFinishScan(withResult result: Bool) {
if(result){
//user finished scan process, continue with your workflow
//generate PDF by using Document.writePDF()
//get detected Text by using DocumentDataReader.getText()
//get data by using DocumentDataReader.analyze()
} else{
//user canceled scan process
}
}

@objc private func scanButtonClicked(){
let scanConfig = DocumentScannerConfiguration()
scanConfig.source = .galleryMultiple
UI.scanDocument(scanDelegate: self, scanConfig: scanConfig)
}

//...
}

Change default scan behaviour

DocumentScannerConfiguration

You can use the DocumentScannerConfiguration to alter the default scan behaviour to your needs. Currently the following values can be set:

PropertyTypeDefault ValueDescription
allowCaptureModeSettingBoolfalseIf true, the document scanner toolbar will display an item that allows the user to switch between automatic and manual camera triggering.
autoCaptureBooltrueIf true, the camera will capture the image automatically at the right moment.
defaultScanFilterScanFilterillustrationThe default scan filter that will be used after scan.
onboardingImageSourceString?nilYour custom image for the onboarding dialog that appears when scan is opened for the first time. Provide the name of the image in your assets catalog (without file extension).
pageEditConfigPageEditConfigurationPageEditConfigurationConfiguration class used to alter the default page editing behaviour. See PageEditConfiguration for more details.
sourceSourcecameraThe source of the Document Scanner. If you need to run the scanner on imported images please see Scan from imported images for more details.
sourceImagesArray<URL>empty arrayPlease see Scan from imported images for more details.
autoCropBooltrueIf true, image gets automatically cropped if document was detected. This applies only when importing images.
multiPageBooltrueIf true, scanning multi page documents is possible. Set this to false if you need to scan single page documents.
colorConfigColorConfigurationColorConfigurationConfiguration class used to alter the default color behaviour. Please see ColorConfiguration for more details.
textConfigTextConfigurationTextConfigurationConfiguration class used to alter the default text behaviour. See TextConfiguration for more details.
buttonConfigButtonConfigurationButtonConfigurationConfiguration class used to alter the default buttons. See ButtonConfiguration for more details.
confirmPagesBoolfalseIf true, a list of all pages (thumbnails) will be displayed before the scan process can be finished.
allowPageEditingBooltrueIf true, after the scan screen is finished, an editing screen with the captured images will be displayed. On the editing screen, the user can crop manually, rotate the page, filter the page and much more. The editing screen can be configured by accessing the PageEditConfiguration.
info

All parameters in DocumentScannerConfiguration are optional.


The following sample shows how to activate the confirmation mode:

let scanConfig = DocumentScannerConfiguration()
scanConfig.confirmPages = true
UI.scanDocument(scanDelegate: self, scanConfig: scanConfig)

PageEditConfiguration

You can use the PageEditConfiguration to alter the default page editing behaviour of the document scanner to your needs. Currently the following values can be set:

PropertyTypeDefault ValueDescription
allowPageFilterBooltrueIf false, the bottom toolbar will hide the filter page item.
allowPageRotationBooltrueIf false, the bottom toolbar will hide the rotate page item.
allowPageArrangementBooltrueIf false, the bottom toolbar will hide the arrange page item.
allowPageCroppingBooltrueIf false, the bottom toolbar will hide the page cropping item.
allowPageRetakeBoolfalseIf true, the bottom toolbar will show a button allowing to retake the current page.
pageArrangementShowDeleteButtonBoolfalseIf true, each item of the page arrangement functionality will show a delete button.
pageArrangementShowPageNumberBooltrueIf true, each item of the page arrangement functionality will show it's page number.
info

All parameters in PageEditConfiguration are optional.


The following sample shows how to activate the page retake button:

let scanConfig = DocumentScannerConfiguration()
scanConfig.pageEditConfig.allowPageRetake = true
UI.scanDocument(scanDelegate: self, scanConfig: scanConfig)

TextConfiguration

You can use the TextConfiguration to alter the default text behaviour of the document scanner to your needs. If a value does not get set explicitly, the default value provided by the SDK will be used. If you set a text value to null, it won't show any text. You can use this to remove predefined text. Currently the following values can be set:

PropertyTypeDescription
textSizeBottomToolbarNSNumber?The text size of elements residing in the bottom toolbar.
textSizeTopToolbarNSNumber?The text size of menu items residing in the top toolbar.
textSizeScanButtonsNSNumber?The text size of the buttons in the scan page, located at the lower part, like the torch button.
textSizeTitleNSNumber?The text size of the title in the top toolbar. By default, auto shrinking down till 9.0 is enabled. If you define your custom size, automatic shrinking will be disabled.
textTitleScanPageString?The title to be displayed in the scan page top toolbar.
textTitleEditPageString?The title to be displayed in the edit page top toolbar.
textTitleFilterPageString?The title to be displayed in the filter page top toolbar.
textTitleCroppingPageString?The title to be displayed in the cropping page top toolbar.
textTitleArrangementPageString?The title to be displayed in the page arrangement page top toolbar.
textTitleConfirmationPageString?The title to be displayed in the confirmation page top toolbar.
textDocumentTitleString?The title to show in the top toolbar on all pages. It overwrites page specific titles, if any are set.
textOnboardingTitleString?The text to show in the onboarding popup title that appears when the scan page is opened for the first time.
textOnboardingMessageString?The text to show in the onboarding popup message that appears when the scan page is opened for the first time.
textOnboardingCloseButtonString?The text to show in the onboarding popup close button that appears when the scan page is opened for the first time.
textSizeOnboardingTitleNSNumber?The text size of the onboarding popup title that appears when the scan page is opened for the first time.
textSizeOnboardingMessageNSNumber?The text size of the onboarding popup message that appears when the scan page is opened for the first time.
textFocusHintString?The text to show when camera is focusing after capture got triggered.
textFirstPageHintString?The text to show when user swipes to previous page but is already at the first page.
textLastPageHintString?The text to show when user swipes to next page but is already at the last page.
textOnePageHintString?The text to show when user swipes to next or previous page but only one page is available.
textScanProgressString?The text to show in the progress popup that is shown when user clicks the done button but some pages still need to be processed.
textDeleteDialogCurrentPageStringThe text to show for the option to delete the current page within the dialog that will be shown when clicking delete while multiple pages are available.
textDeleteDialogAllPagesStringThe text to show for the option to delete all pages within the dialog that will be shown when clicking delete while multiple pages are available.
textDeleteDialogCancelString?The text to show for the option to cancel within the dialog that will be shown when clicking delete while multiple pages are available.
info

All parameters in TextConfiguration are optional.


The following sample shows how to set a document title:

let scanConfig = DocumentScannerConfiguration()
scanConfig.textConfig.textDocumentTitle = "Custom Document Title"
UI.scanDocument(scanDelegate: self, scanConfig: scanConfig)

ButtonConfiguration

You can use the ButtonConfiguration to alter the default buttons of the scanner. Each button is an object of DocutainButton and has a title and icon property. Buttons residing in the top toolbar can have either a title or an icon. If you define both, the icon will be displayed. Buttons residing in the bottom toolbar can have both title and icon at the same time. If you want a button to only display text, set the icon property to nil and the title property to the text you want to display. If you want a button to only display an icon, set the text property to nil and the icon property to the icon you want to display. To set a custom icon, provide the name of the image in your assets catalog (without file extension).

Currently the following buttons can be set:

ButtonDefault ValueDescription
buttonEditRotatebuttonEditRotateThe button that rotates the current page.
buttonEditCropbuttonEditCropThe button that opens the cropping functionality.
buttonEditFilterbuttonEditFilterThe button that opens the filter functionality.
buttonEditArrangebuttonEditArrangeThe button that opens the page arrangement functionality.
buttonEditRetakebuttonEditRetakeThe button that starts the process of replacing the current page with a new scan.
buttonEditDeletebuttonEditDeleteThe button that deletes the current page or opens a dialog with options if multiple pages are available.
buttonEditFinishbuttonEditFinishThe button that finishes the scan process.
buttonCropExpandbuttonCropExpandThe button within the cropping functionality that expands the current cropping rectangle to the whole page.
buttonCropSnapbuttonCropSnapThe button within the cropping functionality that snaps the current cropping rectangle to the detected document.
buttonCropFinishbuttonCropFinishThe button within the cropping functionality that finishes the manual cropping process according to the current cropping rectangle.
buttonScanAutoCaptureOnbuttonScanAutoCaptureOnThe button within the scan functionality that is shown when automatic capture is activated.
buttonScanAutoCaptureOffbuttonScanAutoCaptureOffThe button within the scan functionality that is shown when automatic capture is deactivated.
buttonScanTorchbuttonScanTorchThe button within the scan functionality that toggles the torch.
buttonScanCapturebuttonScanCaptureThe button within the scan functionality that triggers a manual image capture.
buttonScanFinishbuttonScanFinishThe button within the scan functionality that finishes the current scan process and leads to the editing page.
buttonConfirmationFinishbuttonConfirmationFinishThe button on the confirmation page that finishes the scan process.
info

All parameters in ButtonConfiguration are optional.


The following sample shows how to customize the buttonEditRotate:

let scanConfig = DocumentScannerConfiguration()
scanConfig.buttonConfig.buttonEditRotate.title = "Custom Title"
scanConfig.buttonConfig.buttonEditRotate.icon = "Icon"
UI.scanDocument(scanDelegate: self, scanConfig: scanConfig)

ColorConfiguration

In order to fit the Docutain Scanner SDK for iOS into your corporate design, you have a bunch of options to alter the default color theming of the ready to use UI components.

Supported colors

The following is a list of all colors currently supported.

ColorDefault ValueDescription
colorPrimarylight:
UIColor(red: 76/255, green: 175/255, blue: 80/255, alpha: 1)
dark:
UIColor(red: 76/255, green: 175/255, blue: 80/255, alpha: 1)
Used to tint progress indicators. theming_progress_indicators
colorSecondarylight:
UIColor(red: 76/255, green: 175/255, blue: 80/255, alpha: 1)
dark:
UIColor(red: 76/255, green: 175/255, blue: 80/255, alpha: 1)
Used to tint selectable controls and the capture button. theming_selection_controls
theming_capture_button
colorOnSecondarylight:
UIColor.white
dark:
UIColor.black
Used to tint elements that reside on docutain_colorSecondary, like the icon of the capture button.
theming_capture_button
colorScanButtonsLayoutBackgroundlight:
UIColor(red: 18/255, green: 18/255, blue: 18/255, alpha: 1)
dark:
UIColor(red: 18/255, green: 18/255, blue: 18/255, alpha: 1)
Used to tint the background of scan buttons layout.
theming_scan_buttons_layout
colorScanButtonsForegroundlight:
UIColor.white
dark:
UIColor.white
Used to tint the foreground of the scan buttons layout, like the torch button.
theming_scan_buttons_layout
colorScanPolygonlight:
UIColor(red: 76/255, green: 175/255, blue: 80/255, alpha: 1)
dark:
UIColor(red: 76/255, green: 175/255, blue: 80/255, alpha: 1)
Used to tint the polygon overlay which highlights the currently detected document.
theming_scan_polygon
colorBottomBarBackgroundlight:
UIColor.white
dark:
UIColor(red: 33/255, green: 33/255, blue: 33/255, alpha: 1)
Used to tint the bottom toolbar background of the image editing page.
theming_edit_bottombar
colorBottomBarForegroundlight:
UIColor(red: 50/255, green: 50/255, blue: 50/255, alpha: 1)
dark:
UIColor(red: 190/255, green: 190/255, blue: 190/255, alpha: 1)
Used to tint the buttons within the bottom toolbar of the image editing page. theming_edit_bottombar
colorTopBarBackgroundlight:
UIColor(red: 76/255, green: 175/255, blue: 80/255, alpha: 1)
dark:
UIColor(red: 42/255, green: 42/255, blue: 42/255, alpha: 1)
Used to tint the top toolbar background. theming_topbar
colorTopBarForegroundlight:
UIColor.white
dark:
UIColor.white.withAlphaComponent(0.87)
Used to tint the buttons contained in the top toolbar.
theming_topbar
colorTopBarTitlelight:
UIColor.white
dark:
UIColor.white.withAlphaComponent(0.87)
Used to tint the text of the top toolbar title. theming_topbar_title

Dark Mode

The Docutain Scanner SDK for iOS also supports dark mode theming. The process is the same, just define different colors for the night version of your theme. The SDK decides which color to use depending on the device's sytem setting and it will change at runtime, if the device's display mode changes.

theming_edit_bottombar theming_edit_bottombar_dark

Defining a custom theme

In order to alter at least one of the colors mentioned above, you need to set the color using the colorConfig of the DocumentScannerConfiguration.

The following is an example which alters the scan polygon color. Every color has a corresponding method.

let scanConfig = DocumentScannerConfiguration()
scanConfig.colorConfig.setColorScanPolygon(light: .green, dark: .darkGreen)

UI.scanDocument(scanDelegate: self, scanConfig: scanConfig)

Result handling

After the scan process is successfully finished, you can do a bunch of things with the scanned pages:

iOS PDF Creation

iOS Text Detection

iOS Data Extraction

Language Support

The device's locale determines the language used by the scanner.

The SDK provides default translations for certain languages. Refer to TextConfiguration if you want to set your own texts.

Currently available translations:

  • English
  • Arabic
  • Bulgarian
  • Chinese, Simplified
  • Chinese, Traditional
  • Croation
  • Czech
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • Finnish
  • French
  • German
  • Greek
  • Hindi
  • Hungarian
  • Icelandic
  • Indonesian
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Korean
  • Lithuanian
  • Norwegian Bokmal
  • Polish
  • Portugese
  • Portugese (Brazil)
  • Romanian
  • Russian
  • Serbian
  • Slovak
  • Slovenian
  • Spanish
  • Swedish
  • Turkish

The fallback language is English. This means if the device is set to a language that is currently not supported, it will show English texts.

If you think the translation can be improved, please feel free to contact us via support.sdk@Docutain.com.