How to scan on your iPhone or iPad

How to scan documents on an iPhone

Whether you’re at home or travelling, it’s easy to scan a document on your iPhone with Adobe Scan. Take a deeper dive into the different steps to help you start scanning.

1. Intuitively scan a document with your iPhone.

Once you’ve opened the app, all you need to do is take a photo of the document(s). In its default setting, the iPhone scan will begin automatically and highlight the edges of your document. If scanning doesn’t start right away, just tap the shutter icon on screen. Tap on the document star symbol to change to the automatic scanning mode.

The app will start scanning and automatically highlight the document edges.

2. Choose the best mode to scan documents with iPhone.

There are a few different scanning modes to choose from – whiteboard, book, document, ID and business card. You’ll see a brief message pop up when you change scanning modes. For example, choosing the mode for business card will allow you to save the contact information from the card directly into your phonebook as a new contact.

3. Adjust your scan and clean it up.

With the iPhone scanner from Adobe, it’s easy to edit your scan as soon as it’s finished directly in the app. You’ll also find tools to remove noise or marks on the paper, so you can easily clean your scanned documents.

Other functionalities of the iPhone scanner app include:

• Adjust margins:  Amend the amount of white space around the document.
• Rotate: Rotate your scan clockwise or anticlockwise.
• Add pages: Include more pages in the same document.
• Edit page order: Change the order of your scanned pages within the app.
• Add filters: Use preset filters to increase legibility or clarity.
• Adjustments: Change brightness and contrast.
• Crop: Cut the scanned page down to the required size.
• Add annotations: Input shapes and annotations to your scans.
• Colours: Change colours.
• Change size: Adjust the document size, such as A3, A4, A5, etc.
• Delete: Quickly delete pages you no longer need in your scanned documents.

4. Give your scan a name and save it as a PDF or JPEG.

Give your scan a recognisable name so you can find it again. Simply save your scan to the Cloud if you need to access it from any device, wherever you are.

Similarly, saving your scan directly to your iPhone is simple. Just tap the symbol with three dots to open a menu. From here, tap on “Copy to device” and your scan will be saved locally. You can also convert your scanned PDF to JPEG using this menu.

5. Share your scans directly from your iPhone or via email with a link.

As soon as you‘ve saved your iPhone scan, you can download it to your device and share it via a link or attachment on apps such as email, Messenger and WhatsApp.

Explore more online sharing options.

How to scan documents on an iPad

You can also use the Adobe Scan app for scanning documents on your iPad. Simply follow the same steps on your iPad device:

1. Open the app and start scanning. Tap on the Adobe Scan App and point the iPad camera at the document you wish to scan. Scanning should begin automatically – if not, just tap on the shutter icon to begin scanning manually.
2. Edit your scan. In your scan preview section, you can edit your scan, using tools such as crop, remove marks, colour adjustment and more.
3. Add more pages. For documents with more pages, just tap on ‘continue scanning’ to add the remaining pages.
4. Finish scanning and save. Once you’ve scanned everything you need, tap on the blue button on the bottom right to save as a PDF.
5. Share your scan. Now that you’ve saved your scan, share it as a link by clicking on ‘Share’. You can share it as an email attachment or through other messaging apps.
6. Make further edits. Your scan will be securely and automatically saved in the Cloud so you can access it from any other device. Use the Adobe Acrobat Reader App or Adobe Acrobat online to add signatures, compress files and make other edits.

Other ways to scan documents on your iPhone or iPad

You might also be able to use some of your iPhone or iPad’s built-in features to scan documents.

• Using the Notes app:
  1. Start a new note and click the camera icon at the bottom.
  2. Select the “Scan Documents” option.
  3. Use your camera to scan the document.
  4. Crop or edit the image as needed.
  5. Save the document to your note.
• Using the Files app:
  1. Create a new folder in the Files app on your iPhone or iPad.
  2. Tap the + button to add a new document.
  3. Select the “Scan Documents” option.
  4. Again, use your camera to scan the document.
  5. Edit and save to your folder.

Why use the Adobe Scan app for scanning on mobile?

You can easily live without clunky scanners at home these days. Documents can now be scanned quickly and easily with your mobile phone – whenever and wherever you want.

Scanning on your mobile phone with the free Adobe Scan app offers several advantages:

• Intuitive operation:  The Adobe Scan app is characterised by its user-friendly and intuitive system. It guides you step-by-step through the scanning process, so you don't need any experience with mobile scanner apps.
• Select different scan modes:  The Adobe Scan app offers different scan modes for different requirements. Whether you’re scanning a whiteboard, book, document, ID card or business card – there is a special mode for every type of template that delivers the best results.
• High-quality PDFs:  The scans created with the Adobe Scan app impress with their high quality. The app uses advanced image processing technologies to produce sharp, clear and easy-to-read PDFs. Even fine details and small font sizes are captured precisely. With the help of OCR (Optical Character Recognition), the text in the document can also be adjusted or extracted.
• Numerous settings and editing options:  After scanning with your mobile phone, you can access a range of free editing tools. You can crop your scanned documents, highlight, adjust the colour and much more.
• Save in the cloud or on the device:  The Adobe Scan app offers flexible storage options. You can either save your scans directly on your mobile phone or store them in the cloud. This makes them available anytime, anywhere, and accessible from different devices.
• Easy sharing via email or messenger:  With the Adobe Scan app, it's easy to share scanned documents with others. You can send the scans directly from the app via email or messenger. This allows you to share important documents quickly and easily with colleagues, friends or family.

Tips for scanning photos and documents on your mobile device

Whether you’re using your iPhone, iPad or other mobile device, we’ve got a few tips to make scanning quick and efficient:

• Lighting. Ensure that the environment has a balanced lighting, avoiding shadows or overly bright scans.
• Positioning. Hold your iPad or iPhone directly above the document so that the scan isn’t distorted.
• Steady hand. When scanning, hold your device steady to avoid blurry scans.
• Automatic recognition. Use the automatic recognition function of the Adobe Scan app to identify the document edges for an accurate and complete scan.
• Initial edits. View your scan and make edits, such as cropping and brightness adjustment if necessary.
• Choose file type. Many scans are best viewed as a PDF, but you can decide on the best file type for your scanned document.

Editing your scanned documents.

After scanning your documents, you have several options to customise the files as desired.

If you want to edit your scans directly on your iPhone or iPad, you can simply transfer them from the Adobe Scan app to the Adobe Acrobat Reader app. All you have to do is click "Open in Acrobat".

The Adobe Acrobat Reader app allows you to view, comment, and sign PDF files on your mobile phone for free. However, a subscription is required for more extensive editing options.

For certain tasks, you may find it easier and more efficient to use our Acrobat Online tools on your desktop. By automatically saving to the cloud, you have direct access to your documents on your desktop.

Here you can use tools like "Edit PDF" or "Merge Files" without having to take out a subscription. Compared to a mobile app, editing a PDF on a desktop platform offers increased comfort and efficiency due to the larger workspace.

Popular features include:

• Sign PDF: Insert your signature directly into the PDF.
• Merge PDF: Combine multiple PDFs into a single document.
• Edit PDF: Change text and images directly in the PDF.
• Compress PDF: Reduce the file size of your PDFs to save storage space.
• Convert PDF to Word: Convert PDFs into editable Word documents.

Explore Adobe Acrobat’s online tools