Scan to PDF turns your phone camera or webcam into a document scanner that runs on a web page, with no app to install. Start the camera, point it at each sheet, and press Capture page. Every capture becomes a page in the order you took it. You can also add JPEG or PNG photos you already have, drag pages into a different order, pick a page size such as A4 or Letter, and build one PDF.
Your browser displays the camera preview, and each frame you capture is copied into an image on the same page, so the pictures never leave your device. The PDF is assembled locally too: each image goes on its own page, scaled to fit inside a small margin on fixed page sizes, then saved. Nothing is uploaded and there is no account. Captures are held in the open tab only, so build the PDF before you close or reload it.
Framing is up to you. The tool does not detect page edges, straighten a tilted shot, or crop out the desk, so hold the camera square to the page in even light. The Scan look option converts each capture to grayscale and raises the contrast, which flattens shadows on plain paper; turn it off to keep color. The result is an image-only PDF. If you need text you can select or search, run OCR PDF on it afterwards.
How to use Scan to PDF
- 1Click Start camera and allow camera access when your browser asks. On a phone the rear camera is requested first; press Switch camera to change.
- 2Frame the page and click Capture page. Repeat for each page. Leave Scan look checked for a grayscale, high-contrast result, or uncheck it before capturing to keep color.
- 3To include photos you already have, use Select files (or Add more files once you have captures), then drag the pages into order or use the up and down arrows.
- 4Choose a Page size: Match each photo, A4 (the default), Letter, Legal, A3 or A5. For a fixed size, set Orientation to Auto, Portrait or Landscape.
- 5Optionally change the Output file name, then click Build PDF from N pages and click Download scan.pdf.
Frequently asked questions
- Is my camera feed or are my photos uploaded anywhere?
- No. The live preview and every capture stay inside the browser tab, and the PDF is built there with JavaScript. Nothing is sent to FreeAIPDF or anyone else, which is also why captures disappear if you reload the page.
- Does it work on an iPhone or Android phone?
- Yes, in any mobile browser that lets web pages use the camera, which includes Safari on iOS and Chrome on Android. If the browser refuses or you decline the permission, you can still take photos with the phone's camera app and add them with Select files.
- Will the PDF have selectable or searchable text?
- No. Each page is a picture of the document, not text. Run the OCR PDF tool on the result to add a searchable text layer; it currently recognizes English only.
- Does it crop or straighten the page automatically?
- No. There is no edge detection or perspective correction, so what you see in the preview is what ends up on the page. Fill the frame with the sheet and keep the camera parallel to it for the cleanest result.
- What does the Scan look checkbox do?
- It converts the capture to grayscale, raises the contrast noticeably and the brightness slightly, so paper reads as white and ink as black. The filter is applied at the moment you capture, so uncheck it before capturing if you want to keep color, for example for a photo or a stamped document.
- How good is the image quality?
- The page asks the camera for 2048 by 1536 pixels as its preferred size, and the actual size depends on what your device offers. Each capture is saved as a JPEG at 90 percent quality. With a fixed page size the image is scaled to fit inside a quarter-inch margin, and Match each photo keeps the capture at its own size with no margin.