Scan to PDF free, no app

Scan to PDF free: photograph your pages, drop the photos in, and download one PDF of up to 30 pages. Every page cropped, straightened and de-shadowed, and searchable if you tick OCR.

The edges are found for you here. Want to drag the corners yourself, reorder pages or switch between colour and black & white? Open the full scanner.

No scanner needed: this works without an app to install, without an account, and with no watermark on the result.

By ShinobiTools Team · Last updated: September 2026

Your file is deleted the moment it's done. The big PDF sites keep your bank statements and IDs on their servers. Here the original goes right after processing, the result after 45 minutes, or sooner, on your click.

One tidy PDF from phone photos

A photo of a document is crooked, shadowed and framed by the desk. ScanReviver fixes each page and stitches them into a single PDF you can file, e-mail or print. Add up to 10 pages at once in the box above, in the order you want them, and export in one go; the full scanner takes up to 30 and lets you drag them into the right order.

Crop the page and cut away the desk, hands and background
Perspective correction squares up a page shot at an angle
Even out the lighting so shadows and grey blotches fade
Combine several pages into one multi-page PDF
Choose page size: original (fit image), A4 or US Letter

Turn a stack of phone photos into properly cropped scanned documents that combine into one PDF in a single download. Scan notes from a notebook page or a loose sheet the same way you would scan a printed document, with the same crop and straighten steps. Can you scan a document without owning a scanner? Yes, a phone photo and this page are all it takes. Mobile document scanning needs nothing but the browser already open on your phone, no separate app from either store.

How to scan to PDF

You upload images (JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC); ScanReviver does the cleanup and hands back a PDF. There is nothing to convert first, and HEIC photos straight from an iPhone are accepted as-is.

Open the full scanner and drop in your document photos (up to 250 MB each, up to 30 pages).
Drag the four corners onto each page and pick a cleanup mode.
Open PDF options if you want A4 or US Letter instead of the original size.
Press Download PDF to get one clean, multi-page file.

A jpg to pdf scan follows exactly these four steps: the file format never changes what happens after you drop it in. How do you scan a document without a scanner? Photograph it, upload the photo, and download a cropped, straightened PDF, and how do I scan a document without installing anything works the same way, right in the browser.

For a loose sheet it is three taps: choose the photo, wait for the cleanup, download. That is how to scan paper to PDF without a flatbed, one page at a time, and you can scan paper pages straight from a phone camera.

A single scan page turns into a one-page PDF as easily as a full batch, and every download is a standalone PDF file, not separate images to stitch together. To scan document to PDF you need nothing beyond a phone photo of each page. For a stack, which is how to scan documents into one PDF, add every page in order (up to 10 at once here, or up to 30 in the full scanner, where you can also drag them into order). To keep the source's own size, pick Original under PDF options. Photo to scan PDF is the whole job in short: drop the picture, and cropping, straightening and de-shadowing happen automatically.

Make it searchable, or keep it simple

By default the PDF is an image-only scan. Want to select and search the text? Tick the OCR box first, see make a searchable OCR PDF for how that works. For the single-page workflow see photo to scanned PDF, and to just tidy a page first, clean a scanned document.

ScanReviver improves readability; it does not use generative AI and never rewrites text, changes numbers, edits dates or recreates signatures or stamps. Very dark shadows, text hidden under a finger, glossy glare and severe blur can still look imperfect, so always check the result before you rely on it.

The many ways to say "scan to PDF"

As a PDF scanner online it needs no install, no account and no watermark: photograph each page and this scanner PDF route turns them into one file, from scanner to PDF in one pass, instead of a separate PDF per page. Point your phone's camera at the page instead of opening a scanning app and it works the same way. Starting from an existing picture works too: scan picture to PDF for a photo already in your gallery, or scan image to PDF for a screenshot someone e-mailed you. To scan photo pages fresh, follow the how-to above.

Start from an existing picture and it works the same way: scan picture to pdf covers a photo already in your gallery, and scan image to pdf covers a screenshot or one someone e-mailed you. Prefer to shoot the page fresh? That's the scan photo to pdf route covered in the how-to above.

Turning the scan into an editable file is a second step: once you have downloaded the PDF, convert to Word with PDF to Word, our Word converter. Coming from CamScanner or another phone scanner app? The output is the same, a clean PDF from a photo, but here there is no phone scanner app to install, up to 10 documents a day.

It is free with no watermark, the way any PDF converter free of charge should be, and it works the same on Android as on an iPhone. It isn't AI in the generative sense: nothing is generated or guessed, it is image cleanup, cropping and straightening. Nor is it a PDF editor; for an editable result, tick OCR for searchable text or use PDF to Word for something you can actually retype. It does what any image to PDF converter does, except each page is cleaned first, and as a PDF converter online free of charge it turns paper documents to PDF without a physical scanner.

If you were looking for a scan application or a scanning application that runs without installing anything, this page does the same job in the browser, as a PDF tool rather than an app. It keeps your original photo only until processing finishes. Going from image to scanned PDF is the entire job, and if you prefer a single scanned image over a PDF, scan one page and download it as a JPG or PNG next to the PDF download link. Every PDF scan made here is a real multi-page file, built from however many photos you added.

Already have the PDF and just want to trim the white border around a page? Crop PDF does that without re-scanning anything.

How it works

Three steps, and the middle one is the only one you touch.

Photograph each page. Lay the page flat, keep your own shadow off it and let the paper fill most of the frame. A plain phone photo is enough: you do not need a scanner, a scanning app or a steady hand.
Drop them in. Open the full scanner, drag the photos in and put them in the right order. Up to 30 photos go into one document on the free tier. Check the four corners on each page and pick a cleanup mode.
Download one PDF. Choose a page size, tick OCR if you want to be able to search the text, and press Download PDF. You get a single file with all your pages in it, in your order.

One pass does both the scanning and the conversion: the PDF is built the moment you press Download PDF. If you wonder how to scan and convert to PDF with the pages in the right order, drag the photos into order first and press Download PDF.

What the PDF contains

Every page goes through the same steps, so a stack of crooked phone photos comes out looking like it went through a real scanner.

Pages cropped to the paper. The four corners are found for you (in the full scanner you can also drag them), so the desk, your fingers and the background are cut away.
Straightened pages. Perspective correction squares up a page you shot at an angle, and a small tilt is levelled so the lines of text run horizontally.
De-shadowed pages. The lighting is flattened: the paper goes back towards white and the grey band your own shadow left across the page fades out.
An optional OCR text layer. Tick OCR and a hidden text layer is added underneath the picture of each page, in English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese, so you can select, copy and search the words. Leave it off and you get a plain image-only PDF, which is smaller.
Your page order. Pages appear in the order you dragged them, so page 1 stays page 1. Drag a page to a new spot before you download and the PDF follows.

What the PDF does not contain is invented text. ScanReviver uses no generative AI, so it never rewrites a sentence, changes a number or a date, or redraws a signature or a stamp. It makes your photo readable; that is the whole job.

A scanned PDF is built from photographed or scanned pages rather than a document typed on a computer, so it is image-based unless OCR text is added underneath. So what is scan document software for? Turning a photographed paper page into something you can file or send, a paper document to PDF, without a physical scanner anywhere in the chain. This page covers the scanning half; print the PDF from wherever you normally print.

Limits

The numbers below are the real ones from the server, for each of the three tiers, so you can see before you start whether your document fits.

Formats you can upload: JPG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF, WebP, BMP, GIF and AVIF. An iPhone HEIC photo goes straight in; there is nothing to convert first.
250 MB per file on the free tier, 300 MB with the free monthly pass, 500 MB with a €5 ShinobiTools pass.
30 pages in one document for free, 50 with the monthly pass, 100 with the €5 pass.
10 documents a day for free, and the counter resets at midnight. The free monthly pass does 30 a day, the €5 pass 100 a day.
Where the work happens: on our own servers, not in your browser tab. Your upload is deleted right after processing and the finished PDF 45 minutes later, on every tier, free or paid, or sooner, the moment you press "Delete now".

A photo that is genuinely out of focus, a page half hidden under a finger, hard glare on glossy paper or a page shot in near-darkness will still look imperfect afterwards. Cleaning up a photo cannot put back detail the camera never captured, so check the result before you send it anywhere that matters.

You can scan free here up to the daily limit, with no account and no watermark: the first 10 documents are free every day, and the count resets at midnight rather than being a one-time trial. Where can I scan documents when there's no scanner around? Any phone or laptop with a browser does the job.

Scan to PDF on iPhone, Android or a laptop

iPhone. Shoot the pages with the normal Camera app and upload them as they are. HEIC is accepted, so you do not have to switch your camera to "Most Compatible" or convert anything first. Safari lets you pick several photos at once, and the PDF lands in Files when you download it.

Android. Same route: photograph the pages, then pick them from your gallery in Chrome. JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF and HEIC all work. The download ends up in your Downloads folder, ready to attach to an e-mail.

iPad. The same Safari flow as iPhone: shoot or pick the page photos, upload, and download the PDF into Files.

Laptop or desktop. If the photos are already on your computer: sent over from your phone, or coming out of a flatbed scanner as separate images. Drag the whole batch into the page in one go. This is also the easiest place to reorder pages, because you can see all the thumbnails at once. The photos just arrive a different way.

However the files got onto your computer, turning each scan file to PDF ends the same way: one PDF export, in the order you set, ready to attach to an e-mail.

On Android, Chrome accepts JPG, PNG, WebP, AVIF and HEIC straight from the gallery, so how to scan a document on Android is the same three steps as on an iPhone: photograph, upload, download. Every Android scan document run carries the same 10-document daily allowance as any other device. On an iPhone you can scan document with iPhone free in three taps: open Safari, pick the photo from the camera roll and download. The scan PDF scanner apps produce looks much the same, but this needs no install and no camera permission.

Common questions

Do I need to install an app?

No. ScanReviver is a web page: open it, upload photos of your pages and download a PDF, with no app and no account. The pages are processed on our own servers, and your upload is deleted right after processing.

Can I put several pages in one PDF?

Yes. Add up to 10 pages at once in the box above, in the order you want, and download one combined PDF; the full scanner takes up to 30 and lets you drag them into order.

What page size do I get?

Original (each PDF page follows the image), A4 or US Letter. Pick it under PDF options before downloading.

Is it really free?

Yes: no account and no watermark, up to 10 documents a day, each up to 30 pages. That counter resets at midnight; a free monthly pass raises it to 30 a day and a €5 ShinobiTools pass to 100. It is a free PDF scanner on every tier: your original upload is deleted right after processing and the result after 45 minutes.

Is this a PDF scanner app?

It does the same job as a PDF scanner app, but there is nothing to install: you open a web page. Upload phone photos of your pages and it crops, straightens and cleans each one into a single PDF, so you can scan a document to PDF without a scanner. The work is done on our servers rather than on your phone, which is why an old phone is just as fast as a new one.

Can I make the PDF searchable?

Yes. Tick the OCR box before you download to make the PDF searchable: a hidden text layer is added under each page, so you can select, copy and search the words. It reads English, Dutch, German, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Leave the box unticked and you get a plain image-only PDF, which is a smaller file.

Which image formats can I upload?

JPG, PNG, HEIC, TIFF, WebP, BMP, GIF and AVIF, up to 250 MB per file on the free tier (300 MB with the free monthly pass, 500 MB with a €5 pass). iPhone HEIC photos go in as they come off the camera. On a flatbed, how to scan in PDF format is simpler than the scanner software suggests: let it save JPGs and drop those in here.

Does it work on an iPhone or an Android phone?

Yes, in the normal browser on both. Photograph the pages, pick them from your camera roll or gallery, and download the PDF. There is no app in either store, because there is nothing to install.

How do I scan a document to PDF from a phone photo?

Upload the photo and download the PDF; with more than one page, upload them together and they combine into one file. That is how to scan document to PDF format from a camera roll or a fresh photo, and how to scan documents to PDF file form when there are several pages. You can scan documents as PDF one at a time or in a batch.

Can I get a PDF instead of separate JPG or PNG files?

Yes, that is the default: every page lands in one document instead of a folder of images. To scan with PDF format also keeps the order you uploaded the pages, which a folder of JPGs loses as soon as the file names sort differently. To scan document in PDF format straight from a phone, shoot the pages one at a time and add them together here.

Can I scan a book page by page?

Yes. Photograph each page and upload them together, up to 10 at once here or 30 in the full scanner; each page is cropped and straightened on its own.

Can the result come out in black and white?

Yes. Pick the Black & White cleanup mode before downloading; it works well for faint or thermal-style print, the same option the receipt-scanning page uses.

What happens to my documents?

They are uploaded to our own servers, processed there and then deleted: the original right after processing, the finished PDF 45 minutes later, on every tier. You can delete it earlier with the "Delete now" button. Files are never used for AI training and are never sold or shared.

How to scan a book into PDF with just a phone?

Photograph each page and upload them together: up to 30 pages per document in the full scanner. Every page is cropped and straightened on its own. For a longer book, work in batches and join the PDFs afterwards with Merge PDF.

Is free scan to PDF limited to a few pages?

The free tier covers 10 documents a day, each up to 30 pages, with no account and no watermark. The counter resets at midnight.

How to scan a paper into a PDF without a scanner?

Lay the sheet flat, keep your own shadow off it and take one photo. Upload it, check the corners and download the PDF.

Can I scan to Word from a phone photo?

Not in one step. Scan the page here with OCR ticked, then run the PDF through PDF to Word. You need OCR first, because an image-only scan has no letters to convert.

Related tools

Clean a scanned document, the same cleanup on a single page, when you want an image back instead of a PDF.
Photo to scanned PDF, one photo straight to a one-page PDF, the quickest route for a single sheet.
OCR PDF, build a searchable PDF from photos of your pages.
Merge PDF, glue this PDF onto another one, in the order you choose.
Compress PDF, shrink the file when a portal refuses anything over a few megabytes.
Image to text, pull the words out of a photo as plain text instead of a PDF.