RunLocalTools

Free Document Scanner: Photo to Clean PDF, No Upload

Scan documents, receipts and ID cards with your camera or photos. Auto-detects the page, fixes perspective, removes shadows and exports a PDF. Free, private, nothing is uploaded.

What it does

Turn a photo of a page into a clean, flat scan. Take a picture with your camera or add photos you already have. The tool finds the page edges, straightens the perspective, evens out the lighting and gives you a PDF or image files.

You can scan many pages into one PDF, reorder them, and print the front and back of an ID card on one sheet at true size.

  • Input: JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC photos, or a live camera
  • Output: a multi-page PDF, or JPEG, PNG or WebP images (several pages are packed into a ZIP)

How it works

The page is found by separating the paper from the background and fitting four corners around it. You can drag any corner, with a magnifier to help, or nudge it with the arrow keys. A perspective transform then flattens the page into a rectangle, so a slanted photo becomes a straight, front-on scan. If you only need that one step on a single picture, the Perspective Fix tool does it on its own.

Filters then clean the page up:

  • Shadow removal estimates the paper colour across the page and divides out uneven lighting.
  • Black & white uses an adaptive threshold, so text stays crisp even when one side of the page is darker.
  • Auto-straighten measures the tilt of the text lines and rotates the page to level them.

Pages go into the PDF as JPEG images at the resolution you choose.

How to use it

  1. Add photos (click, drag and drop, or paste), or press Scan with camera.
  2. Check the green outline on the left. Drag a corner if it is off, or press Detect page to try again.
  3. Pick an output size (Auto, A4, Letter, ID card and more) and a filter such as Auto colour, Black & white or Whiteboard.
  4. Adjust shadow removal, brightness, contrast and sharpness. Use Auto-straighten for slightly tilted text. Hold Hold to compare to see the page without the filter.
  5. Reorder pages by dragging them in the strip. Duplicate or remove pages as needed.
  6. Choose PDF or an image format, set resolution and quality, then press Export.

Scanned a big batch? Export at 150 dpi for a small file, or run the finished PDF through PDF compress to shrink it further.

ID cards: set the output size to ID card, tick Two scans per sheet, add the front and back, and export a PDF. Each side prints at its real size, one above the other.

Features

  • Live camera capture with torch and camera switching, and optional automatic capture when the page is steady
  • Automatic page detection with draggable, magnified corner handles
  • Perspective correction to A4, A5, Letter, Legal, ID card, business card, a custom size, or the page’s own shape
  • Filters: original, auto colour, vivid colour, grayscale, black & white, whiteboard
  • Shadow removal, brightness, contrast, sharpen, noise reduction and speck removal
  • Auto-straighten and fine rotation
  • Multi-page PDF with title and author, page size (fit, A4 or Letter), margins, dpi and quality
  • Front and back of a card on one sheet at true size
  • Pages kept in your browser until you clear them

Privacy

Your documents are never uploaded. The scanning, cleaning and PDF building all happen in your browser, and the tool makes no network requests with your files.

The one thing that touches the internet is a small converter library. It loads only the first time you add an iPhone HEIC photo (see Open/Convert HEIC Files for converting them on their own), then works offline. None of your data is sent to fetch it.

By default your pages are saved in this browser so they survive a refresh. Scans can be personal, so the tool shows a Remember my pages checkbox and a Clear saved scans button. Untick the box to stop saving and remove what is stored. Nothing leaves your device either way.

Supported formats and limitations

  • Input: JPG, PNG, WebP, GIF, BMP and AVIF where your browser supports them, plus HEIC (converted on first use).
  • Output: PDF, JPEG, PNG, WebP. Pages are stored in the PDF as JPEG.
  • Page detection works best when the page contrasts with the surface. If it misses, drag the corners.
  • There is no text recognition (OCR), so the PDF is not searchable.
  • Very large photos are scaled down to keep your browser responsive. Output is capped at about 16 megapixels per page.
  • The camera needs a secure (https) page and your permission.

FAQ

Is my document uploaded anywhere? No. The page never leaves your device. Everything is processed by your browser.

Can I scan several pages into one PDF? Yes. Add or capture as many pages as you like, drag them into order, and export one PDF.

Why did it outline the wrong area? Detection looks for a bright (or dark) page against a different background. If the background is a similar colour, drag the four corners to the page edges. You can also press Whole photo to use the full image.

How do I scan both sides of an ID card? Add both photos, choose the ID card output size, tick Two scans per sheet, and export a PDF. Each side prints at its real size on one A4 or Letter page.

Does it work on a phone? Yes. Scan with camera uses the rear camera, and on most phones Add photos also opens the camera. Very old phones may be slow with many pages.

Will my scans still be here tomorrow? They are kept in your browser if Remember my pages is ticked, unless the browser clears its storage. Export a PDF to keep a permanent copy. If you want the opposite effect, a PDF that looks like it was scanned, use Make a PDF Look Scanned.