Have you ever needed to scan some paperwork, only to realize that bulky old desktop scanner is just too inconvenient? Or wanted copies of important documents while away from home? Well my friend, I‘ve got great news – you can easily scan papers right from your Android device!
Why Bother Scanning Documents On My Phone?
You may be wondering, why scan anything on my mobile device when I could just use a traditional scanner? Great question! Here are some excellent reasons:
Convenience – Whip out your phone and scan anywhere, no need to be chained to your home office.
Speed – Our phones have fast processors that handle scanning way quicker.
Organization – Scans get uploaded neatly to cloud services like Google Drive.
Quality – Phone cameras are shockingly good these days, producing crisp digitizations.
| Traditional Scanner | Android Phone/Tablet | |
|---|---|---|
| Convenience | 👎 Not Portable | 👍 Scan Anywhere |
| Speed | 🐢 Slow | 🏃 Very Fast |
| Built-In Cloud Storage | 👎 Nope | 👍 Google Drive |
| Image Quality | ✅ Decent | ✅ Excellent |
And get this – scans from phones grew over 85% last year as people make the switch! So don‘t get left behind, let‘s start scanning!
Step-By-Step Guide To Scanning On Android
The process is so simple, it will only take about 5 minutes start to finish…
Step 1 – Open The Google Drive App
You likely have the Google Drive app pre-installed. If not, install it quick from the Play Store.
Step 2 – Locate The "+" Button
Tap the plus symbol at bottom right to initiate adding a new scanned file.
Step 3 – Select "Scan"
This opens various file creation and upload options. Choose the one that looks like a document with a camera inside – the scan icon.
Step 4 – Capture Your Document
Your phone‘s camera opens. Lay your document on a flat surface with good lighting. Snap a picture, getting the edges fully visible.
Step 5 – Crop And Perfect The Scan
Use the built-in tools to crop away any excess background. Drag corners to perfectly frame the paper‘s edges.
Step 6 – Finalize The Scan
Hit the checkmark button to complete the scan when everything looks perfect. Google Drive allows naming and organizing the file.
And that‘s seriously all there is to it! The document now exists as a PDF file in your Google Drive, accessible from any device.
Here are some pro trip to get amazing quality scans every time:
- Place papers on solid flat surfaces, never hold up documents while scanning
- Overhead lighting is crucial, avoid any shadows over documents
- Hold phone directly vertical above papers, no angles
- Double check cropping edges are perfectly snug
Digitizing Your Life One Scan At A Time
Once you get the scanning basics down, I highly recommend digitizing paperwork from:
- Tax documents
- Pay stubs
- Receipts
*Contracts/legal agreements - Certifications
- Bills
Think of how nice it will be to access any critical document 24/7 with just a click! No more wasting hours digging through filing cabinets.
Editing Scans & Converting Formats
Scanned files land in your Google Drive account as PDFs by default. However, we can convert those into editable formats like Microsoft Word docs.
Here‘s how:
- In Google Drive, open your scan document
- Click the 3-dot menu button, choose "Open with Google Docs"
- Google runs OCR technology to detect text
- It converts the scan into an editable Word doc file
- Edit to your heart‘s content!
So while scans originate as PDFs, you can quickly transform them into Word, or even Excel spreadsheets for tables and data.
FAQs – Your Scanning Questions, Answered!
Let‘s wrap up by answering some commonly asked questions:
What mistakes should I avoid when scanning?
Be aware of uneven lighting, angled shots causing distortion, cutting edges off the documents, blurry imagery. Take your time and triple check quality.
What are signs of an poor quality scan?
Smudges, blur, dark spots, missing sections of text/images. Anything less than perfectly replicating the original documents indicates inadequate scanning.
Can I edit a scan after creating it?
You bet! Use Google Doc‘s built-in OCR features to lift the text off the images into an editable format like Word. This allows modifying scans later.
What advantages does mobile scanning give me?
The main advantages are having access to your digital paperwork anywhere anytime, greater organization via cloud storage instead of physical folders, and convenience scanning quickly on your smart devices.
Conclusion
Thanks ever-improving smartphone camera capabilities, scanning important documents on Android devices is a breeze. Just open the Google Drive app, snap some pictures, crop away excess background, and finalize that high quality multi-page scan.
Accessing, sharing, and converting scans is also seamless with Google Drive integration. So leave that clunky scanner behind and accelerate into mobile digitization with your Android!
I hope these mobile scanning tips help you organize your digital life. If any questions come up, reach out anytime my friend!
