Scan a paper document to PDF with your phone camera. Learn how to photograph, crop, rotate and save readable pages without uploading your photos.
Set up the paper before taking a photo
A readable scan starts with the photograph. Place the sheet on a flat surface, smooth any curled corners and keep the whole page inside the frame. Hold the phone above the center of the paper rather than photographing from one side. This makes the page easier to crop without cutting away text.
Use even lighting and check for a shadow from your hand or phone. Shiny paper can reflect a ceiling light directly into the camera. Move the paper or change your position until the reflection disappears. If the smallest text already looks blurry in the photo, take another picture; contrast adjustments cannot restore missing detail.
Open the scanner and add your page
Open ToolNivo Scan to PDF and choose Take a photo. On supported phones, this asks the device to open its camera. Camera behavior depends on the browser and device. If it opens a file picker instead, take a picture with your normal camera app, return to the scanner and use Choose photos.
Supported formats are JPG, PNG, WebP and BMP. Each photo must be no larger than 15 MB and 40 megapixels. Working images are resized to a maximum of 2,000 pixels on their longest edge, which helps keep editing manageable on a phone. Keep your original photographs separately if you need their full resolution later.
Trim and orient the document
Use the Left, Right, Top and Bottom sliders to move the orange crop boundary. Leave a little room around the printed content, then choose Apply crop. The crop is rectangular: it does not straighten a page photographed at an angle. Retake a strongly tilted photograph instead of trimming away its corners.
Choose Rotate 90° until the text reads upright. Try Enhanced contrast for a pale page, but compare signatures, stamps and small print with Original color. Restore original removes the page's edits if you need to start again.
Create and check your PDF
Choose Create PDF, wait for the ready message, then select Download PDF. Each photo becomes its own A4 page, fitted without stretching. Open the downloaded file and inspect the edges, orientation and smallest text before sharing it. The PDF contains page images; it does not provide selectable or searchable text.