Scan artworks at museums and galleries, build a personal collection, and keep everything organized on iPhone and iPad. Made by Jordan Matthiass.
Tap the scan button in Library, capture the artwork with the custom camera, and confirm the crop. Then scan the wall label to auto-fill the artist, title, year, and medium. Review everything, add notes, and save. Want every brushstroke? Turn on High Resolution in Capture Settings to scan at your camera’s full resolution.
Already have a photo? Import it from your photo library, or share an image into Art Scanner from Photos, Files, Safari, and other apps — it goes through the same crop and label workflow.
In a hurry? Add the Scan Artwork button to Control Center or the Camera Control button, or just ask Siri to “Scan artwork in Art Scanner,” to jump straight into the camera. Saved artworks also show up in Spotlight — tap a result to open it right in the app. On iOS 27, Siri can search your library and open a specific artwork for you.
Saved artworks live in Library, where you can search, edit, and share them anytime. Browse your collection in folders by artist, exhibition, venue, or medium, or group pieces into your own custom folders. Tap any scan to open it full-screen with pinch-to-zoom.
Your library always lives on your device, so it’s ready even when iCloud is slow, offline, or still downloading. With iCloud sync on, new scans, edits, and deletions carry over to your other devices.
Why didn’t label scanning fill all the fields?
Label parsing uses Apple Intelligence when available, and on-device OCR on other devices. Capturing the label straight-on in good light gives the best results. You can always fill in or correct fields manually before saving.
Can I attach more than one photo to an artwork?
Yes. Just keep scanning before you finish, and all the captures get attached to the same artwork entry.
What if the crop is off?
After capture you can adjust the corners manually using the precision magnifier, or retake the photo. You can also re-crop later from the detail view — it’s non-destructive.
Can I edit metadata after saving?
Yes. Open any artwork in Library to edit the title, artist, year, medium, exhibition, venue, and notes at any time.
How do I organize a big collection?
Library automatically groups your artworks into folders by artist, exhibition, venue, and medium. You can also create custom folders and add artworks in bulk, or assign them to a folder automatically as you scan. To file artworks you’ve already saved, touch and hold one in Library, or select several, and choose Add to Folder.
What permissions does the app need?
Camera access is required to scan artworks and labels. Photos access is only requested if you choose to save exports to your Photos library.
No account needed. Your photos and metadata stay on your devices, with optional iCloud sync. Label parsing runs entirely on-device. Data is only shared when you choose to share or export. Read the full privacy policy.
For questions, bugs, or feature requests, Email me.
If you enjoy Simple Art Scanner, a review on the App Store goes a long way. Thank you.
© 2026 Jordan Matthiass. Requires iOS/iPadOS 17.6 or later.