How to convert scanned documents to PDF?

In today’s time maintaining physical documents is a constant battle. To avoid this, we often scan essential documents to preserve them for a long time without using any physical space. However, the scanned documents often end up scattered in different formats across our devices. Luckily, there are some ways in which you can easily convert scanned documents to well-recognized PDF files and keep them organised.

Let’s discuss some of the essential tools and techniques that will help you to streamline 

your document organisation. 

Scanning directly to PDF files

There are different scanning softwares available that allow you to directly scan documents to PDF on your device. If you haven’t already scanned your documents, then you can try it out as it is one of the convenient options to begin. 

Steps involved in scanning: 

1. Launch the dedicated scanning software on your device.
2. Choose the “Scan to PDF” option or something similar like “Create PDF”, depending upon the model you are using.
3. Configure the settings to set the desired resolution (Quality) and colour mode (black and white, grayscale or colour) based on the document.
4. Start scanning your documents and save the created PDF file once scanning is complete. 

Converting existing scanned images to PDF

If the scanned documents are saved in a different format, such as JPEG or PNG, you can use another software to convert them to PDF.

Using free tools

There are a variety of free online tools available that can help you convert your scanned files to PDFs. However, it is important to consider some of the following things:

1. Always use a tool that has good retention and utilises secure algorithms to protect your sensitive information.
2. A lot of free services do have limits on the number and size of the files that you can convert.
3. In a few cases, the output quality is not retained like the original scan.
4. A few tools might add watermarks to your converted PDFs. 

Using inbuilt softwares of Operating Systems

A few operating systems, like Windows 10, come with a built-in tool that converts JPG to PDF. To convert images to PDF in Windows 10, you can use Microsoft Print to convert them to PDF. Here are the complete steps: 

1. Right-click on the image file
2. Choose the Print Option
3. Select “Microsoft Print to PDF” as the printer option.
4. Click on “Print” to create a new PDF document for your image. 

Using paid softwares

There are different paid softwares, such as Adobe Acrobat, that offer advanced features like OCR to convert scanned documents to PDF. Softwares like this offer better control over the complete conversion process. A few of the key features include: 

1. Batch processing: You can easily convert multiple files to PDFs in one single go.
2. Security: If your documents contain sensitive information, these softwares have industry-standard security regulations that preserve and protect your data. They also offer security features that you can use to add an extra layer of security to your document.
3. OCR capabilities: OCR can be quite useful if you want to convert a scanned text document to searchable text. 

Guide to converting scanned documents to PDF using Adobe Acrobat

Step 1: Launch the Adobe Acrobat desktop application. 

Step 2: Choose “Scan And OCR” from the Tools menu on the right-hand pane.

Step 3: Choose the file. It can be in any format, such as a photo or a scanned file. 

Step 4: Choose the Camera Image or the Scanned document to convert it.

Step 5: Select Enhance to clean up the document. 

Step 6: If your file contains any text, you can choose the Recognise Text option to convert text in the image file to searchable text. 

Step 7: Save the file at the desired location on your device. 

The power of a well-organised digital archive

When you convert your scanned document to PDF, then you unlock various advantages that help you streamline your work:  

1. Accessibility: PDF is one format that is accessible across all the different devices and operating systems.
2. Easy to organise: You can easily manage your documents by storing them in one standard format.
3. Searchability: Using OCR capabilities, you can easily search text within the document.
4. Space saving: It reduces the requirement of keeping a stack of physical papers that usually clutters the space. 

By utilising the power of PDF for your scanned files, you will gain control over the digital archive of your documents, ensuring easy access to any information and streamlining the workflow whenever needed. 

Also Read: How to convert PDF Bank Statements to Excel like a Pro for CPAs using Rocket Statements