Short answers to the questions people ask most about Scan Cat. More about the app is on the Scan Cat page.
Is Scan Cat free?
Yes. Scanning, text recognition, PDF, JPEG and text export, password PDFs, print and share are free, with no watermark, no ads, no subscription, no trial, no sign-up and no account. Export as often as you like. Scan Cat Pro is an optional one-time purchase that adds three extras: Fit under a size (a PDF under 1, 5 or 10 MB), Combine documents (several scans into one, in the order you pick) and Lock with Face ID (Face ID or your passcode to open Scan Cat).
How do I scan or import pages?
In your library, tap Scan to use the document camera, or Import, then From Photos or From Files, to bring in photos, images and PDFs. You can pick up to 50 photos at a time. Inside a document, Add pages adds more the same three ways. If your device can't run the document camera, Scan Cat says "Camera not available" and offers to import instead. A PDF with a password can't be read: remove the password in the app that made it, then import it again. Pages are saved the moment you scan them. If a call or closing the app stops an import, Scan Cat says "Your last import didn't finish" the next time you open it, and how many pages were saved.
How do I fix a crooked, dark or sideways page?
Open the document and tap the page. Under Look, pick Original, Grayscale, B&W or Enhanced, and tap Apply to all pages to give every page the same look. Below the looks, Left and Right turn the page, and Crop lets you drag the four corners onto the page's corners; a page photographed at an angle is straightened. In Crop, Find page looks for the page's edges for you, and Whole image keeps the full picture. Filters never change your original pages, so you can always go back to Original. To change the order of pages or delete some, tap More (⋯) at the top right of the document, then Reorder & delete pages.
How do I find a scan later?
Use the search bar, "Search names and text". It looks through document names, tags and the words inside your scans, and shows the line that matched. New scans name themselves from their first line of text. To give one your own name, touch and hold it in the library and tap Rename. Tags work like folders, except a document can be in more than one: tap the tags at the top of your library to see just those documents. With two or more documents, the sort button at the top right sorts by Newest first, Oldest first or Name.
Why does my document say "no text found"?
Scan Cat reads the words of every page on your device. While it reads, the document says "Reading text…", and then "Searchable" with the number of words. "Saved · no text found" means your pages are saved, but Scan Cat found no words on them, so you can't find them by their words. If the page is sideways or crooked, turn it or crop it: Scan Cat reads a page again after you turn or crop it. To see, copy or share the text it found, tap Recognised text (the text icon), then Copy all or Share.
How do I make a PDF small enough to email?
Open the document and tap Export, then PDF. Under Quality, pick Small (Email and forms), Medium (Everyday sharing) or Best (Printing and archiving); each shows the approximate size of the whole PDF before you share. With Pro, Fit under makes the PDF as sharp as fits under 1, 5 or 10 MB. If even the smallest version is bigger, Scan Cat says so: you can still share it, or remove some pages first. Then tap Share PDF and pick Mail. You can also pick A4, US Letter or Fit to scan under Paper.
How do I put a password on a PDF?
In Export, with PDF picked, turn on Password and type one. Anyone opening the PDF will need this password. Scan Cat doesn't keep it, so remember it. Share PDF waits until you've typed a password.
Where are my scans kept? Do I need an account?
There's no account and no sign-in. Your scans are kept on your device and in your own backups unless you share, save or print them. There's no sync between devices. Deleting a document asks first, then removes it and its pages from this device.
Does it work offline?
Yes, for your scans. There's no account, text recognition runs on your device with Apple's Vision framework, and Scan Cat's scanning and export have no network code. So you can scan, import what's on your device, clean up pages, read and search text, and make PDFs, JPEGs and text without a connection. Sending a file by email or to iCloud Drive needs one. So does buying or restoring Pro, which goes through the App Store, and More from the Cat family in About.
I bought Scan Cat Pro. How do I get it on a new iPhone or iPad?
Open Scan Cat, tap ⓘ at the top left of your library, then Restore purchase, under Scan Cat Pro. Or tap See Pro and then Restore purchase. Use the same Apple Account you bought it with. When Pro is on, the row says "On".
Something else?
Tap ⓘ, then Report a problem or Suggest an idea, which opens an email to us. Or write to [email protected] from any email app.