# Copier - Digital Scanner > Copier is a document scanner for iPhone, iPad, Android and the web (https://app.thecopier.app). It finds the page in a photo, straightens it and cleans it up on the device itself: no account, no uploads, no analytics. Scanning and sharing pages as JPG is free for up to 10 documents; PDF export and unlimited documents come with Copier Pro, a one-time lifetime purchase (a weekly plan is the alternative). - App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6829429481 - Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.copier.app - Web app: https://app.thecopier.app - Full text of every article: https://thecopier.app/llms-full.txt - Privacy Policy: https://thecopier.app/privacy/ ## iPhone and iPad - [How to Convert a Photo to PDF on iPhone](https://thecopier.app/articles/convert-photo-to-pdf-on-iphone/): Convert a photo to PDF on iPhone with Photos, Files, Preview or Shortcuts, turn a JPG into a PDF, and combine several photos into one PDF in the right order. - [How to Make a PDF on iPhone (6 Ways)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-make-a-pdf-on-iphone/): How to make a PDF on iPhone from paper, photos, web pages or any file with Files, Print, Preview, Shortcuts or a scanner app, and where each PDF goes. - [How to Scan a Document on Mac With Your iPhone](https://thecopier.app/articles/scan-with-iphone-to-mac/): How to scan a document on Mac with iPhone using Continuity Camera in Finder, Notes, Mail or Pages, what both devices need, and how to send scans by AirDrop. - [How to Scan Documents on iPhone](https://thecopier.app/articles/scan-documents-to-pdf-on-iphone/): How to scan documents on iPhone with Notes, Files, Preview or a scanner app in iOS 26, where your scans are saved, and how to share them as a PDF. - [How to Scan in Notes on iPhone](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-in-notes-on-iphone/): How to scan in Notes on iPhone in iOS 26, step by step, then edit pages, pick a filter, share the PDF, find scans later, and know the scanner's limits. - [How to Scan on iPad (iPadOS 26)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-on-ipad/): How to scan on iPad with Notes, Files, Preview or a scanner app in iPadOS 26, plus tips for holding a big tablet steady and signing scans with Apple Pencil. - [How to Scan Photos on iPhone Without Glare](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-photos-on-iphone/): How to scan photos on iPhone, from single prints to old family albums. Beat glare, keep the colors true, pick an app, and see what resolution you really get. - [How to Scan With Your iPhone Camera](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-with-iphone-camera/): How to scan with your iPhone camera in iOS 26. What the Camera app does with text and QR codes, and how to scan documents with the camera as a clean PDF. - [How to Sign a Document on iPhone](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-sign-a-document-on-iphone/): How to sign a document on iPhone with Files, Preview or Mail in iOS 26, fill out PDF form fields with AutoFill, or sign on paper and scan it back as a PDF. - [iPhone Document Scanner: Where It Is and How to Use It](https://thecopier.app/articles/iphone-document-scanner/): The iPhone document scanner is built into Notes, Files, Preview and Mail. Where to find it in iOS 26, what it does well, its limits, and when an app helps. - [Where Do Scanned Documents Go on iPhone?](https://thecopier.app/articles/where-do-scanned-documents-go-on-iphone/): Where do scanned documents go on iPhone? Where Notes, Files, Preview and Mail save your scans, how to find a lost one, and where Android phones save them. ## Android and Chromebook - [Google Drive Scan: How to Scan Documents with Drive](https://thecopier.app/articles/google-drive-scan/): How to use Google Drive scan on Android, iPhone and iPad, where the scanned PDF is saved, how to search its text, and what uploading to Drive means. - [How to Make a PDF on Android (Scan, Print or Convert)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-make-a-pdf-on-android/): How to make a PDF on Android from a paper document, a web page or your photos, using Save as PDF, Google Drive, Files by Google, Samsung or a scanner app. - [How to Scan Documents on Android](https://thecopier.app/articles/scan-documents-on-android/): Ways to scan documents on an Android phone or tablet, from Google Drive's built-in scanner to a private, offline scanner app, with tips for clean PDFs. - [How to Scan on a Chromebook (Camera, Scanner or Web)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-on-chromebook/): How to scan on a Chromebook with the Camera app's Scan mode, a printer or scanner through the Scan app, or a scanner web app in Chrome, and where files go. - [How to Scan on a Google Pixel (Camera, Drive, Files)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-on-google-pixel/): How to scan on a Google Pixel with the Camera's Scan document prompt, Google Drive or Files by Google, where each scan is saved, and an offline option. - [How to Scan on Samsung Phones (One UI 8 and 8.5)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-on-samsung/): How to scan on a Samsung phone with the Camera's Scan button, Document Scan in One UI 8.5, Samsung Notes or Google Drive, and where each scan is saved. ## In the browser - [How to Scan a Document with a Webcam or Laptop Camera](https://thecopier.app/articles/scan-documents-with-webcam/): How to scan a document with a webcam on Windows 11, a Mac or a Chromebook, how sharp a laptop camera scan can get, and tips for light and holding the page. - [Online Document Scanner, Nothing Uploaded](https://thecopier.app/articles/scan-documents-online-without-uploading/): Scan documents online for free in your browser. The page is found, straightened and cleaned up on your own device, then saved as a JPG or PDF. ## IDs, receipts and paperwork - [How Long to Keep Tax Documents (IRS Rules)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-long-to-keep-tax-documents/): How long to keep tax documents under IRS rules: usually 3 years, sometimes 6, 7 or forever, plus property records and how to scan them to keep less paper. - [How to Scan a Birth Certificate (Seal Included)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-a-birth-certificate/): How to scan a birth certificate so the whole page and its raised seal show, plus when a scan is enough and when you need a certified copy from vital records. - [How to Scan a Passport With Your Phone](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-passport/): How to scan a passport photo page with your phone for a visa or ID check, with no glare on the laminate, sharp MRZ lines and a file small enough to upload. - [How to Scan a Signature and Add It to a PDF](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-a-signature/): How to scan a signature with your phone, clean it up, make the background transparent, and add the signature to a PDF in Preview, Acrobat Reader or Markup. - [How to Scan an ID Card, Front and Back](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-id-card/): How to scan an ID card or driver's license with your phone, front and back, and how to get both sides on one page with a copier or a free document app. - [How to Scan Business Cards Into Your Phone](https://thecopier.app/articles/scan-business-cards/): How to scan business cards with your phone: turn them into contacts with Live Text on iPhone or Google Lens on Android, or keep a clean image of each card. - [How to Scan Double-Sided Documents in Order](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-double-sided-documents/): How to scan double-sided documents with a phone, a flatbed or a document feeder, keep the pages in the right order, and deal with blank backs. - [How to Scan Homework and Submit It as a PDF](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-homework/): How to scan homework with your phone and submit it as one PDF in Google Classroom or Canvas, with pages in order, pencil readable and the file small enough. - [How to Scan Legal Size and Large Documents](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-legal-size-documents/): How to scan legal size documents and anything bigger, from tabloid and A3 to blueprints, with your phone or a flatbed scanner, plus a paper size chart. - [How to Scan Medical Records and Keep Them Private](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-medical-records/): How to scan medical records at home, request copies under your HIPAA right of access, and organize them by person, provider and date, all on your device. - [How to Scan Receipts for Taxes (and What the IRS Accepts)](https://thecopier.app/articles/scan-receipts-for-taxes/): Scan receipts for taxes so they hold up. What the IRS says about electronic records, what each receipt must show, and a folder system for W-2s and 1099s. - [How to Scan Receipts, Even Long or Faded Ones](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-receipts/): How to scan receipts with your phone so they stay readable, including long and faded receipts, which look to use, how to name them, and which app fits. ## Photos, books and art - [How to Scan a Whiteboard With Your Phone](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-a-whiteboard/): How to scan a whiteboard with your phone without glare or a gray, slanted board, and which look turns a whiteboard photo into a clean, readable page. - [How to Scan Art and Drawings (Phone or Scanner)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-art/): How to scan art and drawings with a phone or flatbed, which look keeps pencil, ink and paint true, the right DPI, and what to do with artwork too big to fit. - [How to Scan Books With Your Phone (Without Cutting Them)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-books/): How to scan books and book pages with your phone or a scanner, one page or two at a time, how to handle the spine curve, and which book scanner app to use. - [How to Scan Film Negatives With Your Phone](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-film-negatives-with-phone/): How to scan film negatives with your phone, using a tablet or light pad as a backlight, a simple film holder, and an app that turns negatives into positives. - [How to Scan Handwritten Notes With Your Phone](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-handwritten-notes/): How to scan handwritten notes with your phone so pencil, pen and lined paper stay readable, plus how to scan a whole notebook and make your notes searchable. - [How to Scan Photos: Phone, Flatbed or Service](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-photos/): How to scan photos with a flatbed scanner, your phone or a scanning service, which DPI to use for each print size, and how to avoid glare on glossy prints. - [How to Scan Polaroids and Instax Photos](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-polaroids/): How to scan Polaroids and Instax prints without glare, at the right DPI for their small size, keeping the white frame and the colors that make them special. - [How to Scan Recipes and Digitize Recipe Cards](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-recipes/): How to scan recipes and digitize recipe cards with your phone, keep stains and handwriting readable, organize them, and make a family cookbook PDF. - [How to Scan Sheet Music So It Prints and Reads Well](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-sheet-music/): How to scan sheet music with your phone or a scanner so staff lines stay straight, notes stay sharp, and every page lands in one PDF for printing or a tablet. ## PDFs and files - [A4 vs Letter: Exact Paper Sizes and Differences](https://thecopier.app/articles/a4-vs-letter/): A4 vs Letter: exact sizes in mm, inches, points and pixels, which countries use each, and how to print an A4 PDF on Letter paper without cutting anything off. - [How to Email a Scanned Document (and Size Limits)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-email-a-scanned-document/): How to email a scanned document from your phone or computer, the attachment limits for Gmail, Outlook, iCloud and Yahoo, and how to shrink a scan to fit. - [How to Make a Scanned PDF Smaller (Without Losing Text)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-make-a-scanned-pdf-smaller/): How to reduce PDF file size for scans, why scanned PDFs get so big, and how to make a PDF smaller with Mac Preview, iPhone Shortcuts or a better rescan. - [How to Rotate a Scanned Document or PDF](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-rotate-a-scanned-document/): How to rotate a scanned document before you save it, and how to rotate a PDF on a Mac, iPhone, Windows or Android so the change sticks when you reopen it. - [How to Save a Picture as a PDF on Any Device](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-save-a-picture-as-a-pdf/): How to save a picture as a PDF on Windows, Mac, iPhone, Android, Chromebook or in a browser with built-in tools, and how to put several photos in one PDF. - [How to Scan a Document Into Word (Editable Text)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-a-document-into-word/): How to scan a document into Word as editable text, using desktop Word's PDF conversion or Google Docs, plus how to get a scan clean enough to recognize well. - [How to Scan Multiple Pages Into One PDF (Any Device)](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-multiple-pages-into-one-pdf/): How to scan multiple pages into one PDF on iPhone, Android, Windows and Mac, with a phone or a scanner, plus how to fix page order and merge PDFs you have. - [How to Scan Text From an Image on Any Device](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-text-from-image/): How to scan text from an image on iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows or in Google Drive, which tools work offline, and how a clean scan gets better results. - [JPG vs PNG for Scans: Best File Format for Documents](https://thecopier.app/articles/jpg-vs-png-for-scans/): JPG vs PNG for scanned documents, plus PDF and TIFF: compression, file size, text sharpness and transparency, and the best file format for each kind of scan. - [PDF vs JPG: Which Should You Scan To?](https://thecopier.app/articles/pdf-vs-jpg/): PDF vs JPG for scanned documents: how they differ in pages per file, size, quality, printing and editing, and when to scan as PDF or as JPG. ## Scanner apps compared - [A Document Scanner App Without a Subscription](https://thecopier.app/articles/document-scanner-app-without-subscription/): Why most scanner apps charge every week or month, what you need from a scanner, and how to get PDF scanning with a one-time purchase instead. - [Best Free Scanner App: iPhone, Android and Web](https://thecopier.app/articles/best-free-scanner-app/): The best free scanner app for iPhone, Android and the web, compared on free limits, accounts, uploads, PDF and OCR, with the built-in scanners first. - [Best Scanner App for Android: 7 Options Compared](https://thecopier.app/articles/best-scanner-app-for-android/): The best scanner app for Android depends on what you need. We compare Google Drive, Files by Google, Samsung, Adobe Scan, Genius Scan, CamScanner and Copier. - [Best Scanner App for iPhone (2026 Comparison)](https://thecopier.app/articles/best-scanner-app-for-iphone/): The best scanner app for iPhone, compared on price, account, privacy and OCR: Apple's scanner, Copier, Adobe Scan, Genius Scan, Scanner Pro and more. - [CamScanner Alternatives Without the Subscription](https://thecopier.app/articles/camscanner-alternatives/): CamScanner alternatives compared on price, account, uploads, PDF and OCR, from free built-in scanners to Adobe Scan, Genius Scan, TurboScan and Copier. - [Free Scanner App for iPhone: What's Actually Free](https://thecopier.app/articles/free-scanner-app-for-iphone/): Which free scanner app for iPhone is really free? Watermarks, page limits, ads and sign-ups in each free tier, and the scanner already built into iOS. - [Is CamScanner Safe? Its Record and What to Check](https://thecopier.app/articles/is-camscanner-safe/): Is CamScanner safe? What Kaspersky found in its Android app in 2019, why India blocked it in 2020, what its privacy label says, and how to check any app. - [Offline Scanner App: Private, No Ads, No Subscription](https://thecopier.app/articles/offline-scanner-app/): What an offline scanner app really is, how to test any scanner in airplane mode, how to read privacy labels, and which apps scan with no ads or uploads. ## Scanning basics - [Best DPI for Scanning Documents (With Pixel Sizes)](https://thecopier.app/articles/best-dpi-for-scanning-documents/): The best DPI for scanning documents: 300 for text, 400 for fine detail, 600 for photos. Exact A4 and Letter pixel sizes, and what a phone camera gives you. - [Black and White vs Color Scan: Which to Use](https://thecopier.app/articles/black-and-white-vs-color-scan/): Black and white vs color scans compared on file size, readability and what forms require, plus when grayscale is the better choice and which setting to pick. - [How to Get Clean Scans: Shadows, Curled Pages and Glare](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-get-clean-scans/): Practical fixes for the most common scanning problems, from hard shadows and curled pages to glare, blur and gray paper, using just your phone. - [How to Go Paperless at Home: A Simple Plan](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-go-paperless/): How to go paperless at home, step by step. What to keep on paper, what to scan first, a file naming system, folders, the 3-2-1 backup rule and shredding. - [How to Scan a Document Without a Scanner](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-a-document-without-a-scanner/): How to scan a document without a scanner, using your phone, a laptop webcam or a library, and how to photocopy with your phone by scanning and printing. - [How to Scan a Document: Printer, Phone or Browser](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-a-document/): How to scan a document three ways, with a printer or scanner on Windows or Mac, with your phone, or in a browser, and which method suits each job best. - [How to Scan Documents with Your Phone](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-scan-documents-with-your-phone/): A step-by-step guide to scanning documents with an iPhone or Android phone, with tips for sharp, straight, shadow-free pages you can share as PDF or JPG. - [How to Straighten a Scanned Document](https://thecopier.app/articles/how-to-straighten-a-scanned-document/): How to straighten a scanned document that's skewed, shot at an angle or curled, how to crop it to the page, and how to clean it up, during or after scanning.