Using a large scanner is no longer necessary if you have a smartphone with a decent camera. There’s a wide variety of scanning apps available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store that you can use for free.

One such app is Adobe Scan. In this article, we’ll show you how to scan different documents, edit, save, and share them from your mobile device.

Getting Your Document Ready for Scanning With Adobe Scan

Once you’ve downloaded Adobe Scan from the App Store or Play Store, open it and log in using your Adobe ID. You can get one by creating a free Adobe account. With an Adobe ID, you can access your previously scanned files on multiple devices by simply logging in. You can also use the same ID to access other Adobe products.

Once logged in, you need to prepare your documents for scanning. Ensure you’re in a well-lit environment to get the clearest scan possible. You can enable your camera’s flash from within Adobe Scan if you're in a dark place. Lay out the document on a flat surface with a contrasting background. For example, if your paper is white, lay it out on a black table or anything else that’s several shades darker.

Scanning with an iPhone

How to Scan Your Documents With Adobe Scan

Adobe Scan lets you digitize physical documents with five different presets: Whiteboard, Book, Document, ID card, and Business card. Select the right preset depending on what you’re scanning for the best results. To scan your piece of paper, follow these simple steps:

  1. Point your phone’s camera at the laid-out document and open Adobe Scan.
  2. The app will launch your camera and detect your document.
  3. Hold your phone steady with all four corners of the document in view.
  4. Wait a few seconds, and Adobe Scan will automatically capture an image of the document. You can do it manually by tapping the capture button.
  5. On the next screen, tap Retake if the image didn’t pan out correctly; Keep scanning if you need to scan more pages.
  6. Tap Select text if you want Adobe Scan to detect all the text on the document for pasting elsewhere.
  7. If you’re okay with the quality of the image, you can use the blue outline to trim or straighten the edges of your scan.
  8. For more editing options, tap Adjust and save. Here, you can crop, rotate, resize, add pages, or markup your scan, among many other customizations.
  9. Rename the scanned file once you’re done by tapping the edit icon. Tap Save PDF to save it.

What You Can Do After Saving Your Scanned Document

You can access all your scanned documents using Adobe Scan within the app by tapping the home button when you launch the scanner. Tap one of the icons below a document to share, open it in Adobe Acrobat, or save it as a JPEG image in your photo gallery.

If you want to save a document as a PDF in your file manager, tap the three-button menu option, and tap Copy to device. You can also save it to cloud storage apps like Google Drive and OneDrive directly by tapping Copy to… and selecting either option.

The Fill & Sign option lets you annotate and add signatures to your document. Other options include modifying, renaming, moving, printing, and deleting your scan. There are a few premium features available; Export PDF, Combine files, Set password, and Compress PDF. Feel free to explore them in case you need them by taking advantage of the available trial option.

If you have multiple devices or change phones, use your Adobe credentials on Adobe Scan to access your previously scanned documents.

Capture Quality Scans With Adobe Scan

There are many scanning apps available on the App Store and Play Store. Adobe Scan is one of the best you can find. The extra editing tools and ability to access your scans on multiple devices make it one of the most convenient scanning tools. If you already use Adobe as your document reader, Adobe Scan seamlessly integrates with it, especially when using the Fill & Sign tool.