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Photo Paste

An easy to use tool that allows users to scan text with their phone, and paste it instantly on their laptop through a Chrome extension.

GitHub Website

What is PhotoPaste?

PhotoPaste is an innovative tool that captures images containing text, scans the portion highlighted by the user, and makes it instantly pasteable through a Chrome extension. This seamless process transforms the tedious task of transferring real-world text to digital format into a quick and effortless experience.

The Inspiration Behind PhotoPaste

As students and researchers, we often encounter scenarios where analyzing or documenting real-life text on our laptops would be convenient. However, this process is typically cumbersome, requiring manual typing or sending pictures as PDFs. PhotoPaste was born out of the need to streamline this workflow, making it as simple as taking a photo and pasting the text.

How PhotoPaste Works

  1. Capture an image containing text using the PhotoPaste app.
  2. Highlight the desired portion of text within the app.
  3. The selected text is processed and sent to the Chrome extension.
  4. The text is now available to paste anywhere on your laptop.

The Development Journey

Technology Stack

We built PhotoPaste using a combination of modern web technologies and cloud services:

  • Frontend: Tailwind CSS and React for the website, HTML/CSS/JavaScript for the Chrome extension
  • Backend: Google Cloud services and Firebase
  • AI/ML: Google Cloud Vision API for text recognition

Challenges and Solutions

One of the main challenges we faced was working with tools in developer mode. This limitation required creative solutions, particularly when integrating the OAuth0 API into our Chrome extension. Despite the constraints of running the extension locally, we managed to implement the necessary functionality.

Key Achievements

  1. Advanced Text Highlighting: We're particularly proud of the text highlighting feature in our scanning app. This pushed our technical skills to new heights.

  2. Chrome Extension Development: Creating a Chrome extension was a first for our team, adding a valuable new skill to our repertoire.

  3. Teamwork and Growth: Beyond the technical achievements, we developed stronger teamwork skills and formed lasting friendships.

Looking to the Future

The next step for PhotoPaste is to develop it into a full-fledged mobile app. While the current web-based version serves its purpose, a dedicated mobile app would provide a more seamless user experience.

We also aim to expand PhotoPaste's capabilities beyond simple text copying and pasting. While the specific features are still in the ideation phase, we're excited about the potential to further bridge the gap between physical and digital text interaction.

Conclusion

PhotoPaste represents a significant step forward in how we interact with text in our environment. By simplifying the process of digitizing physical text, it saves time and reduces friction in various academic and professional contexts. As we continue to develop and refine PhotoPaste, we're excited to see how it will transform the way people work with text across different mediums.