Scan business cards into leads with the Leadnote app

To turn a business card into a lead, open the add button in the Leadnote mobile app, choose Add from Business Card, take a photo, check the fields the phone filled in and save. The phone reads the printed text itself, so no connection is needed. On the web you cannot scan a card, but you can attach the front and back images of a card to a lead.

Scan a card on the mobile app

1. Tap the add button to open the quick actions and choose Add from Business Card. You need permission to create leads; without it the option is not shown. The same entry is on the Add Leads screen of the menu.
2. Read the intro, "Business card to leads", and the tips under For a clean scan: have good lighting, keep the camera not too far, avoid shaking it, and tilt the phone a little if you use flash.
3. Tap Take photo, or Choose from gallery to use a picture you already have.
4. The card appears under Cards in this session with the status Reading the card, then Ready to review. Other statuses are Needs details and Saved.
5. Tap the card to open Review card.

Review and save

On Review card:

• Check each field: first name, last name, designation, organisation, email, mobile, other numbers, website and address. The app fills in what it recognised.
• Choose the List the lead should go into. If you have no list yet the picker shows "No list yet", so create a list first.
• Under Other text on the card, tap a line and use Use as to move it into a field.
• Tap Retake to replace the photo and read it again. The form is refilled from the new photo.
• Tap Save lead, or Save and scan next to save and open the camera for the next card.

A lead needs a first name and an email or a mobile number. If these are missing the card stays as Needs details and the app asks you to fill them in first. If the email or mobile number already belongs to a lead, you see "Possible duplicate" and can choose Add anyway.

Scan many cards, then save together

You can add several cards in one visit. Each shows its status in the queue. When they are ready, use Save cards (it shows the number, for example "Save 5 cards") to save every ready card at once. A message tells you how many leads were saved. If you leave with unsaved cards, the app asks "Discard unsaved cards?".

When a card cannot be read

If the text cannot be recognised, the app says "The card could not be read. Fill in the details by hand." or "Nothing readable was found". You can still save the lead by typing the details, or tap Retake and try again with the card flat on a plain surface in daylight. Use Remove card to drop a card you do not want.

Privacy

"The text is read on your phone. The photo is sent only with the lead you save." Card photos you have not saved stay only on the phone. They hold other people's contact details, so the app deletes them when you sign out. The app opens your phone's own camera, so it does not ask for the Camera permission. See app permissions explained.

Add a card photo to an existing lead

This is separate from scanning: it stores the images with the lead and reads nothing from them.

On the mobile app:

1. Open the lead and tap More options, then Add Business Card. It is available when you may edit the lead.
2. Add the Front and, if there is one, the Rear of the card.
3. Tap Save.

If the lead already has a card, a new photo replaces it. Each photo must be smaller than 2 MB, otherwise you see "A photo is larger than 2 MB" and need to take it again. After saving, the app says the card uploads when you are online.

On the web:

1. Open the lead.
2. Open the lead's menu (the three dots) and choose Add business card.
3. In Upload Front and Back sides of business card, click Add front of business card and Add back of business card to pick the images.
4. Click Upload. You see "Business card uploaded".

Each image can be up to 2 MB, and Upload stays disabled until you choose at least one side.

Save a lead into your phone contacts

On the lead in the mobile app, Save to contact (in the same More options menu) opens your phone's new-contact screen with the lead's name, number and email filled in. You then save it in your own contacts. If the lead has no name, number or email, you see a message that there is nothing to save.

Share your own business card

In the app, open Settings, tap Business Card and use Share my card. The card is built from your profile as text, and the screen shows how complete it is. To change it, tap Edit profile. On the web, your card is under your profile.

Offline

Scanning, reading and saving cards all work without a connection. The lead shows "Lead saved. It syncs when you are online." and is sent when you reconnect. See offline mode and how sync works.

What about QR codes and call logs?

The app does not scan QR codes, read your call log or read WhatsApp notifications. Those need camera, call-log or notification access that app stores restrict, so Leadnote leaves them out on purpose. For paper cards use this feature; for contacts already on your phone use import contacts from a VCF file or phone book.