How to scan documents clearly with a phone
A clean source photo improves readability, OCR accuracy and file size more than aggressive processing after the scan.
Prepare the page and light
Place the document on a flat surface with a contrasting, uncluttered background. Use diffuse light from both sides when possible. A lamp directly above glossy paper can create a bright reflection that hides text.
Flatten folds and remove transparent sleeves. Clean the camera lens, disable decorative filters and use the rear camera because it usually captures more detail than the front camera.
Keep the camera parallel
Position the phone directly above the center of the page so all four edges appear with similar proportions. Tilting creates perspective distortion: one side becomes larger and lines of text converge.
Leave a small border around the document rather than cutting off corners. Tap on the text to focus and hold still until the capture finishes. Review small print immediately while retaking the photo is still easy.
Assemble and inspect the PDF
Select images in reading order. The scan tool fits each one onto an A4 page, so source orientation affects the result. Rotate photos first if the phone saved them sideways.
Open the PDF at 100%, check every page and confirm signatures, dates and identifiers are legible. If OCR is the next step, use the clearest available images and review recognized text against the page.
Use the workflow
Related PDF tools
Scan to PDF
Turn camera scans and document photos into one PDF.
JPG to PDF
Combine JPG images into a single PDF document.
HEIC to PDF
Convert HEIC or HEIF photos into a PDF.
OCR PDF
Recognize text in scanned PDF pages and export it.