How to Scan Long Documents with a Phone or a Scanner

The piles of paper files in the office and reading room can be a hassle, not to mention the big maps, long receipts, and legal contracts in the corner.

Scanning these large documents creates digital copies of your essential information and makes file management easier.

Say goodbye to wrinkled papers or skewed images after scans. In this post, you’ll find the most efficient and practical ways to scan long documents with phones and scanners. Check it out now!

How to Scan a Long Document with a Scanner

You don’t need to purchase a large-format scanner for personal use. Instead, a flatbed scanner at the office or school can be a great alternative for scanning large files.

Brands like Canon, HP, and Brother effectively handle book-to-PDF scans and photo scans. These scanners can detect the file size, and the accompanying software or drivers make scanning smoother. Follow these steps:

Step 1. Power on the scanner and your PC. Connect them via Wi-Fi or USB cable.

Step 2. Fold the document into sections if necessary. Open the scanner lid, place the document face down on the glass, and align the edges of the pages to ensure all text is captured.

Step 3. Adjust scanner settings and then start scans in sections.

Step 4. Save the scanned document on your device. Use a built-in feature or third-party app to combine the scanned sections into a single document.

If the scanner has an automatic document feeder (ADF) then you need to power on the scanner > Pull out the extension > Depending on the model of your scanner, place facedown or faceup the document to the feeder > Choose the scan size > Start scanning > Save the scanned document.

To achieve high-quality scans of large documents, set the DPI to 300 or higher. This will capture more detail and provide better clarity if your storage allows.

How to Scan a Long Document on iPhone Efficiently & in High Quality

If you don’t have access to a scanner, you can still scan long documents with your iPhone’s camera.

PDFgear Scan is an all-around scanning app designed for iPhone. It swiftly scans multiple-page PDFs or a long bill.

Unlike other apps, PDFgear Scan supports capturing parts of a large document and exporting them as one image, which saves you from compiling the scans one by one.

Step 1. Get PDFgear Scan from App Store. Launch it on your iPhone or iPad.

Step 2. Tap the plus icon (+) on the bottom. Choose “Camera” to start the scan.

Step 3. Choose the “Document” tab. Place your phone to the document and tap the shutter bottom for image capture. Then, move the phone to grab other parts of the document. Repeat the process till the whole file is scanned.

Step 4. After scanning, tap the “>” icon in the lower-right corner. Adjust the border of the scanned documents and tap “Done.”

Step 5. Use the editing tools for detailed file modification, such as extracting the text with the advanced OCR feature and creating a signature.

Step 6. Tap the “More” button with three dots at the lower right and choose the format for file saving.

Beyond scans, the comprehensive editing tools assist you in making any changes to your files. You can add annotations to the document, sign on the file, and even extract the text from the file for sharing. With the advanced OCR tech, the accuracy of the scans is ensured with this scanner.

How to Scan a Long Document with Google Drive on Android

For Android users, there are plenty of scanning apps that support flexible and high-quality scans for long documents.

Google Drive is one of the best options. It enables scanning on iPhone and Android, saving phone storage and synchronizing scanned files for easy collaboration.

Step 1. Download and install Google Drive on your Android.

Step 2. Launch Google Drive and tap the Scan Document icon.

Step 3. Position your phone’s camera over the first page of your document.

• Tap the shutter button to take a picture. Tap “OK.”
• Adjust the scanned document. Tap the plus icon (+) at the lower left and start scanning the next part of the document.

Step 4. After scan, tap “Save” at the lower right corner. The scanned documents will automatically be saved into a single file in PDF format. You can change the save location and name of the final document.

FAQs

What format should I scan to?

For a good presentation of the scanned document, it is advised to scan to PDF, JPEG, TIFF, and PNG. They are ideal formats for text and image documents. PDF is best for text-based documents. It is compatible with most platforms and preserves file formatting to a large extent.

Can I resize a scanned document?

Yes, you can resize a scanned document with a professional file compressor like PDFgear. It supports resizing a scanned PDF online and offline, providing a batch compression feature for multiple scanned document resizing.

What is the best size for scanning?

The best size for scanning depends on factors like clarity, original file size, and available storage. In most cases, A4 and US Letter are the preferred sizes for scanning. They are supported by most scanners and printers and are presented clearly at 300 dpi.