How to scan a book with Scanner Pro

Scanning a book with your iPhone sounds like it should be complicated, but with the right app and a few technique adjustments, you can digitize a textbook, reference manual, or journal in a single session without bending the spine or losing page quality. Scanner Pro's dedicated Book Mode handles the hard parts automatically, making it the fastest way to turn physical books into searchable, shareable PDFs.

How to scan a book using Scanner Pro's Book Mode

Scanner Pro has a Book Mode built specifically for this task. It detects both open pages at once, splits them into separate pages automatically, and applies perspective correction so curved text near the spine reads cleanly.

Step 1: Prepare your setup

Place the book on a flat, stable surface: a desk or table works well. Good lighting matters more than most people expect. Natural light from a window, or a desk lamp positioned at an angle, reduces shadows across the pages. Avoid scanning directly under overhead lighting that creates a glare on glossy paper.

Open the book to your starting page. Hold it open gently, you don't need to flatten it completely. 

Pro tip: For best results, match your phone's orientation to the book's. If the book is in portrait position, hold your iPhone in portrait. If the book is landscape, rotate your phone to landscape. The goal is for the book pages to fill as much of the camera frame as possible.

Step 2: Open Book Mode in Scanner Pro

1. Tap the large orange Camera button at the bottom.
2. Above the shutter button, you'll see scanning mode options. Swipe or tap to select Book.
3. Point the camera at the open book. Scanner Pro will detect the pages automatically, you don't need to tap the shutter manually each time.

The app captures both visible pages simultaneously, then splits them into two separate scanned pages.

Step 3: Scan page by page

Work through the book at a steady pace. After each two-page spread is captured, turn to the next spread and let the auto-capture trigger again.

Pro tip: Scan the first 10-15 pages, save, and review them on your screen before continuing. Check that the text is sharp, the crop is accurate, and the split between left and right pages is clean. It's faster to catch alignment issues early than to rescan 80 pages.

Step 4: Review and edit

Once scanning is complete, your pages appear in My Scans. To clean up individual pages:

1. Tap any page to open it.
2. Tap Edit at the bottom of the screen.
3. Use Crop to adjust framing or rotate a skewed page.
4. Use Eraser to remove fingers or thumb edges that appear in the frame.
5. Use Color Mode to switch between Color, Black & White, Grayscale, or Photo depending on the content. 

Step 5: Export as PDF

Tap Export at the bottom of the screen. Select PDF as the format, choose your preferred file size, and share via AirDrop, email, cloud storage, or any other app.

Scanner Pro saves the entire scanned book as a single PDF file, with pages in order. You can also export as a Word or PowerPoint file if needed with the Scanner Pro Plus subscription.

How to scan a book without damaging it

This is the most common concern and the reason dedicated book scanning exists as a workflow separate from regular document scanning. A few habits protect both the book and the scan quality:

Don't force the spine flat. The biggest risk to a book is over-bending the binding. Book Mode is designed for naturally open books: you only need to open the pages enough to lay them flat relative to the table, not press the spine down hard.

Scan in small batches. Scanning 20-30 pages at a time, then saving and taking a short break, prevents fatigue-driven handling mistakes. It also means you can check quality as you go.

Use two hands on the pages. Gently hold down the top corners of both pages while Scanner Pro captures the shot. This minimizes page curl without straining the binding.

Avoid glossy covers and photo pages under direct light. Glare on coated paper washes out detail. Angle the book slightly or reduce direct light when you hit these sections.

Remove bookmarks and loose inserts first. They create raised edges that throw off the page detection.

Getting readable text: OCR for scanned books

Scanning a book to PDF gives you an image of each page. If you want to search the text, copy passages, or translate content, you need OCR (optical character recognition) to add a text layer.

Scanner Pro's OCR processes text entirely on-device across 26 languages. Your document data stays on your device, and nothing is sent to external servers. This matters for students working with sensitive research materials or professionals handling confidential documents.

To run OCR on a scanned book:

1. Open any page from your scanned book.
2. Tap the Text button at the bottom right.
3. Scanner Pro recognizes the text and overlays it on the scan. Switch to the Text tab at the top to see extracted text only.
4. Copy selected text, tap Copy All, or export the text layer to another app.

For books in non-Latin languages (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian, and others), go to Settings > Text Recognition (OCR) and select the appropriate language group before processing.

Can Scanner Pro read a book aloud?

Scanner Pro doesn't include a built-in text-to-speech reader, but it works with iOS's built-in accessibility features. After extracting text via OCR, you can copy it to an app like Voice Dream Reader or use iOS Speak Screen (Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content) to have the text read back to you. The OCR output in Scanner Pro is clean enough to feed directly into any text-to-speech tool.

Scanning a textbook for a semester: a student workflow

For students digitizing course materials before the semester starts, here's a practical approach.

Prioritize chapters, not the whole book. Rather than scanning an entire 400-page textbook in one session, identify the chapters you'll actually use. This cuts scanning time significantly and keeps file sizes manageable.

Use folders to organize by course. In Scanner Pro, tap the three-dot menu > New Folder > name it after your course or subject. Move each book's scan into the relevant folder so you're not searching through a long list.

Run OCR after scanning each chapter. Searchable PDFs are far more useful for studying: you can use Scanner Pro's full-text search to find any term across all your scans instantly.

Set up cloud backup. Connect Scanner Pro to iCloud Drive or Google Drive (Settings > Services) and enable Auto Upload. Your scans sync automatically, so they're accessible from any device and protected against phone loss. Auto Upload requires Scanner Pro Plus.

Export to PDF Expert for annotation. Scanner Pro integrates directly with PDF Expert, Readdle's PDF editor, for highlighting, note-taking, and bookmarking. If you already use both apps, this is the natural next step for a study workflow.

Book scanning in Scanner Pro vs. other methods

Phone camera. Takes a photo but doesn't process perspective, split pages, or apply enhancement. Usable in a pinch; not suitable for a full textbook.

Flatbed scanner. Better image quality than a phone for fragile or rare materials, but requires pressing the book face-down, which strains the binding. Doesn't split two-page spreads automatically. Practical for a few pages; tedious for a full book.

Dedicated book scanner. The highest quality option for archival or institutional use, with a V-shaped cradle that holds the book at an angle. These could be quite pricey and aren't practical for most students or individuals.

Scanner Pro. The fastest non-destructive option for everyday book digitization. Book Mode handles detection, splitting, and perspective correction automatically. OCR makes the output searchable. For students, researchers, and professionals digitizing reference materials, it covers everything needed without specialized hardware.

FAQ

What's the easiest way to scan a book? 

Open the book on a flat surface, use Scanner Pro's Book mode, and let the app auto-capture each two-page spread. It detects pages, corrects perspective, and splits the spread automatically. You don't need a flatbed scanner or any additional hardware.

How do I scan a book to PDF on iPhone? 

Open Scanner Pro, tap the Plus button, select Book mode, and scan page by page. The app saves everything as a PDF automatically. Tap Export to save or share the file.

How do I scan a book without damaging it? 

Open pages only as far as needed, don't flatten the spine. Scan in portrait orientation for best page coverage. Use the Eraser tool in edit mode to remove any fingers that appeared at the edges.

What app can scan a book and read it to me? 

Scanner Pro can scan the book and extract the text via OCR. For text-to-speech playback, copy the extracted text to a dedicated reader app or use iOS's built-in Speak Screen feature (Settings > Accessibility > Spoken Content).

How much does it cost to digitize a book? 

Scanner Pro is free to download with basic scanning included. Scanner Pro Plus (required for OCR, full-text search, cloud auto-upload, and watermark-free exports) is available at $59.99/year. A 7-day free trial is available.

Can I scan a book in languages other than English?

Yes. Scanner Pro's OCR supports 26 languages including French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Ukrainian, and others. Select your language group under Settings > Text Recognition (OCR) before processing.

How long does it take to scan a 200-page book? 

With Book Mode capturing two pages per shot, a 200-page book is 100 spreads. At a comfortable pace of about 3-5 seconds per spread, that's roughly 5-8 minutes of active scanning. Add time for reviews and any edits.

Does Scanner Pro split the two pages automatically? 

Yes. Book Mode detects the open spine and splits each two-page spread into two separate scanned pages. You don't need to scan one page at a time.