Repeated sections,
kept in order.
Household tables, nested repeats and numbered continuation pages keep each answer with the right person or record.
PAPER IN. POSSIBILITIES OUT.
Your surveys.
Your paper.
Connected.
A clearer path from a paper questionnaire to your Kobo project. Scan the pages, check the answers, and send the whole story—with the original photos.
Basic OCR included. No OCR account or API key to set up.
PAPER → PHOTO → CHECKED DATA
Household
01 / HOUSEHOLD REFERENCE
paperbridge•••
FIELD COPY01 / 04
Household
& livelihoods
01 / HOUSEHOLD REFERENCE
HH–028
02 / CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE
☑ Yes □ No
MEMBERAGEAlice28Martin34
One page code.
The right fields.⌜
The right fields.⌜
paperbridge•••
CAPTURE & REVIEW
Every answer,
Every answer,
in its place.
1 of 4 pages · Household survey
Household reference
HH–028
HH-028✓ Checked against
photograph
Original photo attachedKept with the questionnaire
⌂Overview▤Surveys▱Projects⚙Settings
✓ Made for a human check.
Illustrative preview · sample data
Work where you areCapture and review offline
Keep the evidenceOriginal photos travel with the data
Stay in controlCheck each answer before sending
WHY PAPERBRIDGE EXISTS
Paper still has
a place in the field.
Getting it into your database shouldn’t mean losing the context.
Paperbridge is an Android pilot for teams that collect surveys on paper and digitize them later. It connects a deliberately designed paper pack to the exact questions in a Kobo project.
Back at the office—or wherever scanning makes sense—your team can photograph each page, review the extracted answers and submit directly to Kobo. The source photographs stay attached.
Read the project guideA SIMPLE, TRACEABLE WORKFLOW
From a blank form
to a checked submission.
Five steps. One connected record.
Explore what happens at
each stage.
01
YOUR KOBO CONNECTION
Server kc.kobotoolbox.org
Account Your Kobo account
Your projects, in one place
START WITH YOUR PROJECT
A familiar login.
A familiar login.
A direct connection.
Enter your Kobo server URL and username/password, or use your Kobo API key. Open an active, deployed project you own or one shared with you for data collection.
An account-free demo is available inside the Android app. No Kobo submission is made in demo mode.
Connection guide →
02
HOUSEHOLD SURVEYOne respondent.
One paper pack. Page ID · Version · Repeat record
One paper pack. Page ID · Version · Repeat record
GENERATE A MAPPED PAPER PACK
Give every field
Give every field
a known place.
Choose the printed language and the number of household members or repeat records. Generate an A4 paper pack with page codes and alignment marks.
Generate a new pack for every respondent. Photocopies reuse the same page identity and should not become new respondents.
Paper preparation guide →
03
⌜⌝Page 01
Matched to its questionnaire⌞⌟
Matched to its questionnaire⌞⌟
ON-DEVICE CAPTURE & OCR
Photograph the page.
Photograph the page.
Keep the original.
Keep all four corner marks and the page code visible. The app matches the page, aligns the image, reads checkbox marks and runs basic OCR on answer areas.
English and French printed text and numbers are supported. Capture and OCR work offline with the bundled models.
Scanning tips →
04
SOURCE PHOTO
28
REVIEWED ANSWER28 ✓
Checked by you, before it is sent.
HUMAN REVIEW IS REQUIRED
Confidence comes
Confidence comes
from checking.
Compare each answer with its photograph. Correct OCR mistakes, transcribe handwriting and mark every answer as reviewed. Confirm that all pages were captured and mark unused repeat records.
OCR confidence never approves an answer automatically. You make the final call.
Review checklist →
05
YOUR ANDROID DEVICEAnswers + original photos↓Your Kobo project ✓
DIRECT TO KOBO
A submission with
A submission with
its source attached.
When connected, choose Submit to Kobo. The app sends the structured answers and original page photos directly from the device, then checks the resulting record and attachment filenames.
Uploads require connectivity. If an upload is interrupted, use Verify upload to check and resume the same submission.
Submission requirements →DESIGNED AROUND REAL QUESTIONNAIRES
More than a page
of text.
Short interviews. Long questionnaires.
Households with more
than one story.
Repeated sections,
Field mapping
by design.
Page IDs, version information, indexed field paths and fixed answer boxes connect the printed layout to your form.
The photograph
is part of the record.
Original page images are retained separately from the aligned review images and included as submission attachments.
CLEAR EXPECTATIONS. BETTER DATA.
Helpful OCR.
Essential human judgment.
Paperbridge is a pilot, not an automatic transcription guarantee. It helps with the repetitive parts while keeping review at the centre of the workflow.
See the full compatibility guide →Printed English & FrenchBasic OCR for text and numbers, with bundled models.
Checkboxes & fixed choicesMarks are detected locally; ambiguous answers need review.
Handwriting & other languagesManual entry is needed; basic OCR is not reliable for handwriting.
Complex Kobo logicAdvanced expressions, calculations and external choices are not yet supported for live submission.
A SHORTER PATH FOR YOUR DATA
Your device. → Your Kobo server.
Recognition, page matching and review happen on the device. Paperbridge does not require an intermediary processing service. This website explains the project and provides the app; it does not receive survey photographs or answers.
OCR works offlineOriginals stay on the deviceSending is an explicit action
Understand storage and privacy →
START SMALL. TEST WITH YOUR TEAM.
Make your next
paper survey connected.
Try the demo, generate a sample paper pack and follow it all the way through review before using a live project.
CURRENT PILOTv0.3.5
Android 7 or later
APK · 24.7 MB
Debug-signed test build. Not a Play Store release. Pilot testing on your Kobo server and target phones is still required.
Release notes ↗Download checksum ↗A FEW THINGS TO KNOW
Before you
head to the field.
More setup details and practical tips in the field guide.
Can I scan an existing paper questionnaire?
The supported workflow starts with a paper pack generated by Paperbridge. Its page codes and fixed field positions allow reliable mapping. Arbitrary paper surveys are not automatically matched to Kobo fields.
Do I need a Google OCR key or another server?
No. Basic OCR runs on the Android device. To connect a live project, enter your Kobo server URL and Kobo credentials or API key.
Does it work without internet?
After installing the app and loading a project, capture, OCR and review work offline. Connecting to Kobo, loading remote projects and submitting records require internet. Retry processing runs while the app is open.
Which Kobo permissions do I need?
Use a project you own or one shared with Add submissions access, which includes View form. The current pilot also needs access to the resulting submissions and attachments to verify the upload. It does not require project-management permission to download a deployed form.
Will it change my Kobo form?
The app never deploys or modifies your Kobo project automatically. Photo attachments require a specific source_pages repeat. You can export an XLSForm with those proposed fields, review it, and deploy the revision yourself.
Is it ready for production use?
This is a working pilot. Automated checks cover form handling, OCR fixtures, upload recovery and UI behaviour, but are not a substitute for field validation, real-server testing or checking handwriting accuracy. Start with sample data and a small trial.