Google Files adds a scanner - here's how to digitize your documents (2024)

FAQs

How do you digitize a Google Doc? ›

Google's file storage app now has a built-in scanner just for Android users. While apps to scan and organize documents are nothing new, they can be a bit cumbersome. Aside from using a third-party app, you're often left trying to figure out what folder your documents scanned to.

Digitization is the process of converting printed and handwritten text contained on a scanned document into a digital format that is readable by computers. Just like document scanning, the process starts with creating a digital image of the original document.

Get access to a scanner.

It can help you align and produce quality images, and, with OCR software (optical character recognition) can recognize and convert text into an accessible electronic format. A third option is to use the document scanning services of a company that does just that.

Scan documents, worksheets, applications, or other pieces of paper for personal, school or work reasons using one of these options. Use your built-in phone or tablet camera to take a photo of your document. Then, attach the photo to your email. This option turns your mobile device or tablet into a document scanner.

The Windows Scan app can help you scan pictures or documents and save them to your PC as JPEG, bitmap, or PNG files.

Adobe Scan

Adobe Scan runs as an app on your mobile device, whether it is running Android or iOS and uses your camera to catch a copy of a document to convert into a PDF file. There is a preview option to optimize the file dimensions, and you can rotate, crop, and edit the color as required.

Digitizing is what you do after scanning those paper files. It's a process in which scanning is the first step, but digitization goes a lot further. For example, a fully digitized work environment takes scanned files and organizes them based on name, keyword, or date.

For a scanned page, you will get a blurry image as soon at the resolution rate has been excedeed. On the contrary, for a native PDF, the graphics, vector-based, will remain smooth at any zoom level. The text in particular remains perfectly drawn.

Is a digital copy the same as a scanned copy? ›

The main difference that separates the two processes is usability. Both scanning and digitizing convert paper into digital data, however, digitization creates documents that are editable and can be searched using various criteria.

Sign into Google Docs. Open your document or create a new document. Save as PDF. For saving and sharing, click File, then Download and select PDF from the list.

Saving any document from Google Drive, like Docs, Slides, Sheets, or Forms, to your flash drive is easy! In Google Drive, right-click your document, then select "Download" and choose your USB flash drive from the next window.