Can I make the scanned PDF searchable?

Yes — run the resulting PDF through OCR PDF to add an invisible text layer. After OCR, Ctrl+F finds words in the scan and copy-paste works.

Why is black-and-white mode so much smaller?

Color photos are encoded with millions of pixels per page; B&W mode reduces to 1-bit per pixel, dropping file size roughly 5×. For text-only documents (no signatures in colored ink), B&W is the right choice every time.

Is the camera feed uploaded?

No. The camera stream stays in your browser and is processed locally. Captured images aren't sent anywhere — they're held in browser memory only until you download the PDF.

Scan to PDF

Turn your phone or laptop camera into a portable document scanner — no app to install.

Why use this

No app install, no account: Runs in any modern mobile or desktop browser. No App Store download, no signup, no permissions beyond camera access for the active session.
Auto edge-detect and deskew: PDFWix finds the document corners and corrects the perspective so a photo taken at an angle ends up as a flat, square page — same output a $200 desk scanner produces.
Multi-page in one session: Snap front and back of an ID, both halves of a long receipt, or a 5-page contract in one continuous flow. They stack into a single PDF in the order you captured them.
Black & white mode for tiny files: Text-only documents in B&W mode are 5× smaller than color scans — perfect for emailing receipts or contracts without bloating the inbox.
Browser-side capture: The camera feed and resulting images stay on your device. No upload, no server-side processing, no risk of a sensitive ID or contract leaking through a third party.

Use cases

Scanning paper receipts into a single PDF for an expense report
Capturing a signed paper contract to email back without finding a real scanner
Photographing both sides of a passport or ID for a verification form
Saving a whiteboard photo as a searchable PDF after running [OCR PDF](/ocr-pdf)
Digitizing handwritten notes from a notebook into a single PDF per chapter

How it works

Open the scanner and grant camera access — Click "Start scanning" — your browser will ask for camera permission. PDFWix only uses the camera while the page is open and never records or uploads the feed.
Capture each page — Hold the camera over the page in even light. PDFWix auto-detects the document edges and shows a green outline when alignment is good — tap capture to grab the shot.
Review, retake or add more pages — Each capture is auto-deskewed and cleaned. Retake any blurry shot, reorder pages by drag, and pick output mode (color, grayscale, or black & white).
Download the PDF — Tap 'Save as PDF' and the multi-page document is built in your browser. The captures are discarded once you save — nothing is kept on a server.

Frequently asked questions

Does it work on a phone?

Yes — Scan to PDF is built mobile-first. Open the page on your phone's browser, grant camera permission, and the rear camera becomes a document scanner. Works in Safari (iOS) and Chrome (Android).

Will I need to install an app?

No. The whole scanner runs in your browser using the standard camera API. No App Store install, no account, no background services.

How does auto edge-detection work?

PDFWix runs lightweight image analysis on each frame and highlights the document outline. When all four corners are confidently detected, the outline turns green and you can capture. If detection misses a corner, you can drag it manually.