Every time you carry out a procedure, it is very likely that you will have to scan documents. Although you can do it in copy shops or similar stores, the easiest thing would always be to be able to do it from home, especially when we are in a hurry to send a specific document. In these cases, did you know that you can scan documents with your mobile phone? There are many scanner applications that allow you to take pictures of the document and edit them so they look as if they were taken with a scanner.
In this TecVideos article we will show you the best free alternatives so you know how to scan a document with the cell phone and pass it to PDF to send it by mail.
Contents
How to scan documents with Android
This is one of the most useful applications, since you only need to have a Gmail account to take advantage of all its functions. Google Drive is a cloud service where you can create documents, presentations, spreadsheets and save files to have them on all your devices. Also, you can scan documents.
To do so, you will only have to follow the steps below, but keep in mind that the option is only available for the version of Google Drive for Android:
- Within the Google Drive app, tap the Add icon.
- Choose the option to scan.
- Take the photo of the document you want to scan and touch up with the options that Google Drive gives you.
- If you need to add another page, just choose the Add option and tap Done when you have everything you need.
If the final document ends up weighing too much to be able to send it easily by courier services, here is our article How to make a PDF sound less.
How to scan documents with iPhone or iPad
If you don’t have Android, then you are probably looking for an alternative to scan documents on iPhone In a simple way. You don’t need any apps, just use the Notes app to do it. Sure, other apps may have more options when scanning documents, so we’ll talk about some of them later, too. To use Notes to scan, follow these steps:
- Open the Notes app and tap the camera button.
- Take a photo of the document you want to scan.
- Depending on the configuration of your mobile, the camera will take the photo automatically once it detects the area of the document. If not, take the photo manually.
- Adjust the document boundaries with your finger, and when you’re happy with the result, select Keep.
- Save the note or add more pages to the document if you need to. You can send this document to those you need through mail, WhatsApp or other messaging services.
camscanner
There are other apps that are entirely dedicated to scanning documents, and for that reason, they may be easier to use or have more useful options. Camscanner is one of them. Although it has a premium version with all the options, you can scan documents without watermark and convert them to PDF for free.
Some of the functions that you will find in this app include being able to export scanned documents to PDF, as well as correct perspective, and change the filters of the image to adjust it to gray scale, black and white or give it a lower enhancement. or tall. With the premium version you can scan multipage documents on the cell phone, as well as save them in the cloud.
Download Camscanner here.
Office Lens
Office Lens is Microsoft’s alternative to other scanner apps. If you have a Microsoft email account, you can use it without any problem and for free. Just like any of these apps, you can convert images to PDF, but also to Word, Power Point and Excel documents.
You can also save documents in the Microsoft cloud: OneDrive or OneNote. With Office Lens you can also scan text on surfaces other than paper, such as blackboards or whiteboards.
Download Office Lens here.
TinyScanner
Tiny Scanner is another of the most popular apps to scan documents on Android and iPhone. It’s not very precise, but it will allow you to create multi-page documents for free and without watermarks. Another advantage is that it is a very light applicationso if you have little space on your mobile or it’s an old cell phone, you won’t have to worry about taking up more space.
On the other hand, this app will also allow you to save the documents in PDF and add filters that highlight the letters of the document so that they have the effect of having been scanned or photocopied.
Download TinyScanner.
GeniusScan
Just like Camscanner, with Genius Scan you’ll also be able to adjust the perspective of the documents you scan, as well as detect them automatically. You can also apply filters to convert the document to black and white or gray scale. It will permit you scan multipage documents no need to pay.
You can download Genius Scan by clicking the link.
SwiftScan
Finally, we’ll tell you about SwiftScan, an intuitive app with a simple interface for scanning documents. You will be able to convert them to PDF and share them easily with good quality. With the app you can also scan QR codes and make multi-page documents.
The app offers some premium options, but you can scan documents with cell phone for free. Some of its paid features include integration with other cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and more, as well as the option to extract text from a document for copying or searching.
Download SwiftScan here.
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