Does anyone have a good workflow for getting the web receipts that a lot of places are using now. They send you a link via SMS and it open in Safari (on iOS). From there you can send it right to DTTG via the Share sheet as a PDF.
The one drawback is that you get a document with lots of whitespace and a thin receipt in the middle.
DTTG doesn’t have a built in way to crop out that whitespace, correct? (I hope I am wrong…)
Right now I use QuickScan which can import the file that’s now in DTTG using the Files file picker. I crop it in QuickScan, rename it, and export it back to DTTG using QuickScan’s OCR and also add tags.
I haven’t been able to get the workflow simpler than that. I am getting more and more of these kinds of receipts so I am reaching out to see if anyone has a better workflow.
There are some nuances about how the many available scanning apps interact with different levels of iOS and I haven’t been able to try all “sides” to all apps. QuickScan is a very good scanning app as far as quickly and reliably getting a good scan and making a multipage scan with ease and adding OCR on the way to exporting it to other apps.
Addendum:
Paper receipts are simpler as I can scan from Files directly into an indexed DT folder on Dropbox. Using the Files app scan function allows for better results than a photo. (If we could get “Scan” added to the “New Media” choices you get from a long press on the DTTG icon on the Home Screen, that would be great.)
I find I have to do this sort of work right away when the receipts arrive, otherwise I risk missing them.
If anyone has a suggestion I would appreciate it.
BTW:
I have access to Adobe and MS scan apps but they seem very high-friction whenever I have tried to quickly scan, tidy, title and save.
getting the web receipts that a lot of places are using now. They send you a link via SMS and it open in Safari (on iOS).
Ugh! Is there a way to opt out of that with those services. Personally, I’d quit using any service that required me to only receive receipts that way.
PS: No, there is no cropping function for PDFs in DEVONthink or DEVONthink To Go.
It seems to be coming from the new POS systems that a lot more stores are using. (Square being one of them. There are others).
I guess the broader question is could the first grab of the web receipt be more “accurate” but as I type this I recall all the problems with lack of standardization and how websites can generate wildly different PDFs that have been discussed here. I am guessing it’s one of those problems.
Generally, I like getting them digitally for the reduction in paper that can accumulate. It’s just the manner in which I would like to get it all into DTTG, which is where I am almost always dealing with receipts like this, is a little clunky.
You might ask, is doing it this way far less clunky than saving all the little pieces of paper and then shoving them through a sheet feed scanner once a week (hah! once a month maybe) and hoping they didn’t get too mangled in the interim? Why yes. Yes it is. I am just looking to gain that 10 seconds of attention back for every receipt. You know, like we all would.
So you buy your morning latte via a Square terminal and get an email instead of a hard copy receipt?
And the email has a URL to get the receipt?
Yep.
You can choose to enter an email or cell number. I’m sure it makes no real difference to the Panopticon State but I feel less invaded if I use my cell and get an SMS with a link. Open in Safari etc. I could send you an example link directly but I wouldn’t want to put it in the forum.
Yes, if you could open a support ticket and include one, I’d appreciate it 
Will do.
BUT!
I was just fooling around with this issue and remembered that iOS recently(?) added a new option to the screenshot function on iOS that allows one to choose between what’s visible on the screen and grabbing the whole page. This more or less fixes my problem in that I get just the receipt and can save directly to the DT database from the share sheet of the screen grab function, no cropping needed. You get a garbage name based on the date and time of the screenshot but that can be edited on the share to DTTG step.
There are probably other things I am doing because of limitations in the OS that have long since been removed or improved.
perfect use case for an “email to devonthink” service. But if you use Kindle, you can already email to kindle.