How to scan a business card into a contact on your iPhone

In SignMaster: card to contact in one scan

1. 1

   Pick Business card

   In the SignMaster app, open the Scan tab and choose Business card from the modes above the shutter.

2. 2

   Scan the card

   Lay it on a dark surface and hold the phone above it until the camera captures it. Scan the side with the email address if the card has two.

3. 3

   Check the fields

   The card is read on the phone and the form fills in: Name, Email, Phone, Company, Title and Website. Every field stays editable, so fix anything it misread.

4. 4

   Add the contact

   Tap Add to contacts. An email address is needed to save. If that email is already in your contacts, the app tells you instead of making a duplicate.

The person is now in your SignMaster contacts, on the web and in the app, ready to pick as a signer the next time you send a proposal or contract. If your workspace saves new signers automatically, the rest of your contact list builds itself; see saving signers to contacts.

What it saves, and what it doesn't

• It saves to SignMaster contacts, not the iPhone's Contacts app. It's for people you'll send documents to, not your phone's address book.
• The card picture isn't kept. Only the contact details are saved. If you want an image of the card on file too, scan it again in Document mode.
• One card per scan. The details come from the first card you capture.
• Nothing is saved until you tap Add to contacts. Back out and the card's details go nowhere.
• View-only roles can read cards but not add them. Someone with edit rights in the workspace has to save the contact.

Without an app: Live Text in the Camera

To get a card into the iPhone's own Contacts app without installing anything, use Live Text. Apple's guide describes it in the Camera app:

1. 1

   Point the camera at the card

   Open Camera and frame the card. When a yellow frame appears around the text, tap the Live Text button.

2. 2

   Use or copy the details

   Tap a quick action at the bottom of the screen to call the number or start an email, or touch and hold the text and use the grab points to select it, then tap Copy.

3. 3

   Paste into a new contact

   Open Contacts, create a new contact and paste the details into the right fields. It's manual, but free and private.

Apple notes that Live Text isn't available in every region or language.

Other scanner apps that read cards

• Adobe Scan has a business card capture type. After the text is read, a Save to Contacts option opens a new contact form, which Adobe's App Store listing says goes to your phone contacts. It's free.
• Genius Scan turns business cards into contacts in your iPhone's address book on its paid Ultra plan, picking up the name, job title, phone numbers and addresses. The feature is iPhone only.
• Microsoft Lens was retired in early 2026 and no longer scans.

Tips for clean reads

• Contrast matters. A white card on a white table may not be found; put it on something dark.
• Avoid glare on glossy cards. Move away from overhead lights or tilt the phone a little.
• Check the email character by character. A period read as a comma or an "rn" read as "m" means a bounced send later.
• Vertical and dark cards work, but give them an extra second to focus, and check the name came from the right line.