Keeping a digital copy of your important documents has become the new normal, and comes with a lot of advantages. Having a scanned copy of documents doesn’t just mean better storage and retention, it also means you can use them to electronically collaborate using mail or other communication services with ease of access.
According to smartengines.com, storing documents online also grants you higher levels of security than the traditional methods. This leaves us with a question as to how we can scan a document to upload or share it online.
Although smartphones or tablets do not come with any inbuilt scanning applications or functionalities, there are several downloadable applications, which we can use instead. What these applications do, is that they take a picture of your document and convert it into a pdf file, hence creating a digital copy of your document.
This scanned copy can be stored online, shared via mail or digital communication services, created copies of, edited, and pretty much used in any way that an electronic file is. The process of digitally scanning a document can be summed up in the following steps.
- Choose and download a document scanning application and install it on your device to scan the required document.
- Open the application on your mobile phone or tablet, and hold your phone directly above the document to be scanned.
- Make sure the document is placed on a flat surface with enough light so it is clearly visible to the naked eye.
- Follow the procedure as instructed by the application, which is quite common for most scanning applications. This includes clicking a clear picture of the document and cropping out the unnecessary part to convert the remaining into a pdf.
- You can also adjust brightness of the clicked pictures, resize them, crop out unnecessary borders and make additional edits depending on the tool that you’re using.
- Next your scanned document is ready in a matter of seconds and you can directly share the file or upload it to your drive for safe storage, with a few clicks.
Digitally scanning documents – advantages
Digitally scanning documents comes with a lot of advantages and benefits, and can make our lives convenient in many ways. Some advantages of having a scanned document are listed below.
- Scanned documents can be digitally stored and do not need any physical space or limitations.
- These documents have no need to be preserved, as hard copies are often vulnerable to physical damages, while digital copies can be stored without any concern for the issue.
- Digital files can be encrypted with the latest encryption methods as can your documents. You can use the most advanced algorithms to encrypt your files to provide better security to your documents.
- You can also share your documents over internet via mail, chat services or even as a screen share option while on video call, and manage permissions on who can access the files.
- Having scanned documents can also make it easy to organize them helping in compliance and regulatory obligations.
- You can also improve your customer service and get important information to your clients in a matter of seconds, without creating a fuss out of clutters of papers.
Popular scanning applications
Although as of now, there are various document scanning applications to choose from, most of them offer similar functionality and features. Some examples of popular document scanning applications are CamScanner, Adobe Scan, Kaagaz Scanner, Genius Scan, and Scanbot among various others.
In most of these applications, the standard procedure of scanning and uploading documents is the same. You click a picture of the document or multiple documents, and then adjust lighting, crop border, and number the pages in order to get the perfect scanned copy.
Kaagaz Scanner is one such document scanner, indigenously built by IIT graduates, and is making rounds in the aftermath of the multiple application ban waves in India, owing to strict protocols regarding data security. Kaagaz Scanner,the Indian Cam Scanner with the boost of Vocal for Local, has managed to secure over 1.6 million downloads in a short span of 4 months, and continues to garner more users with its easy to use interface, and support of around 8 different languages including Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Kannada, and Malayalam among others. Moreover, its features include multiple filters, security lock, autocropping, no advertisement policy, and auto image enhancement has made it the popular choice and go to application for scanning documents for digital use.
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