Choose the right scan settings
Use 300 DPI for most text documents. Higher settings can help with tiny print or diagrams, but they also make files much larger without always improving readability.
Select grayscale for forms, contracts, and typed pages unless color is required. Color scans are useful for photos, highlighted notes, stamps, and charts where meaning depends on color.
Clean up pages before saving
Crop borders, rotate sideways pages, and remove blank pages before exporting. These small cleanup steps make the file easier to review and reduce the chance of an upload rejection.
If the scanner app offers contrast correction, use it lightly. Over-sharpened scans can make letters break apart and reduce OCR accuracy.
Make the PDF searchable
Run OCR when the document will be searched, archived, or reviewed by someone using accessibility tools. OCR also makes names, invoice numbers, and dates easier to find later.
After OCR, test a few terms from the document with search. If common words cannot be found, rescan the pages with better lighting or a flatter page position.
Prepare for upload portals
Many portals reject files that are too large, encrypted, or saved in uncommon formats. Keep a clean PDF/A-style copy when long-term archiving matters and a smaller upload copy when a portal has tight limits.
Use a descriptive filename with the document type, date, and owner, for example passport-renewal-receipt-2026-07.pdf. Avoid long random camera filenames.