Camera to PDF
Scan paper documents with your phone or laptop camera, crop and clean up each page, and save them as one PDF. Photos stay on your device.
Reviewed by Dany, RightSums team · Updated
Runs in your browser. Your files are not uploaded.
pdf-create · PDF tool · UK & US
Open the camera, switch between the back and front lenses, and capture each page, or add photos you already have. Tap a page to rotate it left or right and drag the corners of a rectangle to crop it. Four looks are available per page: Original, Document (whitens the paper and darkens the ink), Greyscale, and Black and white (a high-contrast automatic threshold). Reorder or delete pages before you export. Fit to A4 centres each page on an A4 sheet, turned sideways for wide shots, while Match photo size keeps each image's own shape. Pages are saved as JPEG images, up to 2,480 pixels on the longest side. The text is not searchable until you run the PDF through PDF OCR, and there is no automatic edge detection.
Accepted inputs
- Camera capture
- Photos from your device
Outputs
- PDF (image pages)
How to use the Camera to PDF
- Click to open the camera, allow access, and capture each page, or add photos from your device.
- Tap a page to rotate it, drag the crop corners and choose Original, Document, Greyscale or Black and white.
- Reorder or delete pages, then choose Fit to A4 or Match photo size.
- Click Create PDF to build the scan and download it.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a scanner app?
No. It works in the browser on iPhone, Android and laptops with a webcam. If the camera cannot start, for example because permission was denied, you can still add photos from your gallery and build the PDF from those.
Are my camera images uploaded?
No. The camera feed, the captured photos and the finished PDF are all processed on your device. Nothing is sent to a server, which suits receipts, signed forms and ID copies.
Can I make the scanned text searchable?
Not in this tool, as each page is saved as an image. Run the finished PDF through PDF OCR to add a text layer, which makes it searchable and lets you copy the text.
Does it straighten pages automatically?
No. There is no automatic edge detection or perspective correction. You can rotate in 90-degree steps and crop with a rectangle, so hold the camera square to the page and use good light for the best result.
Which look should I use for documents?
Document suits most printed pages, as it whitens the paper and darkens the text. Black and white gives the crispest text and smallest files for plain typed pages. Use Original for photos or anything in colour.
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