OCTOBER 2020 PCWorld 101Microsoft’s
Image To Text
feature in
action within
the Office
mobile app,
transcribing
a page
from Walter
Isaacson’s
biography of
Steve Jobs.need to move the file to your computer, or
your child’s computer, to upload it? Again,
the Office app has anticipated that.
The Transfer Files option at the top of the
Actions page will direct you to transfer.office.
com, a website where you’ll be asked to scan
a code with your phone to authenticate a
transfer. Because it’s web-based, you should
be able to transfer the PDF regardless of
whether the laptop is a Chromebook or a
Windows PC. On your phone, you’ll need to
select Send or Receive to make sure the file is
going in the right direction. Find the file in File
Explorer and save it where it needs to be.
HOW TO USE YOUR PHONE
AS AN OCR TO SCAN TEXT
There’s another fun trick that may benefit
older kids working from a printed textbook
who need to take notes: Turn your phone into
an OCR (optical character recognition)
device. We’re not scanning a page as
your scanner would—we’re reading and
copying the text on the page.
To begin the process, go to the
Actions page once again and select the
Image To Text option. This will work on a
live photo or a stored image.
Office does this fairly well, though
you’ll always want to proofread it. You’ll
get better results if the page is flat and
well-lit.
We’re all trying to manage the
pandemic, working from home, and
distance learning if we have school-age kids.
Microsoft’s Office app for Android and iOS is
a handy way to save a little time and effort.
Use it!The Office app will direct you to this intermediary site
to facilitate sending files between your phone and your
computer. You’re free to use email or another app, too.