Files never leave your device.How it works
How to scan to PDF
- 1Tap Start camera (or Choose photos) and point at your document.
- 2Capture each page — they're added in order; remove any you don't want.
- 3Tap Create PDF and download.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need to install an app?
- No. Scanning runs in your web browser using your device camera, so there's nothing to install. On a phone, the camera opens right on the page.
- What does “Enhance for documents” do?
- It converts each capture to grayscale and boosts contrast, which makes printed text crisper and closer to a real scanner. You can turn it off to keep full color.
- Are my scans uploaded?
- No. The photos and the finished PDF are created entirely on your device — nothing is sent to a server, which matters for IDs, contracts, and receipts.
A scanner in your browser
You don't need a dedicated scanner app to turn paper into a PDF. Scan to PDF uses your device's camera right in the browser: capture each page, and HivePDF assembles them into a single PDF in order. It's built mobile-first, so the camera opens straight on the page on a phone.
Cleaner, more readable pages
Turn on “Enhance for documents” and each capture is converted to grayscale with boosted contrast — printed text comes out crisp and scanner-like. Prefer the original photo? Turn it off for full color. Review your pages, drop any bad shots, and build the PDF.
Notes and limits
Everything happens on your device — nothing is uploaded, so sensitive documents like IDs and contracts stay private. For the sharpest text, fill the frame with the page and keep the camera steady. To make a scanned PDF searchable afterwards, run OCR.
What happens after you tap capture
Each shot is treated as a plain photo first, then run through cropping and the optional enhancement filter before it's added to the page list — nothing is sent anywhere in between, so you can capture a whole stack of paper without a network connection. Reordering and deleting happen on the same in-memory list, and the final PDF is only assembled once you tap Create PDF, which keeps the process responsive even on an older phone.
Getting a readable scan
Flat, even lighting matters more than a fancy camera: shadows across the page confuse the contrast boost in “Enhance for documents” and can make text look patchy. Hold the phone directly over the page rather than at an angle to avoid keystoning, and if a page is glossy or laminated, tilt slightly to move glare out of frame before capturing. Books and stapled documents that won't lie flat are the main case where a flatbed scanner still beats a phone camera.
After the scan
A scanned PDF is just a stack of images — search and copy-paste won't work until you run OCR on it. If the file is large after scanning many pages, Compress PDF shrinks it before emailing.