How to Scan Documents with Your Phone

Have a document you need to send virtually? Gone are the days of the copier or fax machine! Follow these steps:

1. Download a Document Scanning App. Search “Document scanner” in your phone’s App Store- there are so many options. These steps will be using the app “Genius Scan”.

2. You may have to create an account before scanning any documents. Go ahead and sign up- there's a free version.

3. Once you have logged in, press the orange circle with the + sign in the lower left corner.

4. Look at the bottom of your screen. There are 3 options that say “Photos”, “Scan”, and “Files”. It should be automatically on the “Scan” function. If not, just press “Scan”.

5. In the upper right corner, there is either the word “Batch” or “Single”. If you have multiple documents to scan, leave it on the “batch” option which will continuously scan all of your documents into one file. If you just have one piece of paper to scan, switch it to “single”.

6. Hold your phone over your document as if you were taking a picture of it. On the screen, an orange box will appear over your document- this is the app automatically detecting what you want it to scan. It should automatically “take a picture” or you can click the center circle button to capture it. 

7. Once you have finished scanning all of your documents, you will be shown a preview of your scan. If it’s illegible, go back and try again. If you want to edit your scan, you can choose the “Edit” option at the bottom. If you’re happy with the results, you can rename the scan and export it to whichever platform you will be using to share it. 

8. When you’re ready to export your scan, click the “Share” Button (The square with the arrow pointing up) in the lower right corner. From there, you can email it directly to someone, you can airdrop it to someone, you can save it to your iCloud Drive, and more. Your scan will be sent as a PDF.

9. You can always revisit your scans. At the home page, there is a list of all of your scans if you need to resend it. It will also show which scans have been exported and how they were exported. 

It is best practice to always share documents as a PDF, not a JPG.