Scan with your camera
Your phone becomes a scanner — no app, no file upload.
Your files never leave your deviceAllow access to the rear camera to photograph your pages.
How to scan a document with your phone or computer, step by step
No app to install: the browser’s camera is enough to turn a stack of paper into a single PDF.
Turn on the camera
Click “Activate camera” and allow access — VellumPDF asks for the rear camera on mobile.
Let the automatic fallback take over if needed
Without a secure connection, without an accessible camera, or if access is denied, the tool switches on its own to your phone’s native camera app.
Photograph each page
The “Take a photo” button adds one page at a time to your list.
Reorder or delete a page
Every thumbnail in the list can be moved or removed individually.
Leave “Enhance the scan” on, or turn it off
On by default, it cleans up the background and contrast, in grayscale.
Click “Generate PDF (N pages)”
All the photos are assembled into a single A4 PDF, ready to download.
The enhancement offered here only knows grayscale rendering, without the color/black & white choice of the dedicated “Enhance a scan” tool, and there is no manual cropping: frame the shot well before photographing.
Frequently asked questions
How do I scan a document with this tool?
Allow access to your phone’s or computer’s camera, then photograph each page: it is added to a list you can reorder or edit before generating the final, multi-page PDF.
What happens if my camera isn’t accessible?
The camera requires a secure HTTPS connection and your explicit permission. If either is missing, or the device has no camera, the tool falls back to directly importing a photo you already took.
Are my photos sent anywhere to create the PDF?
No, no image ever leaves your device: all the processing, including automatic background and contrast cleanup, happens in the browser. The tool is free and requires no app to install.
Do I need an app or a scanner to use it?
Neither: the camera on your phone or computer is enough, in the browser. That helps when a signed document has to go back within the hour and there is no scanner or printer at hand — the most common case with a form to return.
How do I get a readable page rather than a crooked photo?
Three habits are enough: lay the sheet flat on a contrasting background, avoid the shadow of your hand or phone, and frame wide, cropping later. A photo taken at an angle can be straightened; a shadow across the text cannot be recovered. The deskew and enhance tools take over afterwards.
Do several photos make a single PDF?
Yes, the shots follow in the order you take them and form one document, one photo per page. You can redo a bad page before producing the file, rather than starting over because of a single blurred sheet.