New in the Deckbase app · iPhone & Android

Scan your textbook. Get a flashcard deck.

Open your textbook, workbook or vocabulary book and scan a page with your phone camera. Deckbase builds the deck for you: it proposes the deck's title and card layout, keeps word lists exactly as printed, one card per row, and writes question-and-answer cards for everything else. Scan the next page and it lands in the same deck, in the same format. You check every card before it's saved.

Deckbase

How camera scan works

  1. 1
    Tap Scan with Camera. Start a new deck with it, or open a deck you already have and scan more cards into it.
  2. 2
    Snap the page. The scanner finds the page edges and flattens the photo. You can adjust the corners before you continue.
  3. 3
    AI reads the page. For a new deck it first proposes a title and card layout, which you can edit. Then it writes the cards.
  4. 4
    Review before saving. Edit any card, untick the ones you don't want, or describe a change in your own words and the page is read again.
  5. 5
    Study. Saved cards go into your review queue, scheduled with FSRS spaced repetition.

Two kinds of pages, handled differently

Word lists and tables

Vocabulary lists, glossaries and conjugation tables are copied exactly as printed: one card per row, up to 100 rows, in the original language. Nothing is translated or corrected.

Textbook pages, notes and slides

For anything else, such as a textbook page, your notes, a slide or a labeled diagram, the AI picks what's worth remembering and writes up to 15 question-and-answer cards per scan.

Scan a whole chapter, one page at a time

Each scan reads one page. Keep scanning into the same deck and every page turns into cards the same way: the deck remembers its reading instructions, such as “word on the front, meaning and example on the back”, and you can refine them whenever you ask for a revision.

Camera scan vs. uploading an image

Camera scan (app): build a deck from your book

Made for studying from a textbook or book. The scanner flattens each page, the AI designs the deck from the first page, and every page you scan after that is added to the same deck in the same format. Ideal for a vocabulary book, a whole chapter or a workbook.

Image upload: quick cards from one picture

Have a single screenshot, slide or photo already on your phone? Upload it with image to flashcards on the web, free and with no account, for a one-off set of up to 10 cards.

Who can use it

Camera scan is part of the Basic and Pro plans and uses AI credits: about 3 per card, and a word list costs the same as one card however many rows it has. Not subscribed? Upload a photo to the free image to flashcards tool on the web. It needs no account and makes up to 10 cards.

Tips for clean scans

  • Scan one page at a time and keep the whole page in the frame.
  • Use even light and tilt glossy pages to avoid glare.
  • For a vocabulary list, scan the list itself: its column headers become the card fields.
  • Check the review screen before saving, especially numbers, formulas and names.

Already have the chapter as a PDF? PDF to flashcards reads the whole document at once.

Get the Deckbase app

AI flashcards on Android & iOS.

Frequently asked questions

Is camera scan free?

Downloading Deckbase is free, but camera scan needs a Basic or Pro plan because each scan uses AI credits. To try the idea for free, upload a photo to the web image to flashcards tool: no account, up to 10 cards.

Which languages does it read?

It reads the language printed on the page and keeps it, so a Spanish vocabulary list stays in Spanish and a Japanese textbook page gets Japanese cards. Table cells are never translated or corrected. The app itself is available in English and Japanese.

Does it work with handwriting?

Clear, legible handwriting usually works, because the AI reads the photo itself. Messy or very small writing can be misread, so check each card on the review screen before saving. You can edit or untick any card.

Can I scan several pages at once?

One page per scan. To cover a chapter, scan each page into the same deck. The deck remembers how its cards are laid out, so every page comes out in the same format.

Is my photo stored?

No. The photo is sent once to the AI model that reads it and isn't saved by Deckbase. Only the cards you choose to keep are saved to your deck. Scanning needs an internet connection.

Updated October 2026. Camera scan is available in Deckbase 1.3.2 and later on iPhone and Android.