How to scan PDF documents?

scan documents into PDFWho hasn't found themselves overwhelmed by piles of documents, notes, forms, bills, payment receipts, and countless other printed materials? Accumulating paper is a common occurrence for students, remote workers, or anyone who simply needs to preserve certain information in printed form. Fortunately, the solution to reducing the amount of paper and keeping it organized is simple: digitize it as a PDF.

Digitizing documents into PDF: key details

Elected the standard format for digital documents for decades and the secret to having a paperless office, PDF allows files to be accessed online and offline on different devices without losing their original design and features. Learn how to take advantage of the practicality of this format with our tutorial on how to scan documents into PDF.

Transform documents into PDF files

The process of scanning pages to PDF can be performed from the function scanner of a printer. This is the most traditional way of transforming documents and also the most laborious, as it requires positioning each sheet in the scanning area, as well as closing the lid and other repetitive movements.

However, there is a simpler way to turn paperwork accumulated in the office into scanned PDFs. Just use apps like Small PDF, software designed to facilitate the creation, editing, conversion and other tasks involving PDFs. The application allows any document to be scanned as easily as taking a photo thanks to its function Scanner. Follow the steps below and learn how to use this feature:

Download the Small PDF app

The app is available for mobile devices with IOS and Android operating systems. To download it, visit App Store ou Play Store through your smartphone. Once this is done, wait for the installation process and open the application.

Click “+” to access scanner function

• Tap the blue circle with the “+” sign located at the bottom of the screen. When you do this, you will see three options: “Camera","Gallery"and "Archives";
• Click on "Camera” to scan the desired material using the lens of your smartphone;
• If necessary, give the app permission to take photos and videos on your device;
• Our tutorial is about the function scanner, but it is worth noting that the app has other features;
• For example, you can choose “Gallery” to create PDFs with documents whose photos are already on your device, or select “Archives” to edit PDF documents saved on mobile.

start scanning

• click on the blue Circle clear at the bottom of the screen to take photos of the document or let the auto-detect tool delimit the paper sheet boundaries for you;
• Do this in a place with good lighting and keep your cell phone camera fix over the document for perfect scanning;
• Follow the directions given by the app and move the camera closer or farther away from the document as recommended.

choose a filter

• After capturing the image, you can apply or not apply a filter in it;
• There are four filters available: “Without filter” (preserves the original appearance of the photo), “Cor” (ideal to emphasize the colors present in the image), “Grey scale” (replaces existing colors with shades of gray) and “B&W Scan” (alternative for those who want an automatically black and white document).
• Click on "Use” to apply the chosen filter;
• In this step, it is also possible to rotate the document to leave it in the correct orientation, for that click on “Turn“, or take another photo, do it through the option “rescan".

repeat the process

• To create PDF documents with more than one page, just continue scanning the other pages as we taught in the previous steps.

Check the preview and edit the document

• After scanning the entire document, click on the image of the last scanned sheet located in the lower right corner of the screen and select “End” if you are happy with the result;
• Otherwise, delete duplicate or disliked images by clicking on the trash can icon in the upper left corner of each photo;
• To make other changes, choose the option “Edit” located at the bottom of the screen. By selecting it, you will be able to change the filters again (“Filter"), cut and delimit the corners of the document ("Cut") and arrange the page order ("Organize").

Rename, save or share

• By clicking on “End“, the file will be automatically named based on the day, month and year of its creation (Smallpdf_2021-11-24.pdf, for example);
• To rename it, click on the symbol with three dots and choose “Rename";
• Through the same menu, you can save the scanned PDF document in the cloud, on your device or share it with whoever you want.

In addition to organizing the study or work environment, document scanning helps productivity, as it speeds up the access of documents, allowing you to find the necessary file spending as little time as possible.

See also:

Also meet others 14 apps that help you at home office to boost your productivity!