How to use the Scan function and Microsoft Lens to digitize editable documents

Turning a mobile phone into a powerful scanner is no longer science fiction. Today, with the feature Office Scan and the app Microsoft LensIt is possible to go from a crumpled piece of paper to an editable document in WordScan PowerPoint or Excel files in seconds, without needing a physical scanner at home or in the office. It also works seamlessly with other apps like CamScanner, Adobe Scan, and the native scanners on iOS and Android, which have revolutionized the way we work and study.

In this article we will look, calmly and in detail, at how to take advantage the scanning function to digitize editable documentsWhat does Microsoft Lens offer compared to other scanning applications, and how to integrate it with OneNote? OneDrive and Office 365, and what alternatives exist when you just want something quick and easy from your mobile device. We'll also review best practices for ensuring your scans are clean, legible, and ready for editing.

What is Microsoft Lens and the Scan feature in the Office app?

Microsoft Lens (formerly known as Office Lens) is a Microsoft free app Designed to turn your mobile phone's camera into a versatile scanner. Its aim is to transform any photo of a document, whiteboard, or business card into something perfectly legible, cropped, and ready to save or edit in digital format.

This tool allows Capture images of documents, whiteboards, photos, or cards, automatically correct perspective, improve contrast, eliminate shadows and reflections and, most interestingly, recognize text using OCR (Optical character recognition) so you can edit it in Word, PowerPoint, or even export it to Excel.

The Scan function of the Office app (or Microsoft Lens integrated into the Microsoft 365 ecosystem) focuses on digitize documents so they don't just remain as images, but I know convert to PDFs or editable fileswhich you can save to OneNote, OneDrive, or your device itself. You can also import images you already have in your phone's gallery and convert them into digital documents.

Main uses of Microsoft Lens and the Scan function

Microsoft Lens is designed for work, study, or personal use. Its main advantage is that It centralizes most scanning scenarios into a single app.From an invoice to a whiteboard full of ideas after a meeting.

productivity at work

In a professional setting, the app behaves like a true pocket scanner for any type of documentationIt is especially useful if you work remotely, travel a lot, or simply don't have a traditional scanner handy.

With Microsoft Lens you can Scan notes, tickets, printed documents, and contracts and quickly upload them to the cloud. Once captured, you can save them as PDFImage, Word document, or PowerPoint presentation, and send them by email, share them with your team, or archive them in OneDrive.

Another very practical use is capture the contents of a whiteboard at the end of a meetingLens corrects perspective, cleans glare, and improves contrast so that information is perfectly legible, even if you took the photo from an odd angle. This way, agreements and to-dos aren't lost when you erase the whiteboard.

The app also allows digitize business cards to turn them into contactsYou scan the card, Lens recognizes the name, phone number, email, and other information, and lets you save it directly to your address book or Microsoft services like Outlook. It's a quick way to organize your network without having a stack of business cards on your desk.

Productivity in the educational field

In the educational environment, Microsoft Lens has become a very useful tool for students, teachers and opposition candidates who increasingly want to do without paper. It facilitates both content capture and its subsequent organization and editing.

With Lens you can Scan class handouts, printed notes, and materials provided by teachersand then open them in Word or OneNote to add comments, summaries, or digital highlights. The OCR-recognized text can be edited (it works especially well with English documents and clear printed text).

It is also very useful for capture blackboards and chalkboards during classesYou take a photo in whiteboard mode, and the app removes reflections, corrects tilt, and enhances text and marker or chalk strokes, so you can then review the explanation without relying on crooked or blurry photos.

Thanks to OneNote integrationIt's easy to keep all your class notes organized by subject and topic. You can scan notes, upload them to a OneNote notebook, and access them from your computer, tablet, or any other device where you have your Microsoft account.

Specialized scanning modes in Microsoft Lens

One of the key features of Microsoft Lens is that it offers specific scanning modes depending on the type of contentEach mode automatically applies cropping, color enhancements, and adjustments designed for the specific use you intend to give the capture.

Document mode is optimized for collect printed text on sheets, contracts, invoices or formsIt adjusts perspective, enhances contrast, and improves the readability of text in black and white or color, making it ideal for generating PDFs or editable Word files.

Whiteboard mode focuses on Capture whiteboards or blackboards in classrooms and meeting roomsIt eliminates a good portion of the shadows, reflections and glare from the plastic, corrects the tilt and highlights the marker writing so that the result is legible even if you were far away or at an angle to the board.

Photo mode is useful when you want to save images as more classic photographsBut corrected and cropped. Here the priority is not so much the text, but preserving the image well, for example, a slide from a presentation or an informational poster.

Business card mode is designed for recognize and extract contact information from a business cardIt identifies fields such as name, company, phone, email, and website, and offers the option to directly create a new contact on your phone or in your Microsoft 365 account.

From photo to editable document: OCR and output formats

A key aspect of the Office Scan function and Microsoft Lens is their OCR capability, that is, the Integrated Optical Character RecognitionThis system analyzes the letters in the image and converts them into selectable and editable digital text.

When you scan a document with Lens and choose to save it as Word file or PowerPoint presentationThe system attempts to preserve the original design: titles, paragraphs, lists, images, and, as far as possible, the document formatting. Afterward, you can edit the content as you would with any standard Office file.

The screenshots can also be saved as PDF or as an image (JPG)PDF is perfect for sending documents that don't need many subsequent modifications and for archiving them, while the image format can be useful if you're going to quickly share something via messaging or social media.

Another very interesting option is to use Lens for digitize handwritten notesAlthough handwriting recognition is more delicate than with printed text, the app allows you to capture notebooks, notes, or diagrams written in pen or pencil, and in certain languages ​​(such as English) it can attempt to convert some of that content into editable text.

Integration with OneNote, OneDrive and the Microsoft 365 ecosystem

One of Microsoft Lens's biggest strengths compared to other scanning apps is its deep integration with OneNote, OneDrive, and the rest of OfficeIf you use Microsoft 365 at work or in class, Lens fits perfectly into your workflow.

From the application itself you can Save scanned documents directly to OneNotewithin a specific notebook and section. This allows you to keep your scans organized alongside handwritten notes, screenshots, web clippings, and other study or work materials.

Integration with OneDrive makes it easier each generated PDF, image, or Word file automatically syncs to the cloudSo, if you scan a contract with your mobile phone, you can open and print it instantly from your office computer, or share it with your team without having to manually send files.

When you connect Lens to a office 365 accountThe possibilities expand: automatic cloud saving, easy access from Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, and more convenient editing on any device. Without that account, you can still use the app, but the options are more limited. storage local and to the basic use of the image or PDF.

Other mobile scanning apps: alternatives and add-ons

Although Microsoft Lens and the Scan function in the Office app cover the productivity aspects of Microsoft 365 very well, the market for scanning apps is quite broad and there are other very powerful solutions for digitizing documentseach with its own particular approach.

Text Fairy: Advanced OCR on Android

Text Fairy is an Android application focused almost exclusively on the OCR recognition in multiple languagesIts main objective is not so much to generate beautiful PDFs, but to extract editable text from an image.

With this app you can Take a photo of a document or choose an image from the galleryNext, you adjust the framing, indicate the language of the text, and let the system recognize the characters. It's important that the photo is in focus and well-lit to improve the OCR results.

Once the process is complete, Text Fairy It displays the resulting text and highlights in red any potentially misinterpreted words.so you can review and correct them. Then you can edit the text almost as if you were in Word, copy it to clipboard, translate it with Google Translate, save it in PDF format or even ask the application to read it aloud.

Tiny Scanner: simple file without OCR

Tiny Scanner is available for iOS and Android and focuses on offering a Very easy-to-use document scanner, although without OCRIn other words, it allows you to digitize, organize, and share, but not to make the text editable.

With this app you can Create multi-page documents from new photos or images you already have on your mobile phoneThe thumbnail view makes it easy to rearrange pages by dragging them with your finger, which is convenient for putting together a PDF with several pages in the correct order.

The screenshots can be saved as image or as PDF, with different color modes: full color, grayscale or black and white, plus several levels of contrast to better highlight monochromatic texts.

Another advantage of Tiny Scanner is the possibility of organizing documents into folderssimilar to how you would do it on a computer. It even allows you to set a password to access the app and protect your content. There's a paid Pro version that removes ads and adds some extra features.

Genius Scan: Batch scanning and extended export

Genius Scan, available on iOS and Android, is quite similar to Tiny Scanner in concept: Digitizes documents such as images or PDFs without full OCRBut it does so with a strong focus on productivity.

The app allows scan documents individually or in batchesusing the built-in camera or saved images. It has basic functions such as cropping, rotating, and applying automatic filters adapted to black and white or color documents, as well as selecting different page formats (A4, letter, receipt, business card, etc.).

In the free version, scans are saved such as PDFs stored on the device's memory or sent via emailThe paid version, Genius Scan+, greatly expands the export options: it allows you to send documents to services such as Box, Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, OneDrive, OneNote and others, as well as import PDFs from other apps, protect files with a passcode and work without advertising.

iScanner: scanning with the option to sign documents

iScanner, available for iOS and Android, follows a similar approach to Tiny Scanner and Genius Scan: Digitizing documents without focusing on OCRbut adding a key feature for many users: the signature.

With iScanner you can scan with the camera or import existing imagesCrop the screenshots, adjust brightness and contrast, and add pages to the same file. The result can be saved as a JPG or PDF and easily shared.

What makes this app different is that It allows you to write and sign directly on digitized documentsIf you receive a contract, you print it, sign it with a pen, scan it with iScanner, add the necessary signature or notes, and send it by email without having to use a computer.

The Pro version of iScanner removes advertising and It adds cloud storage options. with services like Dropbox, Google Drive, or Evernote. It's a very interesting option for those who handle many documents that require signatures or quick notes.

CamScanner and Adobe Scan: giants of mobile scanning

Alongside Microsoft Lens, two names stand out in the world of mobile scanning: CamScanner and Adobe ScanBoth applications offer a very high level of image quality and advanced features, and they compete directly with each other in many aspects.

CamScanner: Multi-language OCR and advanced features

CamScanner is one of the most popular scanning apps thanks to its Powerful OCR in over 100 languages and its comprehensive set of document editing and management tools.

Its text recognition technology allows Convert the content of a contract, invoice, or long document into editable and searchable textYou can export the result to formats such as TXT, Word, or Excel, which is very useful for students digitizing notes or professionals working with many contracts or reports.

In addition to OCR, CamScanner includes tools for annotation, highlighting, digital signatures, and custom watermarksIt also allows you to merge multiple PDFs into one, split large documents into smaller files, and password-protect documents.

Their business model is freemium: the free version is quite complete, but It adds a watermark to documents and limits certain functions.The premium subscription, payable monthly or annually, removes these limitations, expands cloud storage, unlocks full OCR editing and advanced export to Office formats, making it almost indispensable in intensive professional environments.

Adobe Scan: High-quality scanning at no cost

Adobe Scan relies on the Artificial Intelligence de Adobe Sensei to offer very high quality scans, with a very strong focus on the visual cleanliness of the document and its integration with the Adobe cloud.

The application automatically detects the document's edges, Corrects perspective, removes shadows, and adjusts brightness and contrast, typically generating very clean and readable PDFs, often comparable to or better than many traditional desktop scanners.

Documents are saved by default as PDF in Adobe Document Cloudwhich allows access to them from any device with Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you're an Acrobat Pro subscriber, you can edit the text and images in those PDFs, rearrange pages, or export to different file formats.

Unlike other apps, Adobe Scan is completely free and adds no watermarks to the documents. Unlimited scanning, OCR, and basic cloud storage are free; Adobe's business model relies on you eventually subscribing to Acrobat Pro if you need advanced PDF editing.

Native scanning features on iOS and Android

If you only need something occasional and don't want to install more apps, both iOS and Android offer integrated scanning functions as standard which, for basic uses, work very well.

On iOS, the Notes app allows scan documents directly from a noteSimply create a new note, tap the camera icon, and select "Scan documents." The system detects the edges, corrects the perspective, and generates a multi-page document if needed, with more than decent quality for occasional use.

On Android, the Google Drive app includes a scanning option that saves the result as a PDF on your driveSimply tap the "+" button, select "Scan," and point your camera at the document. The resulting PDF text becomes searchable thanks to Google's OCR, making it easy to find documents later.

Best practices for scanning documents with your mobile phone

To take advantage of the Scan function in Office, Microsoft Lens, or any other app, it's advisable to follow a series of steps. good practices that improve scan qualityIt's not enough to just point and shoot: small details make a big difference.

The first thing is to take care of the lighting and backgroundTry to scan in a well-lit area, ideally with diffused natural light. Avoid harsh shadows on the paper and reflections from lamps. Place the document on a contrasting surface (for example, a dark background if the paper is white) so the app can better detect the edges.

It is also important keep the mobile phone as parallel to the document as possibleAlthough apps can correct perspective, if you start from an exaggerated angle, the quality will suffer. Make sure the entire document is within the frame before taking the photo.

Thirdly, it is advisable take advantage of automatic edge detectionBut don't rely on it completely. Let the app outline the image, and then manually adjust the corners if necessary to prevent background images from showing through or text from being cut off. Precise cropping gives the PDF a much more professional look.

Finally, if you're going to do OCR, try to make sure the The text should be well-defined, without blurriness or dirt.Avoid using heavily wrinkled or stained paper; if necessary, take several shots and choose the clearest one. In handwritten documents, write clearly and neatly to facilitate recognition.

In a world moving towards a paperless world, combining the Office Scan function, Microsoft Lens, and various scanning apps like CamScanner, Adobe Scan, Text Fairy, Tiny Scanner, Genius Scan, or iScanner allows instantly transform stacks of papers into organized, searchable, and always-available files in the cloudChoosing one tool over another will depend on whether you prioritize Microsoft 365 integration, image quality, OCR capabilities, the ability to sign documents, or simply the speed of an occasional scan from iOS or Android, but in all cases your smartphone It becomes a key tool for working and studying without relying on a traditional scanner.