Physical Books

If you highlight or underline paper books, the Screvi app for iOS and Android turns those markings into searchable highlights using your camera and AI.

Scan a Page

1. Open the Screvi app and tap the + button.
2. In the toolbar under the text box, tap the camera icon to take a photo, or the photo icon to pick one from your gallery.
3. On the drawing screen, run your finger over the passages you want. Screvi paints a yellow highlighter over them.
4. Tap the checkmark to extract. The text appears in the editor, ready to tidy up and save.

If you do not mark anything, Screvi extracts every readable line on the page.

Marking Tips

• Straight lines snap. Draw roughly along a line of text and Screvi straightens it for you.
• Undo removes the last stroke. Clear removes them all. Both appear once you have drawn something.
• Mark instead of cropping. Marking the exact lines gives the AI a clear signal and avoids picking up the facing page.

Several Pages at Once

Tap Add Page to photograph or pick another page. Move between pages with the arrows at the top, mark each one, and extract them together. Screvi returns the combined text as one highlight, which you can split up before saving.

Assign a Book, Then Save

1. Read through the extracted text and fix anything the AI misread.
2. Tap the source selector and search for the book, or type a new title to create it.
3. Add tags, a page number, or a note if you like.
4. Tap Save.

Without a source, the highlight is saved under Personal Notes.

Dictate Instead

Tap the microphone icon on the same screen and read the passage aloud. Screvi transcribes it into the editor. Handy for a single sentence, or when the lighting is bad.

Getting Clean Results

• Light the page well and avoid shadows across the text.
• Flatten the page. Text curving into the spine is the most common cause of misreads.
• Mark specific lines rather than extracting the whole page.
• Use existing photos. If you already photographed pages, pick them from your gallery instead of retaking them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What markings does it pick up?

Highlighter, underlines, brackets, and circles all help the AI find the passage. Marking on the photo works even for pages you never marked in the book.

Does it read handwriting?

It is tuned for printed text. Clear handwritten notes in the margin sometimes come through, but do not count on it.

Can I scan two books in one go?

Each capture is saved to a single source. Save the first book's highlights, then tap + again for the next book.