How to Scan a Document With Your Phone (No Scanner Needed)

You do not need a scanner

A phone camera plus an image to text converter does the job. Photograph the page, run it through ocrX, and you get the text out, ready to copy or save as a PDF or Word file. The ocrX app for Android and iOS can shoot and read in one step.

How to get a scanner-quality photo

Light it well

Natural light near a window works great. Avoid casting the shadow of your own phone over the page.

Shoot straight down

Hold the phone flat and parallel to the page so the lines stay straight and the corners are square.

Fill the frame

Get close enough that the page fills the shot, with little background around it.

Then turn it into text

1. Upload the photo to ocrX

From your camera roll, or straight from the camera in the app.

2. Pick the language and extract

Set the language, tap Extract.

3. Save it

Copy the text, or download a PDF or Word file to keep and share.

When this is enough, and when it is not

For receipts, letters, forms, notes, and most everyday pages, a phone photo plus OCR is plenty. For a hundred-page contract you would want a real scanner for speed, but the reading step is the same either way.

Tips

• Steady the phone, or rest your elbows on the table.
• Flatten curled pages with a couple of small weights.
• One page per shot reads more accurately than a wide two-page spread.

Wrapping up

Your phone is a scanner and a text reader in one. Photograph the page, run it through ocrX, and walk away with editable text instead of a flat image.