Adobe Scan: PDF & OCR Scanner Reviews

by JesusBenNazareth

I tried to submit a privacy question. After I had already successfully logged into my Adobe account , I had to correctly solve a captcha,Provide my email address and name again, probably verify my address, submit my question and then solve a second captcha correctly. Asked: I am wondering about your privacy policy as a relates to documents scanned with Adobe Scan - your iOS mobile pdf scanning app. I’ve been looking through your policies to try and find a clear statement that you’re not going to look at or share of my scanned documents unless required by law. And that that applies whether I’m in the US or UK at the time. can you make such a statement? Can you please make it easier to find if you’ve made such a statement? And refer me too it/them? I have opted out of the machine learning part but that doesn’t address my question really. Also it’s pretty low to make it so hard to submit questions like this! I’m already logged in and I have to give you all my information all over again and validate my email address? Do you think that’s respectful? I’m trying to decide between using your product and camscanner or neither. and when you reply please include this question in your reply. OK? And can you answer the same questions for Adobe acrobat reader PDF maker iOS app?I hope they respond and I’ll update this if they do!

by William Price

I’ve seen numerous complaints online that have not been fixed. They ask for an option to stop the autocrop for all pages. You see this as a problem with scanning and you rightly fixed it by allowing to turn off auto crop when you’re scanning a document with the camera.

THE PROBLEM THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED IS WHEN YOU ARE MAKING A PDF WITH PICTURES ALREADY ON YOUR CAMERA ROLL…. My case specifically: My current online classes do not allow me to save the lecture slides as a PDF. I solve this problem by saving each individual slide as a photo on my camera roll on my iPad. Then after I’ve selected all my photos it gives me a review of each of the slides individually and they’re all cropped out of wack. And for each individual slide, some being more than 200 pages long, I have to click the crop button and then click on crop and then click save so it saves that one slide. There is no way I’m doing that for 200 slides. PLEASE FIX THIS. I have seen complaints on your website that date back to 2019. This is pathetic in my eyes concerning your customer support department…

by Vanessa123456780

I chose to ignore Adobe’s prompting that I upgrade to this app from the scanning feature included with the Adobe PDF app for a while, because when I’d tried it, it had “grabbed” the document it was supposed to scan as if on some sort of fast-forward setting and estimated the location of the document’s edges incorrectly. It also didn’t take enough time to get a properly-focussed (spelling intentional) image. I’d realized that I needed to figure out how to perform the scan manually, in order to get it precise enough, or find another scanning app. During a later attempt, I was relieved when I was prompted to disable the psychotic-seeming autoscan setting — imagine a coworker coming to your desk and frantically dishevelling a neat pile of paper documents sitting on it while you watch — which I’d never chosen to activate to begin with. With that setting shut off, however, AdobeScan still doesn’t “find” the document’s edges as precisely as I’d like. It gives you the option of adjusting its placement of them yourself; however, I preferred the scanning feature of the Adobe PDF app to this separate, supposedly-superior Adobe Scan app.

by Enough To Know Better

This is the best scanning app out there. It will auto scan each page for you but you can still edit each corner of the page manually. And because the brilliant when you pick a corner to edit it zooms into that corner in a little bubble outside of where your son is so that you can actually see what it is you’re doing. You can edit each page by caller you can erase certain portions of it you can draw on the pages you can email a link of the PDF to someone you can email an actual PDF to someone. You can export the PDF as JPEG files. There’s nothing that AdobeScan can’t do. You can re-order the pages if you scanned them in the wrong order. You can come back to the same file later and add pages and edited at any time. If there’s a better app out there then I have not seen it because I don’t think it exists. I am a teacher and this has saved me countless hours.

by OldFolkster

I had just about given up trying to find a “free” scanner that would actually work and was actually free. I had tried so many others that would fail in one way or another. One was so fussy about recording an image that it was almost impossible to make a scan. It kept telling me to move closer even though the page already filled the screen; then it told me to hold still, and refused to take the picture. Another managed to make an image but then refused to let me do anything with it until I “upgraded to pro.” Finally, I discovered the Adobe scanner.

What a difference! Producing a clear image was fast and easy. I made a series of scans of the first page, and found that I could leaf through them quickly, deleting all but the best. Then sending off the resulting scan by email was a snap.

AdobeScan kills the competition; it isn’t even close.

by GandolfTheGreatWhiteWizzard

There are two types of technology in the world. That which makes you wonder how much longer humans have before we ruin our society and world beyond repair, and it’s counterpart which makes you wonder how life went on without it. This program falls in the latter category. It is an amazing app that is super easy to use and produces professional quality scans. A little tip to save you some time: trust the auto crop on the first go around and edit as needed once you review your documents. During that review stage you have the original picture to work with so if you need to un-crop you can. This program literally makes expensive scanners and copiers obsolete for the home. Thank you Adobe, I can tell your engineers have put their heart and soul into this and continue to refine it.

by Mommy King

After spending money on an “all-in-one” printer/scanner; ran into issues with setting up the account for wireless scanning to the cloud. I discovered AdobeScan when desperately searching for an alternative with a deadline quickly approaching (surely there was “an app for that”).

I discovered AdobeScan while playing around in Adobe’s Creative Cloud. What a HUGE lifesaver it was! It is literally as simple as “point & click!” Multi-page documents can be captured by snapping pictures of each page and then saving the document when you’re all finished.

To be clear, you are not taking “photos” of the documents. Photos tend to be unclear when printed and/or resized. AdobeScan takes digital scans of the documents. I absolutely love having it (plus it’s native on my phone, so I can capture important documents when I’m away from home).

by Hajster

This is one of my most used apps after email and social media. I never have to worry about saving / sharing documents, no matter where I got them from. Now bank documents, important letters, recipes - you name it - are just a few clicks away from being digitally preserved and easily stored or shared.

For a free app, this is very feature-rich, well polished, and easy to use. I can easily scan documents using my camera, or simply import pictures that I’ve already saved or received from others. AdobeScan can automatically straighten and crop the finished pages, and I can fine tune to get the cleanest image possible.

Documents are saved in my Adobe cloud account, and I can easily attach copies to email or text messages, or save to my own permanent storage. There is no archiving app out there that can beat this scanner, and the price (free) is just right.

by Alessandra H.

Adobe Scan is by far the best mobile scanning app I’ve ever tried. Downloading and having AdobeScan on your phone essentially negates the need for you to own a traditional scanner in my opinion.

The first time I tried the Adobe Scan app, I was genuinely astonished with how well the papers I scanned turned out. I’ve tried so many other “scanner” apps listed in AdobeScan Store, but every one has either been completely, or came with a catch that outweighed the apps value in my opinion, so when I found Adobe Scan, I was stoked!

I definitely recommend at least trying Adobe Scan out. Now, of course if you need a higher than normal scanner for higher resolution, sharper scans, then of course an app isn’t going to be of help, but for a normal, everyday person—Adobe Scan is perfect, and believe it or not, but it’s actually pretty surprisingly handy to have a scanner in your pocket at all times too!

by Ellie-May77

I have only been able to use Adobe for a few days but I have found it to be extremely useful and I love how fast it helps me with information about a photo when I only have to ask Adobe to give me the information about that photo. I can tell when I get more familiar with using Adobe it will benefit me more and more. Thank you! Kristy Keller

I really don’t know how to use the Adobe to my advantage. I’m afraid of loosing valuable information. Like making sure I am able to get organized and remember where i put it. I need to Adobe scan my passport, drivers license, social security, Birth certificate, Notary, voters registration, concealed weapons permit, organ donation, power of attorney and keep them in an organized way. That’s because I’m not good with being a secretary. I know this is going to make my life so much easer when I get it. My health records and dated how awesome. Thanks Kristy Keller

by Fellowhuman

Apple Notes’ scanning function is nearly as good but Adobe seemed to produce slightly clearer documents when zoomed in (may be completely negligible and may increase file size) and seemed to more consistently automatically capture page borders such that I found it rare to need to adjust. One drawback for me is that all documents are automatically uploaded to Adobe’s cloud. I didn’t test any other features being that I have simply been wanted to scan black and white documents as efficiently as possible with sufficiently high quality. I have also used JotNot, which has enhancing functions that seem to work well but there is some scan limit with the free version of AdobeScan and the high quality of Apple Notes’ and Adobe Scan seems to make those more advanced functions unnecessary for my purposes.

by Oliect

This is the best scanning software I’ve used thus far. Previously, I used Jot Not Pro and Evernote. First of all, image quality is superb. Second, the auto-cropping works perfectly even in low lighting and non-contrasting backgrounds, which is what you encounter in real-world use. Third, the user experience is excellent. I can easily add and rearrange pages; I can easily share a copy by all the usual means. Fourth, 99% of the time, I want my scans to be in PDF format, and this being an Adobe app, this happens seamlessly—no more using “print to PDF” here! Tip: upon app set-up, when asked to choose editing mode, select the second option, which allows you to edit after you’ve scanned all a document’s pages. Don’t enable/accept the first option, which allows you to edit/crop each page as you scan. AdobeScan works so well, you don’t need to adjust the document cropping as you go along.

by KPerkins!!!!!!!

During the pandemic, Adobe Scanner has been my lifeline for online learning! I’ve used it to send in test answers (the small file makes it easier to submit than images), submit pages and pages of lab reports in one file, and submit it in a way that’s easy for my teachers to access. There are basic editing functions that are easy to understand once you’ve captured your documents like rotating, cropping (in a more abstract way if needed rather than just a square), and coloring. It’s always reliable, I think I’ve only had one issue where something didn’t submit through Canvas, but that was my fault for not double checking and also probably was a Canvas or user error. In addition to school, I use Adobe Scanner to store recipes on my phone in a way that doesn’t take up my storage as much as images! I highly recommend AdobeScan for any students online learning toolkit, period.

by Debutante2013

From having used AdobeScan for a little while now, I have found it helpful and convenient for scanning and sending documents on the go. AdobeScan is very easy to use, and allows you to send files through most apps that one would need to access pdf files through (ex: gmail, google drive, yahoo mail, Evernote, and so forth). I really appreciate how it allows me to save the pdf files within AdobeScan , so that I can access them at anytime. Thus far, I have had no problems emailing the pdf files through my gmail app, and saving them to google drive. AdobeScan scans very well, allowing the documents to come out clear, bright, and easy to read. I have also found that it works well with faxing apps, allowing me to be able to fax documents on the go with ease.

Highly recommend for those who are working, college students, and anyone who does not have time to scan and send documents via a printer. You will not be disappointed!

by FoojyPod

I work outside my physical office many days of the week and find this has been an awesome tool that I can use anywhere to document transactions, take pictures of signed documents, checks that I write, letters that I receive, or simply anything at all that I want to document for later records or proof of events. I can photograph flat objects like documents, any kind of paper, even 3-D items I want to remember. I can photograph people and/or places and just click the button and I have a PDF record of the transaction, the person(s), the place where something happened or even a scenic shot.i can access the PDF documents from the cloud wherever I am, and using Adobe Professional Version add text, images, diagrams, notes or even other images and then easily distribute by email to friends, family or colleagues. Makes the job of documenting business or pleasure a breeze! I highly recommend it for anyone who works in the field, out of the office, or from a home office.

by NvrDoRvws

I hate writing reviews, but when I get an app that is free and does exactly what I was expecting (with no ads btw), I feel compelled to write a good review since they aren’t making any money off from me. It was simple, easy to use, and had more features than I was expecting. It allows seamlessly easy photo taking of any document/business card/etc., and allows you to crop it how you would like it, or has an auto feature that works wonders. I messed up on some paperwork I needed to fill out, so I tried for an hour to find a scanner that would allow me to upload the image into a pdf file, and allow me to ‘clean’ up the document so I could refill out properly. It did exactly that with no stinking ads constantly popping up, and without any pop-ups that ask you to do a free trial or to sign up for $X money. I’m very impressed by the simplicity AdobeScan gives me, and hope this review helps others looking for the same thing I was about an hour ago, lol.

by Denniscd

The software is free, more intricate than it may seem, easy to use, and is backed by the comittment of Adobe, Inc. Product continues to improve, and combined with Acrobat or other Adobe iPad Pro apps, just about as good for someone who preserves, categorizes, presents, and shares documents after easy editing and repesoitory in the Creative or Document clouds. In the end, its user choice, with some good alternatives, but this has long term potential and integration is important for ease of use and quality control. I always return to Adobe Scan after trying everything else new. The developers I believe, will maintain their pride in applying knowledge from so many areas within Adobe, that it will become a “Professional” Standard in not too long. Enjoy watching techology change at an accelerating pace. We are envisioning capabilities as though they will come to fuition in a year, but what we can only imagine now, is already very likely a reaity in the making all around us. Thanks Adobe.
DDoherty

by CrossFire Legal Docs.

Incredibly handy, effective, and helpful. Take a moment how to learn how to use AdobeScan/software, and you won’t be disappointed. I’m not even super techy and it wasn’t hard to operate. I really could go on and on, but give it a try and you’ll definitely see yourself, especially if you’re a regular desktop to PC scanner. Ahhhhhmazing! If you don’t have access to a desktop scanner, or can’t get yours up and running, or on the go and can’t get to one and need to scan something, this is hands down one handy app. For personal or business use, it’s going to deliver. With AdobeScan on the go, you could literally work from the tailgate of your truck if you had to. It’s actually so cool and easy, it makes you want to scan stuff that you’d normally not, or put off. If you can hold your tablet or phone steady for pictures, then you can scan with this. Not to mention all the extra tools and features. As always, through the decades of use, Adobe continues to deliver and stay up on top of the technology game.

by DragonScale22

this app is my go-to app if I need multiple images into a pdf, which is often the case for my school submissions. I think the default scan filter can be a bit finicky depending on how dark you write, but you can go into the filters and change it back to the original color and then it’s perfect.

Pros:
-Can scan directly through AdobeScan , or upload photos you already took/images you already have.
-Very concise cropping of images, not just sliding of sides horizontally or vertically but also changing corners of where you crop for accuracy
-Auto crop feature is pretty good for doing it automatically/quickly even if it isn’t perfect
-Multiple scan settings. I think it has one for open books among others. I haven’t checked that out in full detail though.

Cons:
-Default scanner is picky about how dark you write
-I haven’t found a default setting to use the original color every time, so I’ve had to change filters manually every time. It’s a bit annoying, but not a dealbreaker for me.
-I have shaky hands and it requires a still photo, which can sometimes be an issue depending on how bad my tremor is that day. I would appreciate something like the “live photo” setting on Apple that shows the best image over a small timeframe.

Overall this app is the most universal scanner across file types while also being not too basic or complicated. Despite the cons, it’s the best scanner I’ve found hence the 5/5 rating. Hope this review is helpful

by TurtleWise

AdobeScan functions with the quality & ease I’ve come to expect from Adobe. If it starts automatically snapping runaway shots click on the icon just to left of the photo icon circle to stop it. Everything is simple & straight-forward. As far as I can tell, AdobeScan is free whereas others charge fees for the same functionality. The card feature is a breeze for biz cards & others to eliminate clutter in my virtual & physical wallets. The book format is a useful feature for long pages as well as books. Adobe also offers a premium app which probably enables edits & even more features ~ I haven’t tried that one. The standard Adobe Scan w/ features provides a way to separately save & organize scans in PDF or JPG with document quality & compression, instead of mixing them all together as photos. Glad I finally downloaded this Adobe app, should’ve done it sooner instead of wasting time trying others!

by Sbma44

I couldn’t get any scans to save when I first installed this despite closing AdobeScan , reauthing—all sorts of stuff. Now, weeks later, it works fine. Maybe it needed a phone restart? Who knows.

The other major bug is that it appears to not have a notion of folder hierarchy in Google Drive beyond one level. Hard to say if this is Adobe’s fault or Apple’s, because Drive integration appears to only be available via the iOS “share” menu. It’d be nice to have new docs sent to a preferred cloud provider automatically rather than just Adobe’s—the share workflow is clunky—but perhaps this is best filed under “don’t hate the player, hate the game”.

Otherwise AdobeScan does a nice job of border detection, OCRing and sane defaults for leveling colors etc. No watermarks in the free edition! And the upsells seem to be for other adobe apps, not for features. In this respect it compares favorably to CamScanner (though the capture process is perhaps a bit slower).

by Vivitude1

Too soon to tell. The program keeps shutting down while scanning. I don’t yet know if the OCR function works, nor have I had time to figure out how to turn off auto scan. I’ll have a better idea once I’ve had a chance to use AdobeScan for more than 10 min or have just scanned only 5 pages. I would have waited to comment except an annoying pop-up showed up on the screen asking me to review AdobeScan right in the middle of when I was trying to save a pdf, so if my document wasn’t saved, I’ll feel even more annoyed than I was with AdobeScan only 10 mins ago. If I may make a suggestion it would be to please wait a little while longer to ask for a review and figure out a way to do it during a moment when there isn’t any scanning saving activity going on. Most people don’t want to stop and review an app when they’re in the middle of using it, especially apps that replace often used office machinery and tasky work like activities. Thx.

by Seanpaulcurran

Up front, I’m giving AdobeScan four stars only because the scan process is not as streamlined as I would like it to be (the scan can be a little frustrating when it does not get the entire page). OTHER THAN THAT. This is a useful technology that is highly efficient in creating PDF documents that used to take one scan per page on a slow printer.

So I’m very happy that I found AdobeScan and I do highly recommend it. I used AdobeScan with a 12 page medical document today, I am really happy that I didn’t have to scan twelve pages; one by one on a traditional scanner. It cut my documentation time down by about twenty minutes !. I got this done in 10 minutes with AdobeScan !.

Adobe could improve on the apps process of “hover” technology in which sometimes AdobeScan takes a photo too soon and results in a cut off doc photo. After a few delete / re shoot - I got it done.

by Hfjsidje

Being a business person on the go, I’m not always near a copier or printer to be able to scan documents. AdobeScan has been life saving. I also try to upload everything into cloud based storage systems and drives for clients so the ability to take a picture, have it converted into a .pdf for less storage space is a Godsend. I now use it daily and love how I cannot only upload to where I want it to go but I can also email and text the docs immediately. Quality is as good as the camera on your phone. It will pick up colors although the letting AdobeScan choose the parameters of what you want on the document can be frustrating if there are lines that separate sections. But that is very minor and can be fixed by just moving the phone closer or farther away. I even have other colleagues using AdobeScan now because of the convenience.

by Overstimulated

I journal a lot, and make plans and lists for what I want to do with my life. Unfortunately I do this with any spare notebook or piece of paper and so then I have a hard time throwing things away because they feel like important documentation of major turning points in my life. I like rediscovering them to see how far I’ve come, but they left my place cluttered.

I’ve never had such an easy practical way of securely archiving all these various scraps. The pics with my phone are shockingly clear and the apt makes it easy to control the edges and make multi-page documents so it’s easy for me to make collections of writings and pictures. Reading my hand-written scrawl in odd form is actually easy and enjoyable. Thank you for making it easy to de clutter while still hanging on to every memory!

by Blue Becky

AdobeScan really saved me big time! I’m impressed with how easy it is to use.. I was in a hurry so I didn’t even look to see if it has a tutorial! I am the process of trying to get my son enrolled in school where there is serious competition.. so little things like an unreadable, blurry or cut off document can mean you lose your spot.. this happened to me and if I hadn’t found this appt Adobe so that I could quickly scan and upload the content...it was a legal sized document, so trying to take a picture was almost impossible! I have an iPhone 6, it took about 3 minutes to download and open , and another two for me to figure it out and get both pages flawless and emailed out to the school! 5 minutes!!!! M so thankful as we would have lost our place of I’d had to go out and find somewhere to help. So thank adobe!!!

by Yogi Angeles

This is one of my favorite apps I use to save any document or receipt I want to have on hand and available to refer to in the future. I have tried several different scanning apps and Adobe Scan is by far the best scanning app available. My documents, receipts, photos, etc. come out perfect every time! Adobe really goes above and beyond when it comes to making their apps user friendly while also providing as many options as possible for the customer’s convenience. This is why AdobeScan is my “go to” when I need to scan in snd preserve a document, receipt, etc. I am never disappointed with the final product. Thank you for taking the time to think of the customer and going that extra mile when developing the apps you have available on the market so far. I will continue to look for Adobe products first for all of my project needs!

by Lady.CF

I had to scan and send a copy of my lease to a company within two days of downloading AdobeScan and surprisingly, it worked perfectly!

Quick, intuitive, and straightforward. Most importantly, the final version of the scanned document looked legit, as if scanned with a large, high-end machine. Very, very impressed, as I was concerned the final PDF would look wonky or have skewed alignment. Not the case at all.

My only feedback for improvement would be for Adobe to combine AdobeScan with the main Adobe app as well as with the Fill & Sign App. Storage on my phone isn’t an issue but having one app that does three major tasks would be the most ideal scenario. Either way, AdobeScan works well for what it advertises. I hope the quality is maintained. For now and after using it with excellent results, 5-stars.