Best free app for scanning PDFs

CamScanner is a Chinese app that allows users to use their iOS or Android phone cameras as a document scanner. You can then share the document in either PDF or JPEG formats for official purposes. Similar apps are Adobe Scanner, NoteBloc, Microsoft Office Lens, and Genius Scanner. 
CamScanner works on a freemium model. It has a free version with ads and a premium version that provides additional features without ads. The app allows you to edit the positioning of the document to align with your screen. Its crop tool also allows you to cut out the background. Additional features of the app include watermarking, password protection, and file merging.

Free app for scanning documents

A smartphone is capable of various operations. Before now, you would need a device for specific purposes you can’t carry out on your phone. You would need a camera to take pictures, a calculator to make calculations, an alarm clock for alarm and so on. 

Today, a smartphone offers all of that functionality at your fingertips. The CamScanner mobile app adds to your device’s functionality by mimicking a scanning machine. Now, you don’t have to buy a scanner or look for one before scanning your documents and pictures.

What does CamScammer have to offer?

CamScanner is useful when you need to send or submit e-copies of documents. If you need copies of a document and it’s not with you, you can have someone scan the document with the CamScanner app and send it to you for printing. The premium version allows for advanced editing like annotations on your scanned documents. You can watermark documents and protect private docs with a password.

CamScanner allows you to digitize documents quickly. It’s suitable for scanning paper documents, notes, certificates, photographs and, whiteboard discussion. CamScanner allows you to optimize the quality of your scans thanks to an auto-enhancing feature. The mobile application also allows cropping, readjusting, and enhancing the image to improve the quality of scanned documents. 

CamScanner allows you to send scanned documents as JPEG/PDF files through various channels. It supports various social media platforms like Facebook and permits link sharing via email. The mobile scanning app also allows users to print documents quickly. You can AirPrint from any supported printer near you. It also supports faxing to 30 countries across the globe.

The premium version of CamScanner has an optical character recognition (OCR) feature that allows you to extract texts from images. In essence, if you don’t want to type out a document, simply copy the text from an image of the document with CamScanner. The OCR supports 16 languages, including English, Japanese and Chinese.

What does the user interface look like?

CamScanner’s user interface and feedback embrace minimalism that makes it simple enough to use. On the left side of the home screen are the tags for sorting your scans. You can edit these tags based on the type of documents you scan. The tags ensure proper document organization and make it straightforward to find previously scanned documents. 

At the bottom of your screen, there is a button for an upgrade to the premium version, which is devoid of ads and has additional features. The bottom of the user interface houses the camera button that takes a picture of the document you want to scan. Other features at the bottom of the home screen are actions such as share, change tags, delete, merge, and add password protection.

There are three dots at the top right side of the home screen. Clicking the dots gives you a drop-down that covers most of the screen. The drop-down menu offers access to the app settings, view, cloud space, sort, sync, as well as your profile and display picture.

CamScanner offers a straightforward user experience. The only tricky part is getting familiar with what some buttons do. The buttons have icons that are suggestive enough. However, it’s still easy to miss what a button is meant to do.

How do you use CamScanner?

• Open the app after downloading and installing the CamScanner from your Google Play Store or Apple store.
• You will see the “Welcome to CamScanner” screen.
• If you like, you can keep sliding the screen sideways to see some tips and notifications. You will also see the “Sign in” and “register” buttons. 
• Click on the “Use Now” button if you don’t want to register.
• You’ll get a prompt to allow CamScanner access to your files. 
• Grant the permission by tapping on allow. 
• The camera comes on, and you can start scanning documents. 
• Focus your camera on the document and let it align with your screen.
• Ensure the lighting and background are in excellent condition. 
• CamScanner will adjust the documents automatically.
• Click on the camera button to take a picture. 
• Tap on the tick sign at the bottom right corner of the screen to apply the adjustments.
• Rename your scanned document appropriately and click “ok.”
• Select a suitable filter or leave it as it is.
• Click on the tick sign again to save adjustments.
• If you want to share your scanned document, select the share icon and choose the medium and format. 

Functional tool to scan your documents

CamScanner is a lifesaver whenever you need to send or upload your documents. It has a properly structured user interface that makes it easy for old and new users alike to navigate.  

The mobile scanning app is a powerful freemium tool. The free version watermarks documents but provides virtually all you need, plus a few pop-up ads. Conversely, the premium version is devoid of pop-up ads and has additional doc editing features.