How to Scan a Document and Save as PDF, Here is the Ultimate Guide
Last Updated on September 21, 2025 by Tina Clark
Do you still use the PDF scanners to digitalize documents to PDFs? It is much more convenient to use a smartphone to scan a document to PDF. Whether you need to share the documents with others or add some comments to the PDF scanned files, you can simply download a PDF scanner app. When you need to have high-quality PDF documents for printing, such as 300DPI, a portable PDF scanner should be the choice.
Part 1: How to Scan Paper Documents to PDF with HP Scanner
When you need to scan paper documents into PDFs, HP Scanner is a great choice to get the details on the full portfolio. It supports the scanning speed measured at 300 DPI for black-and-white, gray-scale, and color. Moreover, you can also use the HP Smart to manage PDFs easily.
Step 1: Load the original print-side down on the scanner glass or print-side up in the automatic document app. Select the Scan tile on the home screen of the HP Smart app, then click the Get Started button. Moreover, you should also make sure the document is loaded correctly.
Step 2: Choose an option from the top menu bar. Place the original on the printer scanner glass or in the automated document feeder (ADF). Select the scan type, size, color, and resolution options, and then click the Scan button in the upper right corner.
Step 3: Select photographs saved on the computer to apply a border, then utilize the options to edit, print, and share, choose the Import button. Utilizes the computer camera or a webcam to take, edit, print, or share a photo or document, click the Camera button.
Step 4: Adjust the limits by clicking and dragging the blue dots, and then click the Apply button. To return to the Scan window for multi-page documents, click + Add in the Preview window. Load the following page onto the scanner glass or capture it with the camera.
Step 5: Repeat this procedure until all pages of the manuscript have been scanned. Click the Save button or the Share button in the Preview box, rename the file, and pick Basic PDF as the file format. Select the Save to button to scan the document to PDF.
Part 2: How to Make the Scanned PDF Editable with OCR
If you just take an image with your smartphone camera, how do you scan a document into PDF via the image? PDFelement is the best alternative to scan a document to PDF and turn image-based files into editable PDFs. It enables you to retain the original frames and settings, such as forms, texts, layouts, and others. Moreover, there are features to add text, insert page numbers, bates numbers, and page components to scanned PDF documents within clicks.
1. Turn images and scanned PDF files into editable and searchable PDFs.
2. Recognize the texts in more than 23 languages with high accuracy.
3. Provide advanced editing features, such as split, combine, and convert.
4. Create a fillable PDF document via text fields, checkboxes, and more.
Step 1: Launch PDFelement on your desktop after installation. Select the Open file button from the main menu. It will open the file explorer window to import the PDF document. Locate the PDF document file that you need to upload to identify its text.
Step 2: Once you have imported the PDF, you can select the Tool menu and choose the OCR option. If you have not already installed the OCR component, you have to click on the Download button to recognize the text and scan a document into a PDF file.
Step 3: To make your text identifiable in a PDF file, select the Editable Text option from the toolbar. If you are dissatisfied with the default language, click on the Change Languages button and select a valid or acceptable language to replace it.
Step 4: When you need to apply required custom changes to your PDF file's pages, select the Current Pages link from the drop-down menu. Once you've finished, click the OK button to begin the OCR process. It will identify the text included within a PDF document.
Step 5: After you have completed the modifications and recognition text in the PDF file, you should save the document. Click on a file in the top-left corner of the screen. Click on the Save option, and navigate to the spot where you want to save it to your computer.
Part 3: How to Scan a Digital Document to PDF with PDF Scanner
Just as mentioned above, PDFelement is another efficient method to scan a digital document to PDF. It enables you to convert a scanned image into a PDF file. In addition, owing to optical character recognition (OCR) technology, your PDF files will be editable as well as searchable. Indeed, this is only one of the numerous advantages available, the ideal PDF solution for all things connected to PDF files and documents.
Step 1: Launch PDFelement on your computer and select the Create from Scanner option from the File menu. After that, you can find the popup Scan window, in which you will need to configure the choices. It will detect the PDF files from a scanner directly.
Step 2: The following step is to choose the scanned picture that you wish to convert to a PDF format by clicking on the Scan option. It will scan and save the document to PDF directly. After a time, the newly formed PDF file will be shown in the software immediately.
Step 3: Just modify or send the PDF files to others through email after it has been created. You may also continue to scan other pages to make a single PDF. Moreover, you can also combine multiple images or scanned PDFs into a single file within the program.
