How to Scan Documents to PDF With Your Phone

Get clean, readable phone scans, combine them into one PDF and keep the file size reasonable.

Your phone camera is a perfectly good scanner if you follow a few habits.

Taking the photos

  • Put the page flat on a plain, contrasting surface.
  • Use bright, even light and avoid casting a shadow with your phone.
  • Hold the phone parallel to the page and fill the frame.
  • Take one photo per page, in order.

Option 1: your phone's built-in scanner

Many phones have a document scan feature in their notes or files app that straightens and exports to PDF. This is quickest if it is available.

Option 2: convert the photos

Select all photos in JPG to PDF, order them, pick A4 or Letter, and download one PDF.

Fix problems afterwards

Quality and size

Text pages do not need more than about 150 dpi to be readable. Aim for sharp focus rather than huge resolution.

Privacy

Delete the original photos from your gallery and cloud backup when you are done if they contain sensitive information.

Tools mentioned in this guide

JPG to PDFTurn images into a PDF.Compress PDFReduce PDF file size for email and uploads.Rotate PDFFix sideways or upside-down pages.

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