How to Scan Whiteboards Using Your Android Device and Google Drive

Get yourself some Jotters, our newest contender for coolest whiteboard product ever! Using your Android device and the Google Drive app, you can easily scan your Jotters, preserving them for all time and, if you’re so inclined, sharing them with that clumsy new coworker who failed to show up for orientation.

Have you ever found yourself in any of these situations?

• You just started a new job (congratulations!) and you are a note-taking rock star during the first couple days of orientation. Your boss notices your diligence and asks you to share those notes with another new employee who missed the orientation due to a broken leg from a parasailing accident, the poor dear. But you spilled your iced matcha latte all over your notebook, ruining your notes and your chance to show your boss you’re a team player.
  
• You’re planning the next great family vacation, making notes about the can’t-miss sites, the restaurants beloved by locals, and the best Airbnb neighborhoods. A week later, you find some travel blogs focusing on your destination, and you want to add to the notes you already made…but where’s that darn notebook? Or was it a legal pad? Or just some random scrap of paper? Anyway, it’s missing, and you start over with a new set of notes on a new piece of paper.
  
• It’s the beginning of summer, and you’ve invested in some new perennials. You make some notes about your plants’ unique needs and draw a rough diagram of your garden (not to scale – you’re not a landscape architect, for crying out loud) to reference for later. Then next spring rolls around, you aren’t sure which plants you put where, and you go in search of your notes. But where are they? On your desk? In the garage cabinet where you keep your gardening tools? You can’t find your notes and you are clueless about whether the shoots poking up are weeds or your new hostas.

OK, so maybe these are a little specific, but the point is clear: We all have those moments where writing things down helps us see a plan laid out before us, helps us process and remember information, and actually helps us *think.* But keeping track of those notebooks and scratch pads can be tricky, and using all that paper is wasteful and not very respectful of our beautiful planet.

So what’s a well-organized person to do?
That’s easy: get yourself some Jotters, our newest contender for coolest whiteboard product ever!

These modern, eco-smart whiteboards can be re-used thousands of times, replacing all that notebook paper and reducing waste. And because sometimes you’re in a linear mood and sometimes you want to be creative and free, these babies are two-sided, printed with a familiar lined-paper template on one side and a wide open whiteboard on the other. Keep them on your desk, take them with you to meetings, stick them in your messenger bag – they’re lightweight, durable, and, when used with our Tackie markers, smudge-free.

Now here’s the cool part, the marriage of the ancient art of note-writing with some twenty-first-century technology/magic: Using your Android device and the Google Drive app, you can easily scan your Jotters, preserving them for all time and, if you’re so inclined, sharing them with that clumsy new coworker who failed to show up for orientation.

And here is your very own step-by-step guide for scanning whiteboards using your Android device and the Google Drive app:

Step 1

Place your Jotter on a flat, contrasting surface in a well-lit area. Open up your Google Drive app (not Docs or Sheets or any of the million other Google apps). Go to the folder where you want your scan to be saved. You’ll see a circular button in the bottom right corner with a plus sign; tap that to see several options, including “scan.”

Voila! The camera function is now open. Hold your phone over the Jotter until you see the entire whiteboard on the screen, and tap the shutter button. Once the scan has been captured, you can hit “Retry” if you aren’t satisfied, or “OK.” 

Step 2

Tapping “OK” will lead you to several options: The plus sign allows you to scan more Jotters to add to this document. The color palette icon lets you choose between color, black & white, and color drawing, which is a cool effect to make your scan look extra special. The rotate icon lets you, well, rotate your scan. The crop icon enables you to edit out the bits of countertop showing around the edges of your scan or crop out any expletives or saucy doodles. The three dots in the top right corner let you get really meticulous; tap them and choose “Settings” to enhance the image and change its quality.

Step 3

When you’re done, tap “Save” to name your document and make sure it’s saved to the right folder. Of course, once it’s saved in Google Drive, you can access this document from any device and you can share it with anyone else you choose!

But here is what is truly the coolest part, your reward for reading to the end of this post: The wise and wonderful words on the Jotter you’ve just scanned are now searchable in Drive – assuming your handwriting is somewhat legible. So when you want to know what to do with your hibiscus at the end of summer, or remind yourself when you’ll be vested in your 401K, or recall the name of that phenomenal sushi place you went on vacation, search your Drive for those key words. Prepare to be amazed.

Don’t forget to get yourself a package of Jotters today.

Are you an iPhone user? Check out this post for a step-by-step guide to scanning whiteboards with the Notes app on your iPhone!