Using a digital camera to scan into Evernote over EyeFi

I've successfully implemented the automated workflow for getting documents scanned into Evernote using a digital camera.  It is not as straight forward as using a scanner, but it is much faster.


The goal was to used my EyeFi card to wirelessly transmit the scan from my Nikon D40 into a workflow that would automatically adjust and crop the image, compress it and pass it on to Evernote, while retaining the original file for future processing or recovery.

First the EyeFi card is instructed to pass new shots on to a dropbox folder on the desktop of my MacPro.  Next an Automator Folder Action takes over and runs a series of Photoshop Action Pack actions, namely to open the newly created file, run a photoshop action, render out the final result to the "Cropped_Docs" folder and then move the original image to the "Original_Docs" folder.

The Photoshop Action that Automator runs selects the color of the upper left corner of the image with a generous threshold.  This will select the black border around the paper document.  This selection is inverted to select the document itself.  The selection is then Contracted 20 pixels to eliminate any dust or dirt from the selection which is then Expanded 20 pixels to restore full selection of the document.  The image is then cropped based on this selection and a Brightness/Contrast adjustment is applied.