By Chris Guld, Geeks on Tour
Do you sometimes need to scan documents but don’t want to spend money on – or take up space with – a flatbed scanner? Did you know your iPhone or Android smartphone can do it for free? It’s different from just taking a photo of a document – we want to convert the image to a .pdf document because that is the best format for documents.
iPhone
The Notes app that comes preinstalled on your iPhone can be used to scan. Try this now:
- Open the Notes App.
- Tap the pencil icon in lower right to start a new note.
- Tap the Camera button on the Notes toolbar and you’ll see a “Scan Documents” option.
- Place the document on a contrasting background and point the camera at it so that all 4 corners are visible.
- When the yellow highlight is correctly covering your document, tap the shutter button.
- If needed, drag the corner markers to adjust, then tap Keep Scan.
- Repeat for further pages, tap save when done.
- Now you can tap the Share button and choose your email app to send this document to someone.
Android
- Open the Drive app. It’s the green/yellow/blue triangle, usually found in the Google Group of apps.
- Tap the + button in the lower right, then you should see the option to Scan.
- Or, better yet, use the Drive “Scans” widget.
Chris Guld is President and Teacher-in-Chief at GeeksOnTour.com. She and her husband, Jim, produce a free weekly YouTube show called What Does This Button Do? They have been Fulltime RVers, popular seminar presenters at RV Rallies, and regular contributors to RVTravel.com, for many years.
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Tried it. Thanks!
Glad to hear it.
My iPhone XR does not have a tool bar
The tool bar is in the Notes app. I don’t have an XR to check, but I’m pretty sure the Notes app is the same on all model of iPhones.
I have the 11 Pro Max. I’m sure the XR is the same. Open up a new note. Options are on bottom of screen. Select Camera. Select Scan Document.
There is also an app for Android called Adobe Scan, from Adobe.
It is a free app, and allows you to scan and save in a variety of formats including PDF.
I used to use a scanning app but for the most part I just try and take a nice crisp photo of the document.
Agreed. A photo of a business card, for example, is great. And, if you use Google Photos on the iPhone, there’s a button to convert the photo to a .pdf
So many options!
I didn’t see the camera on the tool bar on my Iphone 6 but the + symbol brought up the scan document. Thank you. I had no idea this was there.
I have a Iphone 6S, after tapping the icon with the pencil in it a keyboard will appear, just above the keyboard is a line of icons, there is where you will find the camera icon.
My SE iPhone does not have a tool bar in the Notes app!
It should be right above your keyboard.
Works great on my 11 Pro. Thank you!
Knowing about scanning docs is SO helpful. Thanks for the tip!