Getting a clean scan
- Lay the document flat on a plain, dark surface for contrast.
- Use natural daylight rather than flash, flash creates glare and uneven lighting.
- Keep the phone parallel to the page to avoid a skewed, "keystoned" scan.
- Crop out the background so only the document itself remains.
After the photo
Convert the cropped image to PDF, and check the resulting file size, a few high-resolution phone photos merged together can easily exceed 4 MB, so compress the result if needed before uploading.
Crop and clean up your scan
Crop out shadows and edges, then adjust brightness and contrast.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a scanner app to scan documents for IRCC?
No, a phone camera, good light, and a crop tool produce an acceptable scan. What matters is that the result is flat, legible, and under the size limit.
What resolution is enough for a document scan?
150-200 DPI equivalent keeps text sharp while staying comfortably under 4 MB, maximum-resolution photos are usually what push files over the limit.
Doing this for a live application?
IRCC Ready Docs gets your files ready. Get North Path, the platform behind it, pairs AI with a licensed consultant to handle your whole application. Book a free consultation to see where you stand.
Track your application after you submit
See your file's status, next steps, and processing times in one place at track.getnorthpath.com.