Turn a page of a book into flashcards

Scan-to-Cards turns a photo of a page into flashcards. You photograph a page from a book, a printout, or a screen; MindDory reads the text, sets aside the words worth keeping, and makes cards from the ones you tick. Nothing is typed by hand. Free accounts get one scan a day, and the words stay yours, in your own vocabulary.

How does scanning a page into flashcards work?

Three steps, and only one of them is yours. You take a photo of the page. MindDory reads the text and picks out the words that look worth learning at your level. You glance down the list, untick anything you already know, and the rest become cards.

The point is what you skip: no typing the word, no typing the translation, no choosing a deck, no filling in a template. The page you were already reading becomes the source.

Which words does it choose?

The ones you are most likely to be missing. MindDory knows a CEFR level for a large part of its English dictionary, so words far below your level are set aside and the ones near your edge are offered first.

It is a suggestion, not a verdict. The list is there to be edited, and a word you untick is not asked about again. If a word MindDory could not judge, it is offered rather than dropped, on the grounds that a word you do not need costs you one tap and a word you never see costs you the reason you took the photo.

What happens to the cards after the scan?

They go into the same review queue as everything else, and nothing needs configuring. You only say whether a word was hard or easy. A hard word comes back in three days, an easy one in a week, and the second time you call it easy it stops asking.

That is the whole of the scheduling setup: there is nothing to set.

When is scanning better than typing a word in?

When the words come faster than you can copy them out. A page of a novel, a printed article, a page of a textbook, slides, a menu: anywhere you meet several unfamiliar words at once and would otherwise pick two and let the rest go.

For a single word met in a chat or a browser tab, typing it in or capturing it from your AI assistant is quicker. Scan is for the page, not the word.

What scanning is not

Frequently asked questions

Can I make flashcards from a photo?

Yes. Photograph a page and MindDory reads the text, offers the words worth learning, and turns the ones you keep into flashcards. You do not type the words or the translations.

Does it work with printed books?

Yes, and that is the case it was built for. A page of a physical book, a printout, or a screen all work the same way.

Which languages can I scan?

MindDory scans the languages it supports for learning. Word selection is fully built for English, where it knows a CEFR level for most words; in other languages it recognises fewer words and offers more of them, so you untick more.

How many scans do I get for free?

One a day on a free account. Premium removes the daily limit.

Do I have to review the words it picks?

You choose. The scan produces a list, not a deck: anything you untick is never made into a card. What you keep joins your normal review queue.

Is Scan-to-Cards the same as importing an Anki deck?

No. Importing brings in cards somebody has already written. Scanning makes cards out of a page you are reading now, so the words are the ones you actually met.