How to scan receipts to PDF.

Keeping receipts is important both for home and business purposes. Receipts can be needed again to show proof of purchase and for tax purposes. Especially if need to take goods back to a provider, query or complain about a service, get repairs under warranty cover, or make an insurance claim.

The problem with paper receipts is that often they are printed on thermal paper that fades over time. The solution? Digitise receipts and put them into PDF files.

What you’ll learn

• Why using PDFs for receipts is a good idea
• Three ways you can scan receipts into PDF files
• Other Adobe Scan app features
• Creating PDF receipts for customers

Why use PDFs for receipts

There are a few advantages to having receipts in portable document format, or PDFs.

• PDFs are easy for anyone to open.
  Adobe developed the portable document format (PDF) so it would be simple and easy for people to share electronic documents between different devices and operating systems. All anyone needs is the free Acrobat Reader on their phone or computer. They can then open a PDF without needing any other software. For example, if you need to include receipts in your tax return or an insurance claim as proof of purchase, it’s simple to do so.

• PDFs are secure documents.
  PDF receipts can be password protected and encrypted so the contents cannot be changed. This is important when it comes to keeping receipts. If you need to submit them to anyone else, whether for warranty, insurance, or tax purposes, they must be true and accurate copies of the original.

• PDFs are easy to store.
  As electronic files, PDF receipts can be kept on any device, computer system, or in secure online cloud storage. There’s no need to keep track of paper copies of receipts that take up physical space and filing systems. If you’re concerned about digital storage space, it’s simple to compress a PDF into a smaller file size.

• PDFs are searchable.
  Scanning to PDF uses optical character recognition (OCR) technology. This turns the information in your receipts into text that you can then search by words or phrases. Very handy when you’re looking for that receipt in a hurry.

• There’s more than one way to create a PDF.
  There is more than one way to create a PDF. But the quickest and easiest way to create a PDF from a paper receipt is to use the free Adobe Scan mobile app on your mobile phone. You can also use desktop scanners and multi-function printers. Or print to PDF from within apps or convert to PDF from other electronic file formats.

3 ways to scan receipts into PDF files.

There are a couple of ways to scan a receipt to PDF.

1. Use a mobile device to scan to PDF
   Use Adobe’s free mobile scanner app. It’s the perfect pocket companion to keep on top of digitizing receipts. And anything else you want to take a copy of — from paper documents to whiteboard diagrams.
   
   All you need to do is point your phone camera at a receipt or any other document and wait a couple of seconds for the app to scan the document.
   
   You can scan to PDF using OCR technology to have readable text files or as a JPEG. PDF files can be password protected in the mobile scanner app, compressed, exported to other file formats, and sent to others from your phone. Your files are securely saved in the Adobe Document Cloud to then move to where you wish.

2. Use a desktop scanner or multi-function printer to scan to PDF.
   When you’re using a printer or desktop scanner option you will have the option to save them as an image file or OCR. If you want your receipts to have searchable text, choose the OCR output settings in your printer that recognize text.
   
   The advantage to choosing the OCR setting in your printer is that your receipt will be scanned as text that is searchable, and not an image with text that can’t be read. If you have a PDF receipt that has been created as an image, you can use Acrobat to then create a searchable PDF.

3. Convert other electronic file formats to PDF.
   Convert Word or Excel files to PDF by dragging and dropping them online. Sometimes you get sent receipts in software that you may not have. Converting them to PDF format means you will have that receipt in its original format for years to come. You can also print to PDF from within any software.

Features in the Adobe Scan app.

The Adobe Scan app isn’t just a mobile scanner. You can also —

• Select from preset settings for documents, ID cards, business cards, books or whiteboards
• Crop
• Rotate
• Add filters
• Cleanup glare and shadow
• Save as JPEG files
• Combine files
• Rename files
• Move files
• Print files
• Set passwords and security
• Compress files
• Organise files

Creating PDF receipts for customers.

On the flip side, if you’re in business and providing electronic receipts to your customers, doing so in PDF format makes good business sense.

For you, PDF receipts emailed directly to your customers and clients can save paper and printing costs. For your customer, it’s good customer service. They get their receipt in a format that will last and is easy to store. Many applications and point-of-sale software can print and email receipts directly to PDF.

Alternatively, you might create a PDF invoice or receipt template as a fillable form. Then you simply update your receipt or invoice template with your details.

In Australia, receipts must include your business name, Australian business number (ABN) or Australian company number (ACN), the date of the transaction, details of the product or service, and the price paid.

Related content.

For more help on managing receipts and other documents in PDF format, check out some of our other articles —

• Family budgets and financial plans are made easy with PDFs
• Cloud PDF storage and file sharing — access documents anywhere, anytime
• How to email large PDF files