CZUR Aura Pro Document Scanner Portable Book Scanner 14 MP Document Camera with 180+ Languages OCR AI Technology for Family Home Office for Windows & Mac
CZUR AURA PROFESSIONAL DOCUMENT | BOOK SCANNER
An Elegant Desktop Piece of Art
Unique Design | Solid Unibody Construction | Made of Aluminum | Stylish Metallic Finish | Precise Computer Numerical Control (CNC)
Proprietary Technology
Exclusive Ingenuity + AI Algorithm CZUR’s Proprietary “Book Curve Flattening” technology utilizes three precise laser lines for incredible scanning accuracy and image clarity. This gives the Aura the ability to scan and exactly replicate the individual flat pages of curved books. AI technology incorporated in the software makes scanning and image processing smarter and simpler.
Intelligent Technology
Auto-Detect Page Turn and Auto ScanIntelligent software auto-detects page turn and can trigger scan automatically for effortless scanning. The convenient foot pedal can also be used to trigger scanning, while it frees your hands.
AI Text Recognition
High Accuracy and Editable FormatsThe Aura’s Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software can convert captured JPG images into editable Word, Excel or PDF formats. The OCR software supports more than 180+ languages.
High Performance Spec ensures
Exceptional Quality 14 megapixels camera for superb image quality | 1/2.3 inch CMOS Sensor | 32 bit MIPS Processor | Unrivaled Specs and Performance
Versatile| Foldable | Powerful
- CZUR Aura scanner comes in a compact and versatile design. The over-head scanner arms can be folded back to the scanner’s body for easy storage and transport.
- CZUR document scanner is capable of scanning upto A3 size dual book pages in 2s/page. It offers multi-ways of triggering the scan including the hand button, foot pedal , and the software key.
- When the scan is completed, you can export the scanned images into JEPG/PDF/Word/Text files as preferred. The built-in OCR engine supports over 180+ languages which helps to totally digitize the scanned documents.
- Scan All Types of Documents, especially Thick Books, with EaseThe Aura scans flat single pages as well as bound books and documents simply and easily. Its revolutionary “Book Curve Flattening” technology solves the problem of having to unbind books before scanning.
- Up to A3 in SizeScan up to A3 in size for single sheets. Scan anything from documents, drawings, contracts and notes to newspapers, books and photos.
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More Than Just a Scanner Aura Doubles as a Smart, Multifunction Desk Lamp
- By default, the Aura will be in lamp mode when plugged in. Explore and enjoy all of the Aura’s powerful features as your day unfolds.
- Intuitive Night Light ModeWhen in Intuitive Night Light Mode, and you wake up or your children start to cry, the Aura will gradually brighten according to the sound levels in your surroundings. When you are ready to sleep again and the sounds quieten, the lights will automatically dim.
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| Sensor | CMOS | CMOS | CMOS | CMOS | CMOS |
| Pixel | 18 megapixels | 16 megapixels | 14 megapixels | 14 megapixels | 16 megapixels |
| Top LED lights | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| OCR | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| OCR support languages | 180+ | 180+ | 180+ | 180+ | 180+ |
| Color mode | Color, Patterns, Stamps, Gray scale, B&W | Color, Patterns, Stamps, Gray scale, B&W | Automatic, Color, Patterns, Stamps, B&W | Automatic, Color, Patterns, Stamps, B&W | Automatic, Color, Patterns, Stamps, B&W |
| System support | XP, Win 7/ 8/10, 32/64-bit; macOS 10.11 and above(macOS Monterey 12 is not supported) | XP, Win 7/ 8/10, 32/64-bit; macOS 10.11 and above(macOS Monterey 12 is not supported) | XP, Win 7/ 8/10, 32/64-bit; macOS 10.11 and above(macOS Monterey 12 is not supported) | XP, Win 7/ 8/10, 32/64-bit; macOS 10.11 and above(macOS Monterey 12 is not supported) | XP, Win 7/ 8/10, 32/64-bit; macOS 10.11 and above(macOS Monterey 12 is not supported) |
| CZUR Cloud Service | ✓ | × | × | × | ✓ |
| Wi-Fi | ✓ | × | × | × | ✓ |
| Packaging List | Scanner,Side lights,USB cable,Power adapter,Hand button,Foot pedal, Black document pad,Specialized finger cots,CD,User manual | Scanner,Side lights,USB cable,Power adapter,Hand button,Foot pedal, Black document pad,Specialized finger cots,CD,User manual | Scanner, USB cable, side light, power adapter, foot pedal, black work mat, yellow finger cots, CD (Getting Started Guide and User Manual) | Scanner, USB cable, side light, power adapter, foot pedal, black work mat, yellow finger cots, CD (Getting Started Guide and User Manual) | Scanner; USB cable; Power adapter; Foot pedal; Black work mat, Yellow finger cots, CD (Getting Started Guide and User Manual) |
| Weight: | 1.5 kg |
| Dimensions: | 17.98 x 12.98 x 44.3 cm; 1.5 Kilograms |
| Brand: | Czur |
| Model: | Aura Pro |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | CZUR |
I don’t really write reviews but the experience with this scanner has been nothing short of AMAZING! Even from opening the shipped box which included a plastic box opener. So no need to go fiddle around with a knives, keys or scissors. Once you’ve opened the shipping box you’re greeted by a beautiful all black box that has a handle and opens without any hitches. The presentation inside the box is laid out beautifully. Everything fits perfectly in its own spot and you know that while I’m this box your Aura-B is going to be well protected. The actual scanner feels really sturdy made out of some type of metal maybe aluminum and even extending the camera/ lights you can tell that it was all put together with care and no corners were cut. The base has a display at the top which shows you what’s currently in the cameras view and at the bottom of the Base it has a power indicator, lamp mode indicator and Camera mode indicator off to the right side you have a knob that both rotates and acts as a button. You rotate the knob to go through the 5 different light brightness setting and holding down the button for 2 seconds powers on the device. If you click on the button after powered on it will switch between lamp mode and camera mode. The Czur also comes with a foot petal that allows you to activate the camera while holding down the pages with the given finger cots. It comes with software on a CD or you can also download it from their website for both PC or Apple Computer. The software is really snappy and works as expected. It is able to scan a book with the fold and separate the pages which is awesome. It also has OCR that allows your scans to become searchable documents which is huge especially for books. It will give you the ability to go through a book with keywords instead of trying to remember what chapter or page it’s on. The scans it takes are really good quality but the OCR makes this thing absolutely amazing!
When deciding on a scanner I thought more expensive meant better quality. WRONG. This worked good at first but started glitching and continuously got worse. For $300 you think it would last longer than a month. Annoyed but so glad I’m still within the return window. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY
Had a book that was falling apart which was quite pricey and would take almost a month to ship a replacement. Decided to buy this to preserve the book, and many others. its done an excellent job. Its quick once you get the hang of it and with all the image editing options the scan came out looking better than the original book !
Works great with my desktop on my white desk. Very easy to use. It has more features than I realized! Watch ALL the instruction videos. Made scanning sooooo much easier. There’s a setting that will cut off the end of papers on the side – like in a textbook you can set it to not scan the edges of the papers – and you can easily do it with about 5 clicks. I found that out too late! That’s why I say to watch alllll the videos. You can even set a default for cutting off the edges or top of whatever you choose and then easily go through a page at a time (of pages you select – you don’t have to do this for every page) and customize the scanned size per page.
Customer service is amazing!!! They were prompt in response and did everything they could to connect this to my laptop, but in the end they said it’s not compatible for my laptop, so I’m restricted to using it with my desktop. I can’t be mobile.
Reason for only four stars: great for scanning white paper. Unfortunately, it totally changes the color if I scan photos or construction/colored paper. I will have to buy an additional machine for that.
I bought it to replace my very old PiQx scanner, which they don’t make anymore, and I was amazed at how much the quality of portable book scanners has improved. The design is elegant (including the packaging), the setup is easy, and it has been utterly reliable for books, flat pages, and pictures. I have not needed to use the finger cots — it erases actual fingers perfectly.
There is no need to buy the mat or finger cots separately; they come as part of the package.
One of the other reviewers complained that when it failed to erase a fingerprint, all pages after that would contain the fingerprint. I figured out the answer: if there is even a tiny speck of dust anywhere on the mat, or the corner of an already-scanned page, the scanner will see it as part of the picture, expand the frame, and include fingers. So the solution is to keep the mat very clean and all will be well.
I thought the desk lamp feature was a gimmick, but I have actually used it a lot. Because the camera head/light folds down, it takes up almost no space and you can open it to use the desk lamp feature as needed, whereas with a real desk lamp, it is always hanging over the workspace and getting in the way.
A wonderfully well-thought-out product. Bravissimo, CZUR!
I like the good quality images and that some could be modified in Microsoft Word. However, it can be tricky to press down the button correctly. I talked with customer service, and they were kind of confusing, but I ended up getting a free printer accidentally and they let me keep it. So overall customer service was good!
It’s good for bigger jobs but it helps if you can figure out how to do things on your ow
I record children’s audiobooks and use this scanner to digitize everything to read them. It normally takes forever with a normal flatbed scanner but the Aura B can make this a breeze. It doesn’t always scan properly, sometimes without any reason, between successful scans No idea why this happens.
The page flattening was my biggest disappointment though given how the ad makes it seem like it does this on its own when, in fact, you need to use these yellow finger clips to flatten the pages. The software removes these clips from the scan…. sometimes.
The lights are good but there really needs to be something clearer on how to turn on the side lights. The switch is on the back so when set up, you can’t actually see the switch. This was very frustrating until I figured it out. There was a lot of small tweaks and things that need to be fixed and mastered before you will appreciate how effective this scanner is and when it does work as advertised (90% of the time), it just blazes though scans and saves a whole bunch of time
This is a great scanner, just expect to do some occasional troubleshooting.
I don’t usually comment but this time I got to say I am impressed. It’s been a long time i’m searching for a book scanner, good one with no curve when i am done. My son has dyslexia and ADHD so i need to scan his book for him to be able to use WordQ to read and to be able to give him only 1 page at the time. Otherwise this is too much for him so anxiety goes high.
Anyway the scanner does a great job. Better than I expected and i am very picky.
1) The packaging was very professional, quite elegant and more than adequate to protect the contents. Amazon double boxes, so that’s a plus.
2) The overall UI is very easy to understand and utilize. There are only a few enhancements that I would like to see (mentioned later). The software performs pretty much flawlessly. I had a few user errors initially, which tech support cleared up quickly. It took about 1 day and about 4 hours of use to get the process down to where I could scan a book very fast.
3) The equipment itself takes up so little room on your desktop, and you can leave the black mat permanently on your desk, as it doesn’t get in the way and is very durable. I would even suggest that many scanner users simply put aside their old scanners and leave this one out for 99% of your work. Only when you need resolutions above 300 dpi would you pull out the older scanner.
4) The software has many options, and I found that while the defaults were Ok, I preferred to increase the dpi and jpg resolution to better values, so as to ensure a higher quality output. This did not slow down the performance of the unit at all. In fact, the speed of the scanning process is amazingly fast; I would guess about 2-3 seconds when scanning both left and right sides of the facing book. Less than that for a single page.
5) The included sidelights were very useful for glossy surfaces. Without them, the upper LED’s cause a slight reflection; the sidelights did not. Very nice the way they mount too, quite impressive engineering.
6) The “autoscan” feature is most impressive. It auto-senses your turning the pages, waits, then proceeds once the motion has stopped. Wow, makes it quite fast to scan 100 pages or more. This is one of my favorite features, and basically eliminates the need for the foot pedal.
7) Suggestions: Mainly I would like to see some very simple UI improvements, such as: a) support for mouse scrolling while hovering over certain UI sections; b) putting more of the software “options” in one place. It can be a bit difficult to find them all, as they are generally buttons on each functional page, and you have to hunt the options down. For example, the default folder for storing the temporary scanned images – not on the main page, but on the scanner page, under a button in the top left. c) I would also like to see the user manual be updated, as well as a place on their webpage for general tech support library of user questions and answers. In many cases, it would be easier to search for a question, rather than emailing the tech support team. This would also free up their time for other things.
Scans antique books beautifully without damaging them. Easy to use once you’ve read the instructions. Needs permanent set-up space.
Nice packaging. Scanner works well. Instructions were almost nonexistent. It took some experimentation and a great deal of fumbling to get the scanner to do what it was intended to do. We probably still are not using it as smoothly as we could be or making use of (or even aware of) all its capabilities.
It worked very good. I really like it and wish I could have made it work for me. However, scanning gloss paper was the problem. I could not get it right. I used my flatbed scanner instead.
Works great. Was able to scan in a 300+ page book in about 40 minutes
The potential “downsides” to mention are: scanned pages are clearly scanned (the background of the pages are shaded) and scanning many pages can be a little tedious and time-consuming. Holding the pages of a book down with the included page holders can be a little awkward.
One other issue may or may not be directly related to the scanner. When I go to print from the PDF, it sometimes takes a while to pull up the document. This is on the regular PDF. But, it could have more to do with my computer and printer not syncing well rather than the scanner.
The software is what really holds this unit back from 5 stars. The finger cots do not always get erased from the scan. Hitboxes (that is, the area that actually registers as a click) for various buttons are a bit off from the graphic (if I hit the lower-right corner of a checkbox, it will not actually check the box). Buttons must be pressed on the graphic and not the label (for example, in order to click the “back” button you must click the image of an arrow as clicking on the typed label “back” like it’s a hyperlink will do nothing). Edge detection goes wonky sometimes (particularly if there’s a dark image at the edge of the page, so the contrast between it and the black mat isn’t great). These are all small things that can be an annoyance, but do little more than adding perhaps 15 minutes to a 2-3 hour scanning session if you’re checking the scans for accuracy as you go.
All told, I would recommend this scanner if you’ve got books or large documents to scan. For normal 8.5X11 scans, I reckon a more traditional flatbed scanner would be a bit quicker and just as high quality.
Amazing technology. Software is great. Cannot believe how easy this is. I’m digitizing hundreds of articles from the 70s and this is a godsend.
Tried different USB ports on different computers, tried turning it on and off.
Emailed tech support, they replied that the device needs to be switched to scan mode, otherwise it’s just a light..
It was delivered early . Easy to register, so most tech support is online. The app was easy to download. Really easy to set and use.I I have not tried all the settings, but cant wait to get this baby into the archives!!!
This has been a game changer for me. The OCR is fantastic, I can digitize all of my text books and search the resulting PDF find the info I need seamlessly. I should also say their support has been fantastic. I had a mild issue with a foot pedal, and after a single email, they had a replacement part in the mail almost immediately. Well worth the investment, especially if you’re a student.
Quality packing. Easy to assemble and set up once you’ve worked out that the side light is held magnetically and found its on-off switch. I suggest you make a note of the Serial Number on the base first and be careful how you enter it when asked as it’s 5 groups of numbers and letters. The de-curving software is impressive. The OCR worked very accurately for me coping with plain and italic text. I find using it much quicker than flat bed scanners and there’s much less need for post scanning photoshop correction.
I had some issues loading the software. Turns out the issues were of my own making. With the software now properly installed, this device is a delight. I highly recommend it. Digitalise books in minutes with ease and little effort.
This is an excellent book scanner. I am not sure how it would work for picture books and things with many graphics. It works great scanning black and white. Love it.
Used for scanning work documents into perfect searchable pdfs and word formats while working at home during the pandemic. Easy to setup and operate. Software is very easy to understand. Terrific customer support website videos that solved any problems. Highly recommend.
Great for scanning thick books without damaging them. Takes a little use to get used to it.
I received a package with the wrong item and got confused… correct item arrived and all is well
Overall, I’m glad I made the purchase. Though I’ve had a lot of frustration with its quirks. Most of all, the quality of the image is good, but not stellar. So if you’re trying to scan in photos or something with more detail than just plain text I definitely recommend spending more money on something nicer.
The other big issue is the software, which is very frustrating to use. It seems to be a different program entirely from the one that is bundled with the more expensive model. This one is barely usable, but the scanner will only interface with it. You’re stuck with their software for the initial image capture no matter what.
Pretty much every filter like B&W or grayscale does weird things to the image that are hard to describe. Every function like deletion and such requires a lot of clicking as well as a lot of figuring out how to work around the less-useful aspects of the program. For the most part this hasnt affected the end result enough for me to be mad about it. That’s because I literally only care about the black & white music notation and not the cover art or anything.
HOWEVER, I quickly learned to turn off all of the program’s automatic adjustments. It’s just plain awful at recognizing the finger cots that are provided. Using them leaves the weird shapes that are supposed to help the program identify and remove them. Instead it’s better just to use white gloves and hope for the best. The program is also terrible at identifying the edges of the page. It constantly tries to cut pages in half or only scans one side or doesnt crop at all so there’s a huge margin on one side. Now I just manually place the crop zones for the left and right pages. It’s a bit slower but the end result is significantly more usable.
In addition the laser page-flattening feature is clearly BS. The only editing Ive ever seen it do is to warp this crazy squiggle effect towards the inner sides of each page. This effectively makes the music unreadable in those areas. It did cross my mind that maybe the software was only created with typical text in mind, but when I tried scanning in novels and magazines I got the same result. This really makes me angry because there’s no way to turn off the auto-flattening feature without turning every automatic feature entirely together.
In the end I just use this to take raw images using manually-set crop zones, then I convert the file to black and white and such within Adobe. This takes a lot of time and somewhat invalidates the speed of this type of scanner. If you’re trying to digitize massive amounts of larger-format documents for as little cost as possible then this scanner could be for you. If you can afford it, definitely go for a higher tier than this one. It will save you a lot of frustration.
THE DIFFERENCE
The first difference between the two is that this is a far more portable model, able to be set up and operational in a minute or so and put away just as quickly, making it more suitable for the casual home user who does not have the luxury of a dedicated graphics studio to work in. In fact you can even just leave it out on your desktop it’s so small, which is not the case with the high-end model.
Along with its slimmed down physique comes certain limitations though and most of them have to do with scanning books. In my other review I talk about the pro model having numerous automated features to compensate for the unique task of book scanning, and I also debunk those claims about a scanner’s speed being important, or even having anything to do with whether you should consider a certain brand or not. The task of scanning books requires a specialized device and even calling it a scanner is a misnomer, it is really a camera on a stand. It operates at one speed, everything else depends on how fast a human can place an object under its lens and get it positioned to take a capture of it.
IS IT A BOOK SCANNER
While I’m talking about misnomers I actually take issue with the company calling this a book scanner, which is attested to by the number of users who tried to use it that way and were disappointed. If your job is to scan books and you do it often and demand high quality results you need to buy a professional book scanner, not buy this one and then complain that it’s not good enough. Even the company’s own photos of their product on this page don’t show them scanning books, what they are scanning are documents and there is a world of difference between the two.
HOW ABOUT DOCUMENTS
So how does this thing do scanning documents? Since documents are generally flat and don’t have the unique needs of books (page turning, gutter shadows, cleaning up margins, etc) you could fairly easily take pictures of them with any good smartphone and clean up the results in a good photo editing program and that is in fact what I as a professional sometimes do with acceptable results. The benefit of the Aura-B is that it is a self-contained camera stand with everything you need, including software, and the lens is designed to compensate for imaging large images without distortion. This scanner would be ideal for someone who does a lot of such work, as a typical flatbed scanner usually only images up to a legal sized document. That’s when to buy this thing.
ANOTHER IMPORTANT USE FOR IT
One other use that gets overlooked with this thing is that it is a very competent replacement for those old overhead projectors businesspeople used to use in conferences. This is more portable and plugs in to most video/data projectors and is extremely simple to operate and it can project flat documents as well as 3-dimensional objects and for that task alone it is worth the price.
IS IT FOR YOU
I believe Czur has not yet hit their stride understanding their market, which is evidenced by how they choose to seed sample units for evaluation without qualifying how they will be used, and how they are implementing steep discounts for products that are manufactured to a much higher standard than most of what else is out there. When you use one of their products you can’t help but be impressed by the quality and pride of manufacture and that is carried through by superb customer support. They just need to find their niche and it’s for that reason that I have a hard time making any recommendations. I hope you read my reviews and I hope they are helpful, and if I can answer any questions I’ll try.
I wanted this mainly to scan and save scholarly articles from books and journals. They are quite tricky as the language varies — primarily English for the text, but also German or French. Mixed in with this will be Unicode characters to transliterate Egyptian hieroglyphs or actual graphical representations of actual hieroglyphs. I have been able to scan both books and journal pages, both facing pages and single pages, and save them as Word documents. The OCR feature is surprisingly good.
I do not at the present time intend to do entire books, only sections, usually eight to 40 pages, sometimes more. It has been working well for my purposes. It is great to be able to scan book pages without damaging the book.
Setup was very easy. I have a PC, so I was able to use the enclosed CD. After that, it was a brief glance at the instructions on how to turn it on (press the round button for more than one second) to automatically go into lamp mode and then press the same button briefly to switch to scan mode. The application is mostly self-explanatory for anyone who has previously had a scanning application. The instructions are very brief. The manual on the CD is the same as the short one included in the box.
The hardest part of the setup was typing in the very long serial number. Also, the black mat used for scanning, comes rolled up and it’s hard to get it straight.
Also, the base of the unit is not very steady. It easily threatens to tip over.
All in all, it is working well for what I want it to do.
This scanner doubles as a desk lamp and can fold up when its not closed… making it less obtrusive and more useful for the everyday user.
It comes with a foot pedal for hands free operation as well.
With that being said; It is really only for the casual user as the ET18 is really what this product should have been.
While this device can definitely detect the edges of items and straighten them and flatten book pages; it is much slower at accomplishing this and its AI is not nearly as good as object/edge detection as the ET18.
Additionally it has issues detecting objects that aren’t placed directly underneath the light / camera.
In terms of the speed of image capture; it takes up-to 10 seconds to capture and process the image. Which can make taking many images painful and slow.
In comparison the ET18 takes an image and processes it in around 2-4 seconds.
To me this means that while the Aura is indeed a cool scanning product; it is really for the casual user that will sometimes need to scan a few pages of a book or magazine for reference or hobby.
In terms of the software; the CZUR Aura software is able to do the same things as the CZUR Scanner software for the ET18. However I found that the CZUR Scanner software detects the scanner extremely fast and operates quicker overall. Where as the CZUR Aura software was slower and took a while to find the scanner sometimes.
In terms of tech support; the Aura didn’t work out of the box. But after talking to CZUR support they fixed my scanner over TeamViewer as the scanner itself needed to have a NEW ID written to it. My guess is that I have a pre-production model that didn’t contain some of the data that a regular model will have if you purchase it today.
All in all this is a very innovative scanner that will surely change the concept of scanning over the next years. If you really need to use it today to scan in volumes of pages / books then I would invest in the CZUR ET18 Pro instead as it is just so much better and faster than this scanner. If you will just use it from time to time or only expect to scan a few pages a day / week; then this scanner is a great value and will fit better into your life. It takes up less space; and doubles as a desk lamp.
Personally you cannot go wrong with either option; just having tested both you should really weigh you use cases before you purchase any of the models.
If my review helped you at all; please mark it helpful! Thanks!
I tried both this and the pro version, and both are amazing. Having two is useful if I have PAs to operate two or if there are multiple projects up and running at once in different locations. I mostly use this for paperwork on films, and having a scanner like this that auto detects and scans super rapidly is way better than doing it with my phone and having to adjust the edges of every sheet yadda yadda. It’s dramatically improved my process.
This is slightly slower than the pro system, and it’s slightly lower resolution, but both are great! Setup and use are simple enough that you can just put someone on the task, and at the end of the day, all the work is done!