How many times have you used WhatsApp to send a photo of a document to a relative or friend? From a ID card to a sheet you need for any application, the popular messaging app has become the medium we use to share these important files that we usually send by taking a simple photo. But sometimes these photos are poorly taken and you cant fully read all the information on the page, which is why WhatsApp has chosen to roll out an option to scan a document directly.
Without needing to go through a printer/scanner, with your phone and WhatsApp you’ll be able to “scan” sheets and photos so the image is straight, without reflections and without strange angles. In short, as if you had truly scanned it.
Scan any document with WhatsApp
This isn’t new, since there were already dedicated apps like Google PhotoScan or Camscanner, but it’s never a bad idea to have this technology integrated into WhatsApp.
To use it is very simple; that said, make sure you have the app updated to its latest version so that the mentioned option appears.
- Open any conversation (in which you want to send a document).
- Tap the attach files icon and then Document.
- From the document options that appear, tap Scan document.
- The camera will open and you will have to focus on the entire document. As soon as the app recognizes the shape of the sheet, it will scan it automatically.
Place the smartphone as straight as possible relative to the document. You’ll see that WhatsApp itself will recognize the sheet and display a kind of green indicator outlining the shape of the sheet; immediately, it will take the capture automatically without even needing to touch the capture button. Likewise, it will automatically crop all the excess background and correct the position (as much as possible) to create that illusion that the file has been scanned.
Moreover, the camera will remain open in case you want to scan several sheets at once, ideal if you need to scan a two-sided document, or a document that consists of multiple pages.
Then, when you have everything ready, you will be able to send the result to the chat from which you opened the tool. Keep in mind that the crop will depend on how you focused the document in question. Make it easy for the app and avoid taking impossible low-angle shots when holding the smartphone as you proceed to “scan” your sheets.
And as we said before, this is also useful for sharing old printed photos we already have, since they won’t be crooked or blurred unlike a casual photograph. It may not be the best way to share these memories (remember that WhatsApp usually applies quite a high compression to the images we send through the app), but for those who don’t mind this technical detail much, it can be useful in certain moments.
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