You don’t have a computer and scanner on hand to scan a paper document? No worries: your smartphone can easily charge it in just a few seconds!
Invoices, rent receipts, certificates, identity documents… Our daily lives are cluttered with paper documents that often have to be scanned to transmit them to an organization or administration. And not everyone has a scanner or multifunction printer on hand to do this. On the other hand, you certainly have a smartphone. And that’s more than enough to carry out this operation. Especially since it is not necessary to install any app to achieve this. Both iPhones and Android mobiles all have a function dedicated to scanning documents as standard.
Scanning documents with your smartphone has several advantages. First, the operation only takes a few seconds whereas, with a scanner connected to a computer, it takes longer, requiring several manipulations. Then, there is no need to transfer the scanned documents to your computer to send them to your correspondent: everything can be done from the smartphone. Finally, you’ll get good quality scanned copies with any decent smartphone, even if it’s not a high-end model.
To scan a document with an Android smartphone, nothing could be simpler. It is the Google Drive application, installed by default on all models, which is in charge. And everything is automatic. In Drive, just press the button +New then choose Scan. All that remains is to point the lens towards the document to be scanned placed flat on a table for example. As soon as the document is detected, the image is captured and the document automatically cropped. You can even do quick touch-ups by removing defects like finger stains! Then give your file a name and save it as a PDF or JPEG, as desired. It will be saved in Google Drive and accessible from any device connected to your Google account.
On iPhone, you have to go through the Files application integrated into the system. Launch it then tap the round icon placed in the upper right corner of the screen. Choose Scan documents in the menu that appears. Point the camera lens at the document to be scanned. Shooting is automatic as soon as it is detected. All that remains is to save the document, preferably in iCloud to find it in PDF format on all your devices connected to your Apple account.
You will have understood: it is no longer essential today to use a scanner or a multifunction printer to digitize a paper document. Your trusty smartphone will do this very well by avoiding complex manipulations, and your digital copies will always be easily accessible on your online storage service. No reason to deprive yourself of this very practical function, available at any time!