Camera import
The camera import takes the most tedious part out of learning vocabulary: typing it
in. You photograph a vocabulary list, a text or a book page – the app recognises the words
via text recognition and translates them for you.
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What the import is for
You learn most effectively with exactly the words that are currently relevant – the lesson in
the textbook, the word list from your course, the text from class. But typing exactly those
in by hand is the hurdle most vocabulary apps fail at. With the camera import, a book page
becomes a ready-made study unit in seconds.
Step by step
- Start the scan – choose Scan with camera and take a photo of the page. The
first time, the app asks for the camera permission.
- Text recognition – the app reads the words from the image. This takes a
moment.
- Choose the target language – the recognised text is assumed to be in your device
language; you decide which language it should be translated into.
- Translation – the words get translated. If the app does not have the language
model yet, it downloads it once.
- Check and import – go through the list, correct anything if needed, and tap
Import.
What it can become
During the import you decide what the recognised words should turn into:
- Add to vocabulary – the words go into your existing vocabulary collection.
- Create a new flashcard box – this creates its own box that you can name (for
example "English – page 42"). You then study it with
spaced repetition.
- Create a Word Scramble level – the same word list becomes a
Word Scramble
level for practising spelling.
Fixing translations
Not every word can be translated cleanly on its own. That is why the app shows you how many
words still have no translation, and reports once they are all covered. Every word can
be edited individually before the import – so you can correct a wrong translation or
fill in a missing one.
It is worth doing that right away: otherwise you will spend weeks learning a flashcard with
the wrong translation.
Tips for good recognition
- Watch out for even lighting and avoid shadows cast by your own hand.
- Photograph the page as flat and straight from above as possible, not at an
angle.
- Prefer one column or lesson per photo over a whole double page – the result is
cleaner and there is less to correct afterwards.
- Printed text is recognised far more reliably than handwriting.
Further help topics