New pen-sized scanner allows you to copy documents - WKRN, Nashville News, Nashville Weather and Sports

Back to school shopping has begun and this year parents may notice new technology students can put in their book bag.

One gadget promises to help students in the library or with copying someone's homework

Not much bigger than a pre-school crayon, the ScanStik has all the power of a desktop scanner. Charged through a USB cable, it's hard not to be impressed with what it does.

On the bottom of the scan stick are rollers and by gliding it over paper or photographs, the scan stick stores the image on a Micro-SD card so you can transfer it later to a computer.

Real estate agent Rocki Rachal said it works, too.

"We scan lots of stuff, documents, business cards, receipts for termite letters," she said.

The pen rolled smoothly over the paper. If you swipe it too fast you get a message asking you to slow down.

After you scan the document, just attach the ScanStik to a computer, to see what you've just scanned.

It looks good, and you can adjust the quality of the scan, including settings for color and high resolution.

The Stik can store hundreds of documents on a 2 gigabyte Micro-SD card which you'll have to buy separately.

The Stik can also be used on photos. On a fairly low resolution photo of a house, the picture looked almost the same, pixel by pixel on a laptop screen.

Surprisingly, it performs just as well as most desktop scanners

The ScanStik comes with its own scan software, but you can also use a picture viewer that's already on your computer. The included software makes it easier.

"I think it's awesome," Rachal said. "I think it's definitely something I could use, not just for receipts but contracts and even photos."

There are other mobile scanners on the market, but the ScanStik is the smallest that would fit easily in a coat pocket, or a woman's purse.

The ScanStick is from a company named Plan-On. It retails at $160.