PDFRookie
All guides

How to scan documents to PDF with your phone camera

You don't need a scanner app. The Scan to PDF tool works in your phone's or laptop's browser: capture pages, clean them up, and save them as one PDF.

Step by step

  1. Open the Scan to PDF tool and tap Open camera. Allow camera access when your browser asks.
  2. Hold your phone above the page and tap Capture for each page. You can also add photos you already took.
  3. Pick a filter: Original for photos, Grayscale, or Black & white for clean text pages.
  4. Use the arrows to reorder pages and the bin icon to remove a bad shot, then tap Create PDF.

Get a better scan

  • Use even light. Avoid shadows from your hand or phone.
  • Place the page on a plain, dark surface so the edges stand out.
  • Keep the phone parallel to the page and fill the frame.
  • Choose Black & white for printed text. It gives the cleanest result and the smallest file.

What it doesn't do yet

There is no automatic edge detection or cropping yet. If you need a page cropped tightly, crop the photo in your phone's gallery first, then add it. To make the text searchable, run the finished PDF through the OCR tool.

Privacy

Photos are processed in your browser and are not uploaded.

Frequently asked questions

Does it work on iPhone and Android?

It is designed to work in modern mobile browsers. If the camera doesn't open, check that camera permission is allowed for your browser.

Can I use existing photos?

Yes. Use Add photos to choose images from your device.

Can I make the scanned text searchable?

Run the resulting PDF through the OCR tool to extract the text.

Scan to PDF

Use your phone or webcam as a scanner. Capture pages, clean them up and save a PDF.

Scan to PDF now

More guides

Was this guide helpful?

Feedback is public and anonymous. Please don't include anything private.