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Free · No sign-up · Runs in your browser

Scan paper to PDF with your phone.

Photograph each page with your phone camera (or add photos you already have), tidy them to clean black and white, and save one PDF. A free, no-app alternative to Microsoft Lens that runs in your browser — your pages are never uploaded.

Not uploaded — nobody sees it Camera, black & white and rotate built in No watermark, ever No subscription or account

On a phone this opens the camera, one page at a time. On a computer it opens a file picker.

Look

Black & white evens out shadows and makes text crisp. Trim cuts the same border off every page. Use the ↻ button on a page to turn it.

Page size

Each photo is scaled to fit the page and centred. Pages turn landscape for wide photos.

Already have the photos on your computer? Image to PDF is the plain version, with no clean-up.

Your scans are never uploaded — photos are processed right here in this browser tab, on your device. They never reach a server, so we never see them, copy them or keep them.
At a glance

Scan to PDF: quick facts

Paper to a clean PDF using only your phone and this page.

Updated

Price
Free. No sign-up, no app, no watermark.
Capture
Phone camera (one page at a time) or photos you already have.
Clean-up
Black & white, greyscale or colour; rotate each page; trim the edges.
Not included
Automatic edge detection or straightening, and text recognition (OCR).
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. Nothing is uploaded.
How it works

How to scan a document to PDF on your phone

Four taps from paper to PDF, with no app to install and no account.

  1. 01

    Take a photo of each page

    Tap Take a photo. Lay the page flat on a plain, darker surface, with good light and no shadow from your phone, and hold the camera square above it. Repeat for each page.

  2. 02

    Pick a look

    Black & white suits letters, forms and receipts. Choose colour for photos. Turn any sideways page with ↻, and trim away table or background at the edges.

  3. 03

    Save the PDF

    Tap Make a PDF. One PDF, one page per photo, is built on your device and downloaded as scan.pdf.

Tips

Getting a clean scan from a phone photo

This tool has no automatic edge detection, so the photo you take matters more than the settings.

  • Light it evenlyWindow light from the side works well. Keep your own shadow and the phone’s shadow off the page. Black & white copes with gentle shading but not with a dark band across the paper.
  • Shoot straight downHold the camera parallel to the page. A page photographed at an angle stays slanted, because this tool does not straighten it. Fill the frame with the page and use Trim edges for what is left.
  • Use a plain, contrasting surfaceA dark desk under a white page is easiest. If the photo has too much background, crop it first with Image Cropper.
  • Check the preview rowsEach page shows a small thumbnail. If it is sideways, tap ↻. Wrong order? Remove the page and add it again.
  • Keep it small enough to sendBlack & white is the smallest. If the PDF is still large, use Compress PDF.

Like every Altto tool, this runs on your device — nothing you add is uploaded. How Altto works

2,400 px

is the longest side each page is saved at. On an A4 page that is roughly 290 pixels per inch, enough to read and print text clearly while keeping the PDF light.

Microsoft Lens

Looking for a Microsoft Lens replacement?

Microsoft retired the Lens app in early 2026: it left the app stores in February and scanning stopped around March, according to news reports. Microsoft’s own suggestion is the scanner in the OneDrive app. A fair comparison:

Ways to scan a paper document to PDF
OptionGood forWorth knowing
Altto Scan to PDFQuick scans with no app, no account and nothing uploadedNo automatic edge detection or OCR; you take one photo per page
OneDrive app scannerPeople already on Microsoft 365 or OneDriveSaves to OneDrive; reviewers describe its editing tools as basic
Apple Notes / Files (iPhone, iPad)Apple users, with automatic edge detectionApple devices only
Adobe Scan and other scanning appsAutomatic edge detection and text recognitionAn app to install; most want an account

Table based on each product’s own description; check the app’s current terms before relying on it. Altto earns nothing from any option listed.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What Scan to PDF can and can’t do. Prefer a plain conversion? Use Image to PDF.

Is this a replacement for Microsoft Lens?
It does the main job: photograph or add pages, tidy them, and save one PDF. Microsoft retired the Lens app in early 2026 and now points people to the scanner in OneDrive, which saves to the cloud. Altto Scan to PDF runs in your browser, saves the PDF straight to your device and uploads nothing. It has no app, no automatic edge detection and no text recognition, so crop badly framed photos first with Image Cropper.
Can I scan with my phone camera?
Yes. On a phone or tablet, tap Take a photo and your camera opens; each photo is added as the next page. On a computer the same button opens a file picker. The photo is handled in your browser and is never sent anywhere.
Does it straighten or crop the page automatically?
No. It doesn’t detect page edges. You can rotate each page in 90° steps and trim a small border from every edge. For a tight crop, use Image Cropper first, or hold the camera square above the page on a plain, contrasting surface.
What does Black & white do?
It turns the page to greyscale and then makes each pixel black or white by comparing it with the area around it, which evens out shadows and uneven lighting. Text becomes crisp and the file gets smaller. Use Colour for photos, stamps or coloured highlights, and Greyscale for something in between.
Are my scans uploaded anywhere?
No. Photos are processed in your browser tab and the PDF is built on your device. Altto never receives them. Nothing is saved after you close the tab.
Can I scan more than one page?
Yes. Keep adding photos, one per page. Pages follow the order you added them; remove one and re-add it to change the order. Use Merge PDF afterwards if you want to combine this PDF with another.
Does it read the text (OCR)?
No. The PDF contains page images, so you can’t search or select the text. For that, run the result through an OCR tool; Altto’s PDF to Word converter can recognise text in scanned pages.
How do I keep the file small?
Black & white gives the smallest files. Pages are also capped at 2,400 pixels on the long side, which is sharp enough to read and print on A4. If the PDF is still too big to email, run it through Compress PDF.
More tools

Related tools

Image to PDFCombine JPGs or PNGs into one PDF.
Image CropperCrop a JPG or PNG freely or to a locked aspect ratio.
Compress PDFShrink a PDF’s file size.

Looking for what to use now that Microsoft Lens has been retired? Read the Microsoft Lens alternatives guide.