In today’s fast-paced digital world, having a portable scanner right in your pocket is incredibly convenient. CamScanner is a popular mobile application that transforms your smartphone into a powerful document scanner. Whether you need to digitize receipts, notes, invoices, or any other paper documents, CamScanner simplifies the process. This guide will walk you through each step of scanning documents using the CamScanner app on your smartphone.
First, ensure you have the CamScanner application installed on your device. If you haven’t already, you can download CamScanner from your device’s app store (Google Play Store for Android or Apple App Store for iOS). Simply search for “CamScanner” and install the application.
Once installed, locate and open the CamScanner application on your phone.
Upon opening CamScanner, you’ll see a camera icon, typically located in the bottom right corner of the screen. Tap this icon to initiate the scanning process.
Before taking a scan, ensure that the “Docs” option is selected, and ideally, set the mode to “Multipages” if you plan to scan multiple documents that you want to combine into a single PDF file.
Selecting “Multipages” is especially useful when you have several pages of a document to scan and wish to compile them into one PDF document. If you’re only scanning a single page, this step is optional. Choosing “Docs” ensures the app optimizes the scan for document clarity. You’ll notice that when “Multipages” and “Docs” are active, they are often highlighted in green within the app interface.
Now, position your document on a flat surface with good lighting. Tap the camera icon again to take a photo of the document you wish to scan.
After capturing the image, CamScanner automatically detects the document’s edges and prompts you to crop the scanned image. Green lines will appear around the document, which you can adjust by dragging the corners to precisely crop the area you want to scan. If the automatic cropping is accurate, or if you prefer not to crop, simply tap “Continue” to proceed.
Alt Text: Scanning a document using CamScanner, showing the camera view and document being captured.
Continue photographing all the documents you need to scan. The number at the bottom right corner of the screen indicates the number of pages you have scanned so far. This counter helps you keep track, especially when scanning multipage documents.
You might encounter a dialog box that says “Adjust the trimming range.” You can usually ignore this message unless you need to fine-tune the cropping of each page individually at this stage.
Once you have scanned all necessary pages, tap on the image icon located at the bottom right corner. This icon displays the total number of scanned pages and allows you to access and review all the scanned images.
In this preview section, you can edit each scanned page. Options include applying filters to enhance clarity, further cropping the image, or rotating the page if needed. After reviewing and editing, if you are satisfied with the scans, tap the green checkmark, usually found in the bottom right corner, to finalize the scanning process.
Alt Text: CamScanner processing the scanned images and applying enhancements for better readability.
CamScanner will then process your scanned documents, which may take a few moments. Once processing is complete, you’ll be ready to share or save your document.
To save your scanned document as a PDF, tap the “Share” icon, typically located at the top or bottom right corner of the screen.
Alt Text: Selecting the ‘Share’ option in CamScanner to export or save the scanned document.
From the share options, select “Share PDF.” This ensures your scanned document is saved in PDF format, which is widely compatible and ideal for document sharing and archiving.
Alt Text: Choosing ‘Share PDF’ option in CamScanner to save the scanned document in PDF format.
In the next sharing interface, simply choose “Save to Local” to save the PDF document directly onto your phone’s storage.
A notification will appear, usually at the bottom of your screen, indicating that “The File has been Saved at /Storage/emulated/0/CamScanner/PDF/”. This confirms that your scanned PDF is now saved in the “CamScanner/PDF” folder on your device’s internal storage.
You can access your saved scanned documents by using a file manager application on your phone. Navigate to the “CamScanner” folder, then to the “PDF” subfolder to find your newly scanned document. You can then open, view, and share your PDF document as needed.
If you encounter issues opening the PDF file on your phone, ensure you have a PDF reader application installed. Alternatively, you can transfer the file to a computer or another device to verify if the PDF file is accessible.
Reducing PDF File Size from CamScanner
Sometimes, CamScanner might create PDF files that are quite large in size. If you need to reduce the file size for easier sharing or storage, you can use online PDF compression tools. Websites like ilovepdf, pdf2go, pdfcompressor, and avepdf offer free online services to compress PDF files effectively. Simply upload your PDF to one of these sites, and they will reduce the file size without significantly compromising the quality of the document.
By following these steps, you can efficiently use CamScanner to scan and digitize your documents directly from your smartphone, making document management easier and more convenient.
