StashifyYour phone camera is good enough to replace a desktop scanner for almost every everyday document. The difference between a muddy, tilted photo and a crisp, flat PDF is not the phone. It is light, angle and a few minutes of technique.
Use a scanner mode, not the plain camera
A normal photo captures the table, your shadow and a slightly trapezoid page. A document scanner mode does four extra things:
- Edge detection: finds the four corners of the page.
- Perspective correction: straightens the page so it looks scanned flat, even if you held the phone at an angle.
- Clean-up filters: whitens the background and sharpens the text.
- Multi-page PDF: keeps all pages of one document together in a single file.
Many apps include a scanner like this. Some also offer auto-capture, which takes the picture as soon as the page is steady and in frame.
Get the light right
Light matters more than anything else.
- Use soft, even daylight near a window, but not in direct sun, which creates hard shadows and glare.
- Avoid overhead lights directly above the page; your phone's shadow will fall on it.
- Turn the flash off for glossy papers and laminated cards. It causes a bright hotspot that can hide text.
- If the room is dim, turn on two lights from different sides rather than one strong one.
Choose a contrasting surface
Edge detection works best when the page stands out. Put white paper on a dark table, bedsheet or folder, and dark cards on a light surface. Flatten folded papers under a book for a few minutes, or hold the corners down with your fingers just outside the frame.
Hold the phone parallel to the page
Stand or lean so the phone is directly above the page and parallel to it. Fill most of the frame but leave a little border around the page so the corners can be detected. Hold steady for a second before capturing. If your hands shake, rest your elbows on the table.
Pick the right filter
| Document | Best filter |
|---|---|
| Typed letters, agreements, forms | Black and white, or a high-contrast document filter |
| Certificates with seals, stamps or colour | Colour, lightly enhanced |
| ID cards and photos | Colour, no heavy filter |
| Faint receipts | Greyscale with extra contrast |
When in doubt, keep colour. Some official forms specifically ask for colour scans of certificates and identity documents.
Keep multi-page documents together
Scan every page of an agreement, policy or statement into one PDF in the right order. Ten separate photos of one document are hard to share and easy to lose. If you scanned pages separately, merge them into one PDF afterwards. Check the page order before saving.
For ID cards, scan both sides. Some forms want both sides on one page; others want separate files, so follow the form's instructions.
Mind the file size
Scans of many pages can become large. Online forms often state an upper limit for uploads, which you should check on the form itself. Black-and-white scans are usually much smaller than colour ones. If a file is still too big, use a compression tool and check that the text is still readable afterwards.
Make the text searchable
A scan is an image of words. To search inside it later, the text has to be recognised, a step called OCR. Many apps can do this on the phone, so you can find "policy number" or a hospital name inside a scanned page. Good lighting and a sharp scan make OCR far more accurate, which is another reason to get the basics above right.
Name and file it straight away
The moment a scan is done is the best moment to name it. Use what it is, whose it is and a key date, for example "Car insurance · MH-04 · renews Jan 2027". Then file it in the right place. Our guide to organising important documents on your phone has a simple section list that works for most families.
Scanning with Stashify
Stashify includes a document scanner with edge detection, auto-capture, perspective correction and clean-up filters, powered by Google's scanner. Scanned text is read on your phone in English and Hindi/Marathi scripts so you can search inside your scans, and Stashify suggests which section each new document belongs in. You can merge several documents into one PDF, and with Stashify Plus, Declutter lets you scan up to 100 pages in one go and get one PDF per document, each filed in the right section.
If you are in a hurry, drop a scan into the Pocket and file it later. There is no account, no ads, and your scans stay on your phone.
Keep every document in one file, with reminders and search built in.
Get it free onGoogle PlayQuick checklist before you save
- All four corners visible and the page looks flat
- No shadow, glare or flash hotspot over text
- Text sharp enough to read when zoomed in
- All pages present, in order, in one PDF
- Named clearly and filed in the right section
Once your scans are in good shape, use our family document checklist to decide what to scan next.