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AI Scanner — Scanning Business Cards & Event Badges

How to use HeyDrop's AI Scanner to capture contacts from physical business cards, event badges, and your photo library.

Updated over 2 weeks ago

Overview

The AI Scanner uses your iPhone camera to extract contact information from physical business cards, event badges, and conference lanyards — and saves them directly to your Contacts tab. No manual data entry needed.

How to Scan a Card

  1. Tap the AI Scanner tab (pink brain icon at the bottom)

  2. Point your camera at the business card or badge

  3. Tap the shutter button to capture

  4. Review the extracted contact info and tap Save

Scanning from Your Photo Library

Already have a photo of a card? Tap the gallery icon (left of the shutter button) to select an image from your photo library. The AI will extract the contact details the same way.

Scan Limits by Plan

  • Free — 3 scans per month

  • Plus — 100 scans per month

  • AI Pro — 500 scans per month

Your remaining scans are shown in the top right of the Scanner screen ("Scans left: X"). When the limit is reached, scanning is disabled until the next billing cycle. Upgrade to get more scans: Settings → Upgrade.

Tips for Best Results

  • Hold the card flat and steady — avoid glare and shadows

  • Ensure the text is fully in frame

  • Cards with unusual fonts or layouts may need minor manual correction after scanning

  • If the card is crumpled or blurry, try scanning from a photo taken in better lighting

After Scanning

Scanned contacts appear in your Contacts tab, grouped by date. You can rate, tag, and export them from there. If you're on a Teams plan and have HubSpot connected, scanned contacts can sync automatically to your CRM.

Troubleshooting

  • Scanner won't open: check that HeyDrop has camera permission in iOS Settings → HeyDrop → Camera

  • Scan limit reached: upgrade your plan or wait for your monthly reset

  • Extracted info is wrong: tap any field to correct it before saving

  • Flash needed: tap the flash icon (right of shutter) to toggle the torch on

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