Scanning documents

What scanning does

A photo of a paper usually has the table around it, a tilt and a shadow. Scanning fixes this. You give Flicx Sheet a photo of the paper. It finds the edges of the page, makes the page straight and flat, brightens it, and saves it as a PDF in your Library.

A scan can have many pages. A rental agreement of six pages becomes one PDF with six pages, in the right order.

• Keep copies of Aadhaar and PAN cards, mark sheets and certificates.
• Keep bills and warranty cards so you can find them later.
• Send a signed form to someone as one neat PDF.

TipA scan is a picture of the page. If you want the app to read a printed table and make a sheet from it, see Import and export.

Three ways to start a scan

On a computer, scanning starts from the Utilities tab in the top bar. Press it and a menu drops down. It works from any page of the app.

Where to find itTop bar›Utilities

All three end at the same place: a screen where you crop and clean each page, and then save.

Scan a document from photos on your computer

1. Press Utilities in the top bar, then Scan a document.
2. Choose the photos of the pages. You can choose many photos together. Each photo becomes one page.
3. Crop the first page and press Next. The next section shows how.
4. Choose a look for the page, and check the other pages.
5. Press Save to Library.

Crop and flatten the page

The scan screen opens on the Crop step. The app looks for the edges of the paper and puts a frame round it. Your job is only to check the frame.

1. Look at the frame. If a corner is not on the corner of the paper, drag its round handle to the right place.
2. Use the tools if you need them. Auto detect asks the app to find the page again. Full image stretches the frame over the whole photo. Left and Right turn a photo that is lying on its side.
3. Press Next. The app flattens the page and shows it to you.

A line of words under the photo tells you what the app found. Page found means the frame is on the paper. No page edges found means you have to drag the corners into place yourself.

TipFor a sharp scan, put the paper on a plain, darker surface, and take the photo from straight above in good light.

Choose a look, and arrange the pages

After Next you are on the Filters step. Here you choose how the page looks, add or remove pages, and save.

1. Choose a look for the page. A scan starts with Magic, which makes the paper white and the writing dark. The table below explains each look.
2. Use the strip of pages to move between pages. Click a page to see it. Press Add to add one more page. To remove the page you are on, press the small bin at its corner.
3. Choose PDF to save all pages as one PDF. Choose Images to save each page as a separate picture.
4. Press Save to Library.

The tools under the page help too. Crop takes you back to the frame of this page. Left and Right turn the page. Apply to all is shown when there is more than one page: it gives every page the look you chose for this one.

Please noteEach page has its own frame and its own look. When you add a page, crop that page as well before you save.

Where the scan is saved

A scan is saved in your Library, in a folder named Scans. The app makes this folder for you the first time.

Where to find itTop bar›Library›General›Scans

• The scan is named with the date and time, for example Scan 12 Jul 2026, 4.30 pm.
• Saved as PDF, you get one file with all the pages.
• Saved as Images, you get one picture for each page, numbered (1), (2), (3).
• A message at the corner of the screen tells you the scan was saved, with the file's name.

From the Library you can rename the scan, move it to another folder, download it or share it by link. See The Library.

Scan with your phone

This is the easiest way when you are sitting at a computer and the paper is on your desk. Your phone becomes the camera. The photos you take on the phone appear on the computer a few seconds later.

1. On the computer, press Utilities, then Scan with your phone. A window opens with a square code. Point your phone's camera at the code and open the link it shows. If you have the Flicx Sheet app on the phone, you can open its Camera tab instead. Sign in on the phone with the same account.
2. Take a photo of each page with the phone. Each photo appears in the window on the computer. If one photo is bad, click it in the window to leave it out.
3. Press the green button, which says Scan and the number of pictures. The crop screen opens with those pages.

The photos themselves are also kept in your Library, in a folder named Live captures. The finished scan goes to Scans as usual.

Scan from your Library

Use this when the photos of the pages are already in your Library, for example photos your phone added earlier.

1. Press Utilities, then Scan from your Library.
2. A window opens with the pictures of your Library, newest first. Use All to see every picture, or Folders to go to the folder you remember.
3. Tick the pictures of the pages.
4. Press Scan. The crop screen opens with those pages.

The pictures you chose stay where they are in the Library. The scan is a new file in Scans.

Scanning on a phone

On a phone you do not need the Utilities menu. The camera is one tap away.

1. Tap the round Camera button in the middle of the bar at the bottom.
2. Tap Document under the camera view.
3. Hold the phone above the paper and tap the big round button. The crop screen opens, the same as on a computer.

You can also start from the Library on a phone: open a folder inside General, tap Add to this folder, then Scan a document.

Please noteThe Camera has two other words beside Document. Photo only saves the picture. Scan reads a bill, a list or a table from the picture and puts it in a sheet, and uses one Companion credit. Only Document makes a PDF of the page.

Scan on the new sheet page

When you add a sheet to a project, the page that opens has four buttons: Blank, From a file, Zoho and Scan. This Scan is different from the ones above.

It opens the same window for taking photos with your phone. But it does not make a PDF. It reads the first photo, finds the table written on the paper, and makes a sheet from it. Use it for a handwritten stock list or a printed price list that you want as rows and columns.

For the full steps, see Import and export.

Common questions

The frame is not on my paper. What do I do? Drag the four round handles to the four corners of the paper. If the paper and the table are the same colour, the app cannot see the edges, so place the paper on something darker and take the photo again.

The Next button does not work. The corners of the frame are crossing each other. Move them apart so the frame is a proper four-sided shape.

Can I add a page I forgot? Yes, as long as you have not saved. On the Filters step press Add in the strip of pages. After saving, start a new scan.

My photo is sideways. Press Left or Right to turn it.

Where is my scan? In the Library, under General, in the folder Scans.

Do I need a scanner machine? No. Any phone camera is enough.