"Scanning" with an Android Phone Camera
(Click here if you have an iPhone)

There is an inexpensive way to use an android phone's camera to "scan" book and other merchandise bar codes for fast lookups using ScoutPal Live.

Of course, the first thing you will need to do is subscribe to or begin a free trial with Scoutpal, if you haven't done so already.  (You can start with the Free Trial.)  Then browse to ie.scoutpal.com on your phone and use it to do a few ScoutPal lookups by "punching in" the ISBN/UPC using the phone's touchscreen keypad.

Then follow the steps below to use your ScoutPal subscription with the free "Barcode Scanner" app, produced by the ZXing Team.  ZXing produces the fundamental scanning driver library used by nearly every other sort of android "scanning" app.  Not surprisingly, we have found their own free app to be superior in performance and ease of use over the other, derivative apps.

Keep in mind that any camera-based "scanner" app is not really a true laser bar code scanner*. Instead, it literally takes a photograph of the bar code, so the process will be like taking any other sort of snapshot: there must be good lighting, no shadows, and you will need to hold steady and get the subject into focus. It will take some practice to learn how to use the app after you get it setup by following these steps:

1. Browse the app store on your android phone to find and install the ZXing Barcode Scanner app.  Exactly how to do this will vary by phone and cell company.  For example, with an LG Ally on Verizon:
   • Press the Home key.
   • Scroll to and tap on Market.
   • Tap Apps.
   • Tap the Search button or icon. (It looks like a magnifying glass.)
   • Search for ZXing Barcode Scanner.
   • Install the application.
2. On your phone, browse to http://www.scoutpal.com
3. Log in (right side of page), then click on "Additional Service Addresses".
4. Copy the "direct-lookup URL" displayed at the bottom, using the phone's built-in Copy function as follows:  Touch inside the URL entry field to give it focus -- then touch and hold inside the URL entry field -- then choose "Select all" -- then touch and hold again -- then choose "Copy".
5. Start the Barcode Scanner app on your phone.  Don't try to scan yet.
6. Press the phone's Menu key, and choose Settings.
7. Scroll to and choose Custom search URL.  You will be presented with a URL field.
8. Paste in the URL you just copied in step 4, using the phone's built-in Paste function, as follows: Touch inside the URL entry field to give it focus -- then touch and hold inside the URL entry field -- then choose "Paste".  If you don't see Paste, choose "Select all", then touch and hold again, then choose "Paste".
   [If you instead choose to write down and then laboriously type the URL in by hand (NOT recommended) you will need to get every letter, number, dot, colon, slash (/), and other punctuation in there exactly and perfectly, use all lowercase letters, and no spaces; computers are picky about things like this.]
9. Remove the sample ISBN numbers at the end of the URL, leaving just "&i=" at the very end.
10. Type in "%s" at the end.
11. The URL should now end with "&i=%s"
12. Tap OK, press the back button to return to the scanning app, then exit to the home page, then turn the phone off and on again, then start the scanning app.
13. Aim the camera at any kind of merchandise bar code.  (Book, CD, etc.)
14. After the app captures the bar code, choose Custom Search, ScoutPal live will do the lookup.
15. Press the back button to return to the scanning app, then scan another item.
16. If there is no bar code on the next item you wish to look up, simply type the ISBN or UPC into the search field at the top of the last lookup screen, then touch Fetch.

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* After trying "camera scanning", you may wish to consider using a compatible true laser scanner, like the Scanfob; there is simply nothing like a real laser scanner! (Hint: it's easy to Velcro® a Scanfob to the bottom of a phone, making a one-handed and compact scanning tool.)