How to Scan Documents with an iPhone

Do you have a physical document that you want to scan with your iPhone? It's nice being able to keep a copy of your files on you at all times. Good thing the iPhone Notes app has the ability to scan documents. This wikiHow teaches you how to scan documents using the Notes app on your iPhone.

[Edit]Steps

[Edit]Scanning a Document

  1. Open the Notes app . The Notes app comes preinstalled on your iPhone. It has an icon that resembles a notepad paper with a yellow stripe at the top. Notes will generally open the last note you added.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 1 Version 3.jpg
    • If you do not have the Notes app installed on your iPhone, you can download it for free from the App Store.
  2. Tap to create a new note. It's the icon that resembles a pencil and paper in the lower-right corner. You can also open an existing note.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 2 Version 2.jpg
    • To back out of an existing note, tap the icon that resembles a box with an arrow pointing up to save the note. Then tap Notes in the upper-left corner.
  3. Tap the camera icon. If you do not have an existing note opened, it will be the yellow icon that resembles a camera in the lower-right corner. If you have an existing note opened, it will be the icon that resembles a camera above the keyboard.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 3 Version 3.jpg
  4. Tap . It's the first option at the top of the camera menu.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 4 Version 3.jpg
  5. Point your phone's camera at the document. It uses the camera on the back of your phone. Hold your phone over the document to view it on screen. When you get a clear shot of the document page, a yellow box will appear over the screen.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 5 Version 3.jpg
    • Tapping the screen while the document is centered will re-focus the camera on it to preserve as much quality as possible.
  6. Tap the icon that resembles three overlapping circles. It's at the top of the screen. This option allows you to select the color mode for the document.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 6 Version 3.jpg
  7. Tap one of the color options. There are four options to choose from:
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 7 Version 3.jpg
    • Color: This displays the page colors, but attempts to eliminate colors that are not part of the page (shadows, etc).
    • Greyscale: This displays the page as an image with the color replaced by shades of grey.
    • Black & White: This displays the page as solid black and white, with no shades of grey.
    • Photo: This displays the page as a photo image with no effects. Just as if you took the photo with the Camera app.
  8. Tap the "Capture" button. It's the white circle at the bottom of the screen. Doing so will take the photo. Try to tap the capture button when you see the yellow box around the document.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 8 Version 3.jpg
  9. Drag the corners of the outline to the corners of the page (if needed). If your iPhone was not able to clearly detect the page, you'll see a rectangle outline on the screen. Tap and drag the corners of the outline to the corners of the page on the screen. Make sure the outline lines up with the edges of your page.[1]
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 9 Version 3.jpg
  10. Tap . If you are satisfied with how the image looks, tap Keep scan. It's in the lower-right corner of the image.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 10 Version 3.jpg
    • If you are not happy with how the image looks, tap Retake to take another picture.
  11. Repeat for additional pages. If there is more than one page in your document, turn to the next page and aim the camera at the page. Tap the "Capture" button to take a picture of the next page. You will see a thumbnail for each page at the bottom of the screen.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 11 Version 3.jpg
  12. Tap a page. This shows the page in full screen. There are some more options you can to change the color or look of each page.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 12 Version 3.jpg
  13. Tap . When you have finished scanning all pages of the document, tap Save to save the document. This saves the document as a note.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 13 Version 2.jpg

[Edit]Saving and Sharing a Document

  1. Open the Notes app . The Notes app comes preinstalled on your iPhone. It has an icon that resembles a notepad paper with a yellow stripe at the top.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 14 Version 2.jpg
  2. Tap . It's in the upper-left corner of the Notes app. This displays a list of all your notes.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 15 Version 2.jpg
  3. Tap the note that contains your document. This displays the note with the pages of your document displayed as thumbnail images.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 16 Version 2.jpg
  4. Tap the Share button . It's the icon that resembles a yellow box with an arrow pointing up. It's in the upper-right corner. This opens the Share menu.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 17 Version 2.jpg
  5. Tap an app you want to share it with. If you want to send the document over email, you could tap the Mail app or Gmail. This attaches the document as an attachment. Fill out the rest of the email, including the recipient, subject, and email text, and send it to send the file.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 18 Version 2.jpg
  6. Tap . It's at the bottom of the share menu. This allows you to save the document to your iPhone, iCloud or other services.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 19 Version 2.jpg
  7. Tap the location you want to save it to. For example, if you want to save the document to your iPhone, tap On My iPhone. If you want to save it to iCloud, tap iCloud Drive. This allows you to access the document from any of your devices. You can also tap another cloud service such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 20 Version 2.jpg
    • In order to save files to services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive, you must have the app installed on your iPhone and you must be signed into it with your account.
  8. Tap . This saves the document to the location you selected. You can access files stored on your iPhone or iCloud Drive using the Files app on your iPhone. It has an icon that resembles a blue folder.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 21 Version 2.jpg

[Edit]Signing a Document

  1. Open the Notes app . The Notes app comes preinstalled on your iPhone. It has an icon that resembles a notepad paper with a yellow stripe at the top. Tap the icon to open the Notes app.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 22 Version 2.jpg
  2. Tap . It's in the upper-left corner of the Notes app. This displays a list of all your notes.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 23 Version 2.jpg
  3. Tap the note that contains your document. This displays the note with the pages of your document displayed as thumbnail images.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 24 Version 2.jpg
  4. Tap the page you want to sign. This displays the image in full-screen mode.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 25 Version 2.jpg
  5. Tap the share button . It's the icon that resembles a yellow box with an arrow pointing up. It's in the upper-right corner.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 26 Version 2.jpg
  6. Tap . It's next to an icon that resembles a marker tip. This displays some marker and color options.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 27 Version 2.jpg
  7. Tap . it's to the right of the marker options at the bottom. This displays a pop-up menu with some options.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 28 Version 2.jpg
    • Alternatively, you can tap one of the marker options to select it and then tap a colored circle to select the color. Use your finger or Apple Pencil to manually write your signature.
  8. Tap . It's the second option in the pop-up menu.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 29 Version 2.jpg
  9. Drag and drop your signature or create a new one. If you already have a signature saved to your iPhone, tap and drag it to the play you want to sign on the document. If you don't have a signature, use the following steps to create one:
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 30 Version 2.jpg
    • Tap Add or Remove Signature.
    • Tap the plus (+) icon in the upper-right corner.
    • Use your finger or Apple Pencil to write your signature on the line.
    • Tap Done.
  10. Tap . This saves your document with your signature.
    Scan Documents with an iPhone Step 31 Version 2.jpg

[Edit]Tips

  • When you open a document in Notes, you can adjust the color, cropping, or rotate the image by tapping the options at the bottom of the screen.
  • You can add an additional text note to your document when you are finished scanning it.

[Edit]Warnings

  • iCloud Drive has a default storage limit of five gigabytes. If you want to store more than that, you'll need to upgrade your iCloud storage.


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