How to scan, sign and share documents from your phone

There are some tasks that will never be suited to a smartphone – serious video editing and serious spreadsheets, for example – but there’s a lot you can do on these pocket devices, and that includes scanning, signing and sharing documents without going in Going near a smartphone computer or printer.

Whether you’re using Android or iOS, there are a few built-in options you can try, as well as plenty of third-party apps you can turn to for the job. Whether it’s a work order or a form from your child’s school, you can do everything digitally, quickly and in one go minimal excitement.

Built-in options

If you use Android, then Google Drive was most likely pre-installed on your smartphone: you can scan documents through the app by tapping + (Plus) icon and then scan: You need to frame the document in question with the phone camera and it will then be saved to your Google Drive account as a PDF.

What you currently can’t do in Google Drive or Google Docs is e-sign documents, not without a third-party plugin (see below for some examples). An eSignature feature is currently in betabut even then, it’s only available to users who pay for a Google Workspace account.

sharing is Naturally, well supplied. You can share a document directly from the Google Drive app by tapping and selecting the three dots next to the file Split– This gives other people access to the file in your Google Drive account. You can also choose send copy from the same menu to send a PDF file via any app on your phone (e.g. an email app or instant messenger).

For those of you who use an iPhone, there is scan and sign features integrated with the Files app (and the Notes app if you want an alternative). In Files, tap search and On my iPhonethen tap the three dots in the top right corner and select scan documents: Align the pages you want to scan in the camera viewfinder and they will be saved as PDFs on your device.

To sign a document in iOS, tap on it in the Files app and then tap the pencil icon (bottom right). Then you can Either use your finger to scribble your markup, or select the signature icon (the pen writing in a box) to create a new digital signature, or use an existing one: tap anywhere on the document, then tap + (plus) button, then Add Signature. When you’re done, tap Finished.

Split from the Files app is pretty easy. Tap and hold a document and select it Split from the menu that opens: you can send the document via one of the apps on your phone, AirDrop it to another device, put it somewhere in a cloud storage service and much more.

Third Party Apps

There are many third-party apps for scanning, signing, and document sharing, as you might expect – although they all differ in terms of the tasks they focus on on most and whatever other features you throw in. You may already have one or more of these installed on your smartphone, and they’re all free to install — although some require in-app purchases for certain premium features.

drop box (Android, iOS) is best known for cloud storage and file syncing, but it also includes a powerful document scanner. Scanned documents are saved as PDFs and stored in your cloud locker, and from there You can share them in different ways. Digital signing is also available, but only with PDFs on iOS (at least for now): with the file open, tap the open icon (an arrow in a box), then select Add text or signature.

HelloSign (Android, iOS) is now owned by Dropbox and supports the e-signatures in the Dropbox iOS app – if you want something more standalone or something that works on Android you can use this separate app. Scanning, signing, and sharing are supported, and there are tools for managing multiple e-signatures on a document.

Then there’s DocuSign (Android, iOS), an app entirely dedicated to digitally signing documents (as the name suggests): for that purpose It offers the possibility to create and manage multiple signatures. There’s a built-in document scanner if you need it, or you can import a file from another source and share finished documents with any other app on your phone. to.

Acrobat Reader (Android, iOS) is the proven Adobe tool for PDF management and the current mobile version The app can scan, sign and share documents in PDF format (although the first step requires a separate app, Adobe Scan). Everything is neatly handled, and there are several useful sharing options – you can also let other people comment on the file, for example.

When it comes to ease of use, JetSign is hard to beat (Android, iOS). Signatures, dates, and other text can all be added to a PDF with a few taps, and there’s a ton of flexibility in every aspect of the app – from how your signature appears on the page to the way files are shared with other people to be shared. Finished documents must be exported as PDF, but you can import files in a variety of formats (including Word documents).