Scan a document to PDF
To scan to PDF, open the rear camera (or pick photos), snap your document, drag the four corners onto the sheet, choose a filter (document, gray, black and white), then add the page. Repeat for each page and create the PDF. Your images stay on your device and no app is needed.
- ✅ Free
- 🔒 No sign-up
- 📱 Works on mobile
- ⚡ Instant results
🔒 Everything runs in your browser. Your data and files never leave your device.
📌 Key facts
- To scan to PDF with your phone, the tool opens the rear camera, straightens the perspective using 4 corners and assembles the pages into a PDF.
- Four filters: Document (white background, color kept), Original, Grayscale and Black and white.
- Black and white gives the smallest PDFs: about 150 to 300 KB per Letter page, versus 400 KB to 1 MB in color.
- The final PDF comes out in Letter, A4 or the image size, and you can reorder the pages.
- A scan is an image, so selectable text needs a pass through the OCR tool.
- Camera, straightening, filters and PDF creation all run in your browser, so nothing leaves your device.
How to scan a document with your phone
This tool stands in for a scanning app: it opens the rear camera, fixes the perspective and assembles the pages into a PDF, with nothing to install.
- Photograph the sheet lying flat on a contrasting surface in good light, or pick photos you already took.
- Place the 4 corners on the corners of the sheet. A perspective transform straightens the image as if you had shot it head-on.
- Pick a filter and add the page. Repeat for the next ones, and reorder if needed.
- Create the PDF in Letter, A4 or the image size.
Which filter should you choose?
| Filter | Effect | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Document | White background, softened shadows, color kept | Letters, receipts, forms |
| Original | No processing | Photos, colorful diagrams |
| Grayscale | Slightly boosted contrast | Pages with text and images |
| Black and white | Adaptive threshold, smaller file | Plain text, photocopies |
Black and white gives the smallest PDFs: about 150 to 300 KB per Letter page, versus 400 KB to 1 MB in color.
Tips for a clean scan
- Use daylight or a side lamp: avoid the flash, which makes a glare spot.
- Hold the phone parallel to the sheet so the document fills the frame.
- Put a white sheet on a dark surface: the corners are easier to place.
- For selectable text, run the PDF through the OCR tool afterwards.
How to scan to PDF with your phone in 5 steps
- First, lay the sheet flat on a contrasting surface and open the rear camera.
- Next, take the photo, or pick images you already saved.
- Then drag the four corners onto the corners of the sheet.
- After that, choose a filter and add the page.
- Finally, repeat for each page and click Create PDF.
To scan to PDF with several sheets, add them one after another. You can then change their order before you create the file. Scan to PDF needs no app, so your phone keeps its storage free.
Scan a multipage PDF: size and weight
| Setting | Effect | When to pick it |
|---|---|---|
| Letter page | Standard US size | Forms, receipts, applications |
| A4 page | Standard size in most other countries | Documents for overseas |
| Image size | The page follows the photo | Tickets, cards, small formats |
| Black and white | 150 to 300 KB per Letter page | Plain text, many pages |
For example, a 10-page packet in black and white weighs roughly 1.5 to 3 MB. In color, it can climb to 4 MB or more. So pick black and white when you scan to PDF a packet that has to go by email.
Common mistakes when you scan to PDF
- Using the flash, because it makes a white glare that hides the text.
- Putting a white sheet on a white table, which makes the corners hard to place.
- Leaving a finger or a shadow on the page, since the filter does not always erase them.
- Shooting every page in color, which makes the PDF heavy for no reason.
When you scan to PDF an important paper, fix the light first. That way you save time. When the phone stays parallel to the sheet, the corners almost place themselves. If a page turns out bad, delete it and shoot it again. Then the final PDF keeps only good pages.
What to do with your PDF after you scan
A scan is just an image inside a PDF. So you can still work on it before you send it.
- To make the text selectable, run the OCR tool.
- To trim the margins, use crop PDF.
- To shrink the file, open compress PDF.
- To sign a scanned form, try sign PDF.
To scan to PDF from photos you already took, pick them from your gallery. Finally, if you already have photos of your pages, JPG to PDF and merge PDF pair well with this scan to PDF tool.
3 real-life examples
Digitize a receipt for an expense report
You photograph the receipt on the table, place the corners and use the "Document" filter: the gray background disappears and the one-page PDF weighs about 350 KB.
Scan a 5-page contract
You snap 5 photos in a row, add each page and get a 5-page Letter PDF in the right order, in black and white, under 1.2 MB.
Turn notebook photos into a PDF
You choose 8 photos from your gallery, straighten each one and export: you send one file instead of 8 images.