Scan to PDF

From your camera roll to your workspace.

Choose document photos or use your phone camera. Optional grayscale and contrast help readability. No automatic perspective correction.

How to use Scan to PDF

1. Open your document from your device.
2. Adjust the settings and preview the result.
3. Read text results on screen or download your file. Your original remains untouched.

Local by design

Your documents are processed on your device. No account, payment or document upload is required.

Enable JavaScript to use the document workspace.

Make a document PDF from clear photographs

Scan to PDF accepts supported document photos and can use the phone’s camera input where the browser provides it. Basic grayscale and contrast options can improve readability for some captures. The tool does not automatically flatten curved pages, correct every perspective distortion or infer missing text from a blurred image.

The best improvement often happens before processing. Place the document flat, use even light and keep the camera roughly parallel to the page. Avoid reflections, deep shadows and fingers covering the edge. Capture enough detail for the smallest text you need, then inspect the image before adding more pages to the packet.

Capture, arrange and export

1. Choose existing document photos or use the available camera control.
2. Check that each capture includes the full page and is upright.
3. Arrange images in the intended reading order.
4. Try grayscale or contrast only if they improve the important details.
5. Create the PDF, download it and reopen the saved result.

Camera availability depends on the device and browser. If the camera control opens a file picker instead, choose a previously captured image. The website cannot guarantee that every mobile operating system presents the same camera interface. Selecting an image from a cloud-backed photo library may involve that library’s own download process, separate from local PDF processing.

Evaluate adjustments by what they preserve

Grayscale can simplify plain correspondence, but colour may carry meaning in a chart, stamp or handwritten correction. Increasing contrast can make faint printed text clearer while also erasing pale pencil marks or highlighting image noise. Inspect a difficult area before applying a setting to an important document.

Keep the original photographs. A processed reading copy is not necessarily an appropriate replacement for an evidentiary original or a record that must preserve subtle colour and texture. If a formal process specifies how scans must be captured, follow that requirement rather than choosing settings only for visual neatness.

Perspective distortion remains visible when one edge of the page is closer to the camera than another. Cropping away the surrounding desk can make the page look cleaner but does not correct that geometry. Recapture the document from a better angle when possible. Small improvements at capture time can save substantial correction work later.

Check the PDF as a document

Count the pages, verify their order and inspect the edges for clipping. Read names, amounts and dates directly from the exported PDF. A thumbnail can hide an unreadable number. If the file will be printed, inspect a proof at the intended size, because scaling can make already-small text difficult to read.

The output is based on images. It does not automatically create a searchable text layer. Use OCR separately when search or text extraction is required, and check the recognised words against the page image. Do not assume that a polished PDF wrapper makes the scan accessible or machine-readable.

Choose an output filename that identifies the packet without exposing unnecessary personal information. Reopen the file from the actual download location before sharing it. On a phone, check that the share sheet selects the new PDF rather than an original photo or an older result. Read the mobile workflow guide and OCR quality checks for the next steps.

Frequently asked questions

Is perspective correction automatic?

No. Capture the page as squarely as possible. This tool provides basic readability adjustments, not full document geometry correction.

Should I always choose grayscale?

No. Keep colour when it communicates meaning or preserves important marks. Compare before deciding.

Does the camera send my photo to a processing server?

The selected image is processed in the browser. Other device services, such as a cloud photo library, have their own separate behaviour.

Will the PDF contain selectable text?

Not until an appropriate OCR operation adds recognised text. That result must be proofread.

Why is the output large?

High-resolution photographs contain many pixels. Use a clear capture and review compression trade-offs rather than repeatedly degrading the same image.