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Enhance scanned file or camera image

Last updated on Oct 1, 2024 | Also applies to Adobe Acrobat 2017, Adobe Acrobat 2020

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Enhance scanned file or camera images for clear PDFs

You can capture document photos with your smartphone and use the Enhance camera image feature to create polished, clear, and compact PDFs without needing a standard scanner. This feature addresses common issues in mobile-captured images, such as incorrect perspectives, areas beyond boundaries, shadows, and inconsistent lighting. While it may not eliminate all problems, it significantly improves the overall quality of your resulting PDF.

Enhance camera image

Open the photograph or image of the document in Acrobat.
From the All tools menu, select Scan & OCR.
From the left panel, select Enhance camera image and then from the dialog that opens, select Enhance.

The image is enhanced and a PDF of the image is shown.
(Optional) To further adjust the default enhancement level, drag the Adjust enhancement level slider in the secondary toolbar.
(Optional) If required, adjust the page border using the blue circle handles at the corners of the photo. Select Enhance.
Save the PDF file.

Enhance scanned file

Open the scanned file in Acrobat.
From the All tools menu, select Scan & OCR > Enhance scanned file.
In the pop-up dialog box, choose the Pages you wish to enhance and select Recognize text to identify text within the document.
Select Enhance.

Enhance scanned file settings

Select Settings to access the Enhance Scanned PDF dialog box and adjust image filtering and compression options as needed for quality, size, or specific scanning issues.

Settings	Details
Apply Adaptive Compression	Divides each page into black-and-white, grayscale, and color regions and chooses a representation that preserves appearance while highly compressing each type of content. The recommended scanning resolutions are 300 dots per inch (dpi) for grayscale and RGB input, or 600 dpi for black-and-white input.
Color/Grayscale	When scanning color or grayscale pages, select one of the following: JPEG- Applies JPEG compression to the colored image content. JPEG2000- Applies JPEG2000 compression to the colored image content. (This setting is not recommended when creating PDF/A files. Use JPEG instead.) ZIP- Applies ZIP compression to the colored image content.
Monochrome	When scanning black-and-white or monotone images, select one of the following: CCITT Group 4- Applies CCITT Group 4 compression to black-and-white input page images. JBIGT (Lossless) and JBIGT (Lossy)- Applies the JBIG2 compression method to black-and-white input pages. The highest-quality levels use the lossless method; the text is highly compressed at lower settings. Text pages typically are 60% smaller than CCITT Group 4 compressed pages, but processing is slow.
Small Size/High Quality	Sets the balance point between file size and quality.
Filters	Deskew- Rotates any page that is not square with the sides of the scanner bed, to make the PDF page align vertically. Choose On or Off. Background removal- Rotates any page that is not square with the sides of the scanner bed, to make the PDF page align vertically. Choose On or Off. Descreen- Removes halftone dot structure, which can reduce JPEG compression, cause moire patterns, and make text difficult to recognize. Suitable for 200–400-dpi grayscale or RGB input or, for Adaptive Compression, 400–600-dpi black-and-white input. The On setting (recommended) applies the filter for 300 dpi or higher grayscale and RGB input. Select Off when scanning a page with no pictures or filled areas, or when scanning at a resolution higher than the effective range. Text Sharpening- Sharpens the text of the scanned PDF file. The default value is low and suitable for most documents. Increase it if the quality of the printed document is low and the text is unclear.
Text Recognition Options	Document Language- Specifies the OCR engine's language to identify the characters. Output- Determines the type of PDF to produce. All options require an input resolution of 72 dpi or higher (recommended). All formats apply OCR, font, and page recognition to the text images and convert them to normal text.

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