Scan a paper document to PDF



You can create a PDF file directly from a paper document, using your scanner and Acrobat. In Windows XP and Windows Vista, Acrobat supports TWAIN scanner drivers and Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) drivers.
Note: You can also scan paper forms in a way that converts them into interactive PDF forms. See Creating and distributing forms.

In Windows, when you create a PDF from a scanner, you can choose a scanning preset that best matches the type of document you are scanning. (The available presets are Black & White Document, Grayscale Document, Color Document, and Color Image). You can also scan using custom settings, and you can adjust the settings in the scanning presets.

Note: Preset scanning is available only for scanner drivers that support Hide Scanner’s Native Interface mode. The scanning presets are not available in Mac OS.

In Windows, if a WIA driver is installed for your scanner, you can use the Scan button on your scanner to create a PDF. Press the Scan button, and then in Windows, choose Adobe Acrobat from the list of registered applications. Then, in the Acrobat Scan dialog box, select a scanner and a document preset or Custom Scan.

For more information on scanning, see “Extracting Active Text from an Image in Acrobat 9” at www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1272051.

Scan a paper document to PDF using a preset (Windows)

  1. Choose File > Create PDF > From Scanner > [document preset].
  2. If prompted to scan more pages, select Scan More Pages or Scan Is Complete, and click OK.

Scan a paper document to PDF without presets

  1. In Acrobat, do one of the following:
    • (Windows) Choose File > Create PDF > From Scanner > Custom Scan.

    • (Mac OS) Choose File > Create PDF > From Scanner.

  2. Select scanning options in the Scan dialog box, as needed, and then click Scan.
    Note: If you specify that you want to use the native scanner user interface instead of the Acrobat user interface, other windows or dialog boxes appear. Consult the scanner documentation information on available options. In Mac OS, the scanner user interface is always shown.
  3. If prompted to scan more pages, select Scan More Pages or Scan Is Complete, and click OK.

Optimize a scanned PDF

  1. Open a PDF created from a scanned document.
  2. Choose Document > Optimize Scanned PDF.
  3. Select options in the dialog box, and click OK.

The options available in the Optimized Scanned PDF dialog box also appear in the Optimization Options dialog box, which are described in detail under that heading in this topic.

Configure scanning presets (Windows)

  1. Choose File > Create PDF > From Scanner > Configure Presets.
  2. In the Configure Presets dialog box, select a preset: Black & White Document, Grayscale Document, Color Document, or Color Image.
  3. Adjust the settings as needed.
  4. Click Save to save the preset, and then click OK.

Scanning options

Scanner
Select an installed scanner. You must have the manufacturer scanning software installed on your computer. In Windows only, click the Options button to specify scanner options.

Sides
Specify single or double-sided scanning. If you select Both Sides and the settings of the scanner are for only one side, the scanner setting overrides the Acrobat settings.
Note: You can scan both sides of pages even on scanners that do not themselves support two-sided scanning. When Both Sides is selected, a dialog box appears after the first sides are scanned. You can then reverse the original paper documents in the tray, and select the Scan Reverse Side (Put Reverse Of Sheets) option in that dialog box. This method produces a PDF with all pages in the proper sequence.

Color Mode (Windows only)
Select a basic color mode (Color, Black and White, or Grayscale) supported by your scanner. This option is enabled if your Scanner Options are set to use the Acrobat scanning dialog box instead of the scanner application.

Resolution (Windows only)
Select a resolution supported by your scanner. This option is enabled if your Scanner Options are set to use the Acrobat scanning dialog box instead of the scanner application.
Note: If you select a Color Mode or Resolution option not supported by your scanner, a message appears and your scanner application window opens. Select different options in the scanner application window.

Paper Size (Windows only)
Select a paper size or specify a custom width and height.

Prompt For Scanning More Pages
When selected, a dialog box prompting you to scan additional pages appears after scanning every page.

New PDF Document
Creates a new PDF. This option is not available in the Configure Presets dialog box.

Multiple Files
Creates multiple files from multiple paper documents. Click More Options, and specify whether to create a PDF Portfolio of the files, the number of pages for each file, and a filename prefix. These options are not available in the Configure Presets dialog box.

Append To Existing File Or Portfolio
Adds the converted scan to an existing PDF or PDF Portfolio. This option is not available in the Configure Presets dialog box.

Small Size/High Quality
Drag the slider to set the balance point between file size and quality. Click Options to customize optimization with specific settings for file compression and filtering.

Make Searchable (Run OCR)
Select this option to convert text images in the PDF to searchable and selectable text. This option applies optical character recognition (OCR) and font and page recognition to the text images and converts them to normal text. When selected, this option also adds tags to the document, which improves accessibility for disabled users. Click Options to specify settings in the Recognize Text - Settings dialog box. See Recognize text in scanned documents.

Make PDF/A Compliant
Select this option to make the PDF conform to ISO standards for PDF/A-1b. When selected, only Searchable Image (Exact) is available in the Recognize Text - Settings dialog box for the PDF Output Style option.

Add Metadata
When selected, the Document Properties dialog box appears after scanning. In the Document Properties dialog box, you can add metadata, or information about the scanned document, to the PDF file. If you are creating multiple files, you can enter common metadata for all of the files.

Scanner Options dialog box

Data Transfer Method
Native Mode transfers in the default mode for your scanner. Memory Mode is automatically selected for scanning in resolutions over 600 dots per inch (dpi).

User Interface
The Hide Scanner’s Native Interface option bypasses the windows and dialog boxes provided by the scanner manufacturer. Instead, scanning from Acrobat opens the Custom Scan dialog box.

Invert Black And White Images
This option creates positive images from black-and-white negatives, for example.

Optimization Options dialog box

The Optimization Options dialog box for image settings controls how scanned images are filtered and compressed for the PDF. Default settings are suitable for a wide range of document pages, but you may want to customize settings for higher-quality images, smaller file sizes, or scanning issues.

Automatic
Applies default settings to balance file size and quality at a moderate level.
Aggressive
Applies settings that minimize file size. In some cases, selecting this option may visibly affect the quality of the scanned PDF.

Custom Settings
Makes additional settings available under Compression and Filtering and disables the Aggressive setting under Automatic. If you select Custom Settings, the Color/Grayscale or Monochrome settings are available, depending on the option you selected in the Acrobat Scan dialog box.

Color/Grayscale settings
When scanning color or grayscale pages, select one of the following:
Lossless
Does not apply compression or filters—such as Deskew, Background Removal, and so forth—to scanned pages.

Adaptive
Divides each page into black-and-white, grayscale, and color regions and chooses a representation that preserves appearance while highly compressing each type of content. The recommended scanning resolutions are 300 dots per inch (dpi) for grayscale and RGB input, or 600 dpi for black-and-white input.

JPEG
Applies JPEG compression to the entire grayscale or RGB input page.
Note: The scanner uses either the selected Color/Grayscale option or the selected Monochrome option. Which one is used depends on the settings you select in the Acrobat Scan dialog box or in the scanner’s TWAIN interface, which may open after you click Scan in the Acrobat Scan dialog box. (By default, the scanner application dialog box does not open.)

Monochrome
When scanning black-and-white or monotone images, select one of the following:
JBIG2
Applies the JBIG2 compression method to black-and-white input pages. Settings of 0.95 or higher use the lossless method; at lower settings, text is highly compressed. Text pages typically are 60% smaller than CCITT Group 4 compressed pages, but processing is slow. Compatible with Acrobat 5.0 (PDF 1.4) and later.
Note: For compatibility with Acrobat 4.0, use a compression method other than JBIG2.

Adaptive
(As described under Color/Grayscale settings.)

CCITT Group 4
Applies CCITT Group 4 compression to black-and-white input page images. This fast, lossless compression method is compatible with Acrobat 3.0 (PDF 1.2) and later.

Deskew
Rotates any page that is not square with the sides of the scanner bed, to make the PDF page align vertically. Choose Automatic or Off.

Background Removal
Whitens nearly white areas of grayscale and color input (not black-and-white input).
For best results, calibrate your scanner’s contrast and brightness settings so that a scan of a normal black-and-white page has dark gray or black text and a white background. Then, Off or Low should produce good results. If scanning off-white paper or newsprint, use Medium or High to clean up the page.

Edge Shadow Removal
Removes dark streaks that occur at the edges of scanned pages, where the paper edge shadows the scanner light. Choose Off, Cautious, or Aggressive.

Despeckle
Removes isolated black marks in black-and-white page content. Low uses a basic peephole filter. Medium and High use both a peephole filter and a large area filter that removes larger spots farther from nearby features.

Descreen
Removes halftone dot structure, which can reduce JPEG compression, cause moire patterns, and make text difficult to recognize. Suitable for 200–400-dpi grayscale or RGB input or, for Adaptive compression, 400–600-dpi black-and-white input. The Automatic setting (recommended) applies the filter for 300 dpi or higher grayscale and RGB input. Select Off when scanning a page with no pictures or filled areas, or when scanning at a resolution higher than the effective range.

Halo Removal
When On (recommended), removes excess color at high-contrast edges, which may have been introduced during either printing or scanning. This filter is used only on color input pages.