Help
How ScanToRun works, screen by screen: setting up, the floor, the office, and what every icon and word means.
Getting started
Four steps to the first line of your register.
- Add a document. On Home, choose Upload a file (under New, once you have documents). Word, PDF, text or a photo. It is reformatted for a phone.
- Aim a tag at it. Stick a tag where the job is done, then scan it on your phone while signed in, and pick the document. Right after signup, a welcome screen walks you through this and aims a tag at your first document for you.
- Enroll the phones. Give people your join code, from People. Each phone enters it once, with the person's name.
- Scan and sign. Scan the tag, read to the end and tap I have read this. That is the first line of your register.
Three ways in
- The free kit. 25 tags, shipped free in the US, with no card. When you sign up, check I already have a pack of tags and enter the code from the card in the box: you get a 21-day trial and nothing to pay. Enter it after paying and no trial starts. Get the free kit
- Sign up. $149 a month or $1,428 a year per location, paid at the end of setup. Tags come with the account. Email us within 60 days of a charge and we refund the whole charge. Get started
- Try the demo. Six steps on your own phone, with nothing to install. It deletes itself after 4 hours. Start the demo
Setup asks what your business does. That answer sets the words the app uses, so a kitchen sees version where a machine shop sees Rev.
On the floor
Everything here works on any phone, with no app and no password.
Enroll a phone
Once per phone, and again after a year. Scan a tag, or open the join page. Type the Join code from your supervisor and your name, then tap Enroll this device. Every scan after that opens right away, and your name is what goes on the register.
Scan a tag
Point the phone's camera at the tag and tap the link it shows. Inside the app, the round green button opens a scanner, with Light on on phones that have a flashlight it can use. If a tag will not scan, type the eight characters printed under its QR on the scanner screen.
Read a document
- Numbered steps are cards. Work down them in order.
- Colored boxes are safety notes: DANGER, WARNING, CAUTION and NOTE. See Colors and marks.
- Tap a picture to see it full size. Swipe a wide table sideways.
- Aa sets the text size and light or dark. The magnifier finds words. The list button jumps to a heading.
- A passage marked Changed in Rev D is new in this revision. Next change jumps to the next one.
- A scan or a drawing may open as the original file. Tap Open original PDF and pinch to zoom.
Sign for it
At the end of the document, tap I have read this. Your name, the revision and the time go on the register. You sign once per revision, and again when a new one is released. With no signal it reads Saved on this phone, and sends the next time a document is open with signal.
If a new revision was released while you read, tapping it shows Reload instead. Reload, read the new one, then sign. On a shared tablet, tap your name in the list at the end instead.
Work through a checklist
Tap each item as you do it. The first check starts a run under your name, or under the tablet's name on a shared tablet. Tap Finish when you are done, even with items left: the gaps are recorded too. You can note which machine it was. Checking items needs signal.
Your library
Opening the app shows your library: a search box, To sign for what you still have to sign, Recents, your folders and every released document. New rev on a card means its tag now opens a revision you have not read.
No signal
Once a phone has opened ScanToRun with signal, it keeps a saved copy of your released documents. When a scan gets no answer, the saved copy opens, with a crossed-out Wi-Fi icon in the corner. Tap the icon to see when it was last checked. Signing and checklists wait for signal.
Put it on the Home Screen
Optional. On an iPhone, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. On Android, open the browser menu and choose Install app or Add to Home screen. It opens straight to your library.
What a scan can show
- This document is private
- This phone is not enrolled, was removed, or enrolled over a year ago. Enter the join code and your name on that screen and the document opens.
- That code doesn't match a document
- The code is not one of your shop's tags or documents. Tell your supervisor so the tag can be checked.
- This document is not released
- The document is a draft right now. Ask which one to work from.
- This tag is blank
- Nothing is aimed at it yet. An editor can pick a document right there. Everyone else lands in the library.
- This document is not available
- The subscription is not active. Nothing has been deleted.
- This tag is ready to be set up
- The tag is from a box nobody has claimed yet. An owner or admin enters the pack code from its card.
- That is all your people have to do.
- A tag from the free kit, before its code is entered. Try the demo on it, or sign up and enter the code from the card.
Documents
Documents live in the Library. Editors, admins and owners add and change them. Every field saves on its own; there is no Save button.
Add a document
Choose New on Home or Library, or drop files anywhere on Home.
- Upload a file: Word (.docx), PDF, text or a photo, up to 50 MB each. Give it a title and the revision written on the file. AutoFill reads both from the file.
- Write a checklist: one item per line. It starts as a draft, so set Visibility to Released when it is ready. Change its items on the Items tab.
- Add a link: a video or a web page. Scanning its tag shows an Open link button. The address cannot be changed later: add a new link and aim the tag at that.
- Start from a template: write it in the app. You keep a Word copy, and the same file is uploaded.
An upload is released right away, unless you set it to Draft under More details.
How a file becomes a phone page
- Numbered lists become step cards.
- A paragraph that starts with DANGER, WARNING, CAUTION or NOTE becomes a colored safety box.
- Headings and tables come across, and so do pictures in a Word file. A PDF's pictures do not, so choose Original file when they matter.
- A list of checkboxes becomes a checklist.
- A scanned PDF has no text to reformat, so it opens as the original.
Writing a procedure in Word? Use Word's numbered list for the steps, and start a paragraph with WARNING: to make it a warning box.
Fix how it reads
On the document's Preview, choose Edit blocks, then the three dots on any block. You can make a list into steps, a paragraph into a warning or a heading, join two blocks, or hide one on phones. The words never change. Each fix has an Undo, and a hidden block has Show.
Details
- Visibility: Released puts it on the floor. Draft hides it, and its tags say it is not released.
- Who can open it: Private is your phones and your team. Public is anyone with the tag or the link.
- Review due: after this date it is marked Past review, and the reader warns people.
- Phone version or Original file: for a PDF or a photo, whether people get it reformatted or exactly as uploaded. Showing the original turns off its checklist.
- Folder, Type, Document number and Effective are for filing and finding it.
Release a new revision
- Open the document's Revisions tab.
- Drop in the new file. The name fills in with the next letter or number.
- Add a line under What changed. People see it when they sign.
- Choose Release Rev E to put it on every tag now, or Hold as draft to release it later.
The document keeps its code, so every tag aimed at it opens the new revision. Everyone asked to sign is asked again, unless you reuse an earlier revision's name. To go back, choose Roll back to on an earlier one.
A checklist written in the app has no Revisions tab. Once it has been released, editing its Items asks you to name a new revision.
Folders
New folder adds one inside the folder you have open. The three dots on a folder rename it, move it, color it or delete it. Deleting a folder moves what was in it up a level. Move a document with Folder on its details.
Search
Search covers the whole library: titles, document numbers, each document's own code and the words inside it.
Retire or delete
To take a document off the floor and keep its records, set it to Draft. Deleting is for admins and is permanent: its history and signatures go with it, and its tags go blank.
See it as the floor does
Open reader on a document shows it as a scan would, drafts included. Operator view in the office shows the whole library as a phone does.
People and roles
Roles
- Owner
- Everything, plus billing, handing the account over and closing it. There is one.
- Admin
- Records, People and Settings, deleting documents, who signs, and ordering and removing tags. Not billing, handing the account over or closing it.
- Editor
- Adds, edits, releases and rolls back documents, makes them public, and aims tags. Sees Home, Library and Tags.
- Operator
- Signs in to read, sign and run checklists. Never sees the office.
- Enrolled phone
- No account at all. Reads, signs and runs checklists.
Nobody can change their own role or give anyone a role above their own.
The join code
On People, the Join code is what each phone enters once. Tap it to copy it, or use Show QR code for people to scan. When someone leaves, Rotate the code and remove them under Enrolled. Rotating alone cuts nobody off: enrolled phones keep working, and only new ones need the new code.
Enrolled
Everyone asked to sign. Phones add themselves when they enroll, and you can add anyone without a phone by name. Removing someone deletes their phones, which stop opening documents the next time they have signal. What they signed stays. Record downloads their training record.
Accounts are not on this list. Someone who signs in and should be asked to sign needs their name here too, spelled the same, or their signatures will not show on the register.
Shared devices
A tablet several people use. Add it under Shared devices, open its setup link on the tablet and tap Set up this device. The link works once; New link makes another and stops the last. On the tablet, each person signs by tapping their name.
Crews
A crew is a named group, like Press line. Crews decide who is asked to sign, never who can read. Add one under Enrolled, put people on it with Add people, then choose Who signs on a folder or a document. A crew with nobody on it asks nobody. Without crews, everyone is asked to sign everything.
Team
Accounts that sign in. Invite someone by email as an operator, editor or admin; invitations last a week. When someone with an account leaves, remove them here too: removing them under Enrolled does not end their sign-in. The owner hands the account over by choosing someone else as owner.
Home and records
Home
Home lists what needs you, worst first: documents past review, signatures still to go, reviews coming up, documents no tag opens, and documents nobody has opened. Click a row to go straight to it. Editors see the review rows.
Records
- People: pick a name for their Training record, as a PDF or a CSV.
- Audit pack: one download for an auditor, with the master document list, the read register and the checklist runs.
- Single files: the read register, a Not yet confirmed list, the master document list and the checklist runs, one at a time.
The signatures row on Home opens one document's list of who has signed and who has not. Owners and admins also get a copy of everything by email each month. Its link works for 45 days and opens for anyone holding it, so save the file rather than the email.
Settings and billing
Settings is for admins and owners.
- Name
- Shown at the top of the office and on invitations.
- Time zone
- The clock for every date in your records.
- Where we send tags
- The address tags ship to.
- Billing
- The owner adds a card, or uses Manage billing to change the plan, update the card or cancel.
- Download your data
- One file with your uploads, the register and which tag opens what. A large account gets it by email instead, usually within a day.
- Close
- Owner only. Cancels the plan and stops every tag, and everything is deleted 30 days later. Until then the owner can reopen it, and tags open again once the owner pays.
The plan
One plan, priced per location: $149 a month or $1,428 a year. Unlimited documents, people and phones. Email us within 60 days of a charge and we refund the whole charge.
If payment stops
A failed payment changes nothing while the card is tried again. If the plan ends, tags stop opening until the owner pays again. Nothing is deleted. When a kit's trial ends, the office pauses and tags keep opening for 7 more days.
Your account
Everyone who signs in has Your account: the person icon, or in the office on a wide screen, the card with your name at the bottom of the tabs. It holds your name, email, password, Appearance (Match device, Light or Dark) and Sign out.
Emails
Owners and admins get setup emails, a weekly summary and a monthly copy of the records. Stop these emails, at the bottom of a summary, stops the summaries and setup emails. Password resets and invitations still arrive.
At a computer
- On a wide screen the office tabs run down the left.
- In the Library and Records lists: / searches, ↑ ↓ or j k move, Enter opens, and Esc steps back.
- Finding in a document: Enter goes to the next match and Shift Enter to the one before.
- Esc closes any dialog.
- A computer enrolls like a phone. With no camera, open the scanner and type the code under the QR.
What the icons mean
Icons are grouped by where you meet them. A few do a second job on another screen, and are listed in both places. In the office, each tab also has its name under it.
Office tabs
- HomeWhat needs you: reviews, signatures, tags.
- LibraryEvery document and folder.
- TagsYour QR tags: aim, name, print and order them.
- RecordsThe register, training records and the audit pack.
- PeopleWho signs, shared tablets, crews and the team.
- SettingsName, time zone, address, billing and your data.
- Operator viewThe library as a phone on the floor sees it.
- Your accountYour name, email, password and theme.
On the floor
- ScanOpens the camera to scan a tag.
- FindFinds words in this document, or searches a list.
- ContentsJumps to a heading in a long document.
- BackBack to the library, or the page before.
- Match deviceLight or dark, the way the phone is set.
- LightAlways light.
- DarkAlways dark.
- Opens elsewhereA link, or a page that opens in a new tab.
- Admin panelFrom the phone library into the office. Editors and up.
- Your accountYour password and theme. Only for people who sign in.
Documents and tags
- NewAdds something: a document, a folder, a crew.
- UploadUploads a file, or releases a new revision.
- AutoFillReads the title, revision and dates from the file.
- FolderA folder, in the color you picked. Beside a tag, the tag opens the folder.
- DocumentA document, or its original file.
- Tags on itHow many tags open this document.
- MoreMore you can do with the thing it sits on.
- Move up, move downChanges the order of a folder or a tag group.
- OpenOpens the row. Between names, one folder inside another.
- Show moreOpens a menu or a folded section.
- DeleteDeletes or removes. It asks first.
Messages
- DoneIt worked, or the step is finished.
- WarningSomething needs a look. Red when it failed.
- CloseDismisses a message, or takes a name off a crew.
- Sign outSigns you out of this account.
Colors and marks
Color is kept for meaning, and always comes with words. Document types and folders are the exception: their colors only tell them apart.
- Red
- Danger, a failure, and a review date that has passed.
- Amber
- A warning, a draft, or something waiting, like a signature saved without signal.
- Yellow
- Caution.
- Blue
- A note, a new revision you have not read, and a public document.
- Green
- Signing and done: the sign card, Signed, the current revision, Released.
- Indigo
- What changed in this revision.
In a document
Safety boxes and step cards, drawn by the reader itself, with the second step changed in Rev D.
- 1Lock out the press at the main disconnect.
- 2Changed in Rev DCheck that the guard is closed and latched.
- 3Set the stroke counter to zero.
Beside a document
- No badge
- Released, and not past review. The normal state.
- Draft
- Not released. The floor cannot see it.
- Public
- Anyone with the tag or the link can open it.
- Past review
- Past its review date. It still opens, with a warning.
- Original
- Opens as the uploaded file. Pinch to zoom.
- New rev
- Its tag opens a revision you have not read.
- Changed in Rev D
- This passage changed in Rev D.
- 3 tags
- Three tags open this document.
- Folder
- A tag on its folder opens it.
- No tag
- No tag opens it yet. It is still in the library.
Document types
Each type has its own color, so a list is easy to scan. The color means nothing more.
Folder colors are yours to pick, and mean only what you decide.
Words the app uses
- Admin
- A role. People, records and settings, as well as documents and tags. Not billing, handing the account over or closing it.
- Aim
- Point a tag at a document or a folder. Aim it again any time and the sticker stays where it is. Screens also say link, point and move.
- Audit pack
- One download for an auditor: the master document list, the read register and the checklist runs.
- AutoFill
- Reads the title, document number, revision, type and dates from the file you upload.
- Blank tag
- A tag that is not aimed at anything yet.
- Checklist
- Items somebody checks off at the job. Each time through is a run.
- Crew
- A named group of people. Crews decide who is asked to sign, never who can read.
- Current revision
- The revision every tag opens right now. Marked Live in the history.
- Device
- A phone or tablet enrolled with the join code, or a tablet set up under Shared devices. It reads, signs and runs checklists, and never signs in.
- Document
- Anything in the library: an uploaded file, a checklist, a link or a template.
- Document code
- A document’s own six-character address, shown under Where this lives.
- Draft
- Hidden from the floor. Its tags say it is not released. Editors can still open it.
- Edit blocks
- Changes how a file reads on a phone, like making a paragraph a warning, without changing its words.
- Editor
- A role. Adds, edits and releases documents, and aims tags.
- Effective
- The date printed on the document itself.
- Enroll
- Join a phone or tablet to your shop with the join code and a name. It lasts a year.
- Enrolled
- The list on People of everyone asked to sign. Phones add themselves. You add anyone without one.
- Folder
- Holds documents and other folders. A tag aimed at a folder opens a list of everything in it.
- Group
- Where a set of tags is stuck, like Cell 3. It never changes what a scan opens.
- Join code
- Your shop’s six-character code, like ABC-123. Each phone enters it once.
- Library
- Every document and folder. It is the Library tab in the office, and the first screen of the app on a phone.
- Location
- What you pay for: one site at one address.
- Master document list
- Every document at its current revision.
- New rev
- A tag now opens a revision you have not read yet.
- Operator
- A role for someone who signs in to read, sign and run checklists. Their signatures show on the register only if the same name is under Enrolled. Most people on the floor have no account: their phone is enrolled instead.
- Operator view
- The library as the floor sees it, opened from the office.
- Original file
- The file exactly as uploaded, for drawings and forms whose layout matters. The other choice is the phone version.
- Owner
- A role, and there is one. Everything an admin can do, plus billing, handing the account over and closing it.
- Pack code
- The twelve-character code on the card in a box of tags. It adds every tag in the box at once.
- Past review
- A document whose review date has passed. It still opens, with a warning.
- Phone version
- Your file reformatted to fit a phone: steps as cards, warnings in color.
- Private
- Opens only on your enrolled phones and for people signed in to your account. Every document starts private.
- Public
- Anyone with the tag or the link can read it, with no join code. They cannot sign.
- Read register
- Every document against every person asked to sign it, signed or not, and when.
- Release
- Make a revision the one every tag opens. Some shops say publish.
- Released
- On the floor: in the library and on its tags. The other choice is Draft.
- Review due
- The date a document should be checked again.
- Revision
- One issue of a document, like Rev D. Some shops say version, like Version 2.
- Roll back
- Put an earlier revision back on every tag.
- Run
- One time through a checklist: Complete, Finished with gaps or Never finished.
- Saved copy
- The read-only copy a phone opens when a scan gets no signal.
- Shared device
- A tablet several people use. Each person signs by tapping their name.
- Sign
- Tap I have read this at the end of a document. Your name goes on the register against that revision. If you signed in to an account, the same name must also be under Enrolled.
- Staged
- A new revision held back as a draft while the floor keeps reading the current one.
- Tag
- The QR sticker. It arrives blank, gets aimed at a document or a folder, and can be aimed again without moving it.
- Tag code
- The eight characters printed under a tag’s QR, like 7Q2K 4M8P.
- Training record
- One person’s part of the register: everything they are asked to sign, and whether they have.
- Trial
- Comes with the free kit of tags: 21 days, starting when its pack code is entered while you sign up.
- What changed
- A short note on a new revision. People see it when they sign.
- Who signs
- Who a folder or a document asks to sign: everyone, or the crews you pick.
Questions
- A phone was lost, or someone left. What do I do?
- An admin opens People, finds them under Enrolled and removes them. Their phones stop opening documents the next time they have signal, and what they signed stays on the record. If they also sign in, remove them under Team as well. Then use Rotate the code, so the old join code cannot enroll a new phone. Someone who is staying enrolls their new phone under the same name, and an admin adds them back to their crews.
- Does rotating the join code cut off phones?
- No. Phones already enrolled keep working, and only new phones need the new code. To cut one off, remove its person under Enrolled.
- A tag opens the wrong document.
- Sign in as an editor on your phone and scan the tag. At the bottom of the page (under More, on a document) choose to change what it opens, and pick the right one. Every scan changes right away, and the next screen offers Undo. If it is the right document with the wrong content, release a new revision instead.
- A tag is damaged.
- On a phone, open Tags and tap Replace a tag. Scan the old tag, then the new one, and stick the new one over the old. It takes over what the old one opened, its name and its group.
- There is no signal where we work.
- Reading still works. Each phone keeps a saved copy of your released documents and opens it when a scan gets no answer. Signing and checklists wait until there is signal.
- Do people need an app or a password?
- No. The phone’s camera opens the tag in its browser. Each phone enters the join code and a name once, and stays enrolled for a year.
- Can I keep a document from some people?
- No, and on purpose. Every enrolled phone opens every released document. Crews change who is asked to sign, not who can read. Keep anything the floor should not see on your shared drive.
- Can a contractor or an auditor open a document without enrolling?
- Yes, if an editor makes that document public. They can read it but not sign it. A tag aimed at a folder never opens for them.
- Two people have the same name.
- The register treats one name as one person, so a signature from one counts for both, and removing one removes both phones. Have each of them enroll with a last name or an initial.
- Can several people share one tablet?
- Yes. An admin adds it under People, Shared devices, and opens the setup link on the tablet. Each person signs by tapping their name.
- Can I print a QR code for one document?
- Every printed code is a tag. Aim one at the document, and later you can aim it somewhere else instead of reprinting it.
- How do I get more tags?
- An owner or admin uses Request more tags on Tags. They are part of the subscription, replacements too. Until the box arrives, the On paper tab prints the codes you already have on office paper.
- What happens if we delete a document?
- It is gone for good, with its history and its signatures, and the tags aimed at it go blank. Only admins can delete. To retire a document and keep its records, set it to Draft.
- What happens when the trial ends?
- Nothing new can be uploaded or changed until the owner adds a card. Tags keep opening for 7 more days, then stop. Nothing is deleted, and adding a card brings it all back.
- How do I cancel?
- The owner opens Settings, then Manage billing under Billing. The plan runs to the end of what was paid for. Email us within 60 days of a charge and we refund the whole charge.
- How do I get my data out?
- An admin opens Settings and uses Download everything: your uploads, the register and which tag opens what, in one file. It works even after you stop paying. Owners and admins also get a copy by email each month.
- The camera will not open.
- Allow the camera for this site in your browser settings, then try again. On an iPhone, an app added to the Home Screen cannot always use the camera, so open the page in Safari. To open a tag, you can also type the code printed under its QR. Replacing a tag needs the camera.
- It says Too many failed sign-in attempts.
- Wait a few minutes and try again. If you are not sure of your password, use Forgot it? on the sign-in page.
Still stuck?
Email hello@scantorun.com. If an error screen showed a Reference, include it.