Scanning documents question

[BotchQue]

One of the more recent features I love about the Apple ecosystem is the ability to "scan" a document, send it to my Mac, and then email it from there. I know two ways to do this:

1. Take a photo of the doc with my iPhone (SE v2), which gives me an .HEIC (with no aspect correction), then Airdrop it to my Mac. There I open it in Preview, tip it upright, and convert it to a smaller .jpg suitable to email. Fiddly but it works, and sure beats driving the document over to Office-R-Us to scan it there, as I did 5 years ago. Or...

2. Open the "Files" app on my iPhone, hit the "..." circle, select "Scan Documents", and hold the phone over the document, which gives me a .pdf (with aspect correction, and easy multiple pages), then Airdrop it to my Mac. There I also open it in Preview, can tip it if necessary, but I can't see a way to reduce the size to re-save it. I did finally figure out to just hit Cmd-Shft-5, take a screenshot of the document on my Mac, giving me a .jpg; then I can re-open it in Preview, resize it, and email it off. Again, fiddly but it works.

I'm surprised Preview can re-size .HEICs and .jpgs, but not .pdfs; aren't they all Image files? There's probably an easy solution to my task (scan a document with my phone, resize it for an email) but I can't find it. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

 

[BigBlur]

I'm surprised Preview can re-size .HEICs and .jpgs, but not .pdfs; aren't they all Image files?

No, PDFs aren't image files. Preview does have a way to shrink the file size though.

Reduce the size of a PDF in Preview on Mac

In Preview on your Mac, create a compressed version of a PDF to save storage space.

support.apple.com

There's probably an easy solution to my task (scan a document with my phone, resize it for an email) but I can't find it.

You should be able to resize photos right in the Mail app.

It’s Usually OK to Share Full-Size Images in Email and Messages

In the early days of the Internet, when most people connected via slow modems, saving bandwidth was a big deal. You could watch images load on Web pag...

www.mbsdirect.com

 

[UliBaer]

Best app for that:

Microsoft Lens: PDF Scanner App - App Store

Download Microsoft Lens: PDF Scanner by Microsoft Corporation on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more games like Microsoft…

apps.apple.com

Believe me, it scans directly to heic/jpg, aligns the document perfectly and is even totally $free! 👍

 

[BotchQue]

Thanks much, @BigBlur! I haven't been able to get the first one to work yet, but I've got something to futz with tomorrow. Using the email app itself should be cake. Thanks again!

 

[BBDDVV]

Or skip the 'send it to my Mac' altogether with the Continuity Camera's feature that uses your iPhone or iPad to scan documents or take a picture on your Mac: Continuity Camera

 

[neutrino17]

Try using the Notes app on your phone.

How to scan documents on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

You can use the Notes app to scan documents and add signatures on your iPhone or iPad.

support.apple.com

This will correct aspect ratio and make a multipage document.

 

[BigBlur]

Best app for that:

Microsoft Lens: PDF Scanner App - App Store

Download Microsoft Lens: PDF Scanner by Microsoft Corporation on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more games like Microsoft…

apps.apple.com

Believe me, it scans directly to heic/jpg, aligns the document perfectly and is even totally $free! 👍

I liked that app too, but Microsoft is discontinuing it, and I suspect it'll eventually be removed from the App Store. OneDrive is the replacement, but it'll require an account, unlike Lens.

 

[macaddiict]

Microsoft is discontinuing [Lens]

Good catch. Beyond losing support, I wouldn't want my scanned documents under the T&C/Privacy Policy they publish.

Using the built-in tools from  at least let me keep my data on device when I'm snapping a pic of an important document, so even if I have to jump through some steps like setting up a Shortcut for what I want, I think it is worth it.