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Give a clean PDF the look of one that came off a scanner.
Drag & drop your file here
or browse from your device
Some offices still want a signed document to look as though it went through a scanner. Printing a file and scanning it back wastes paper and time for a result that is usually worse.
The paper picks up a slight warmth, the contrast is lifted, and a little grain is added. It is a look rather than a real scan, so anybody checking the file closely can still tell.
In a normal PDF the text is text. Each letter is stored as an instruction saying which letter it is and where it goes, which is why it stays sharp at any zoom, why you can select and copy it, and why searching works.
Changing how a page looks means redrawing it, and a redrawn page is a picture. The words are still perfectly readable, but they are now made of dots. Selecting, copying, and searching all stop working, and the file usually gets bigger.
That trade is worth making for what these tools do. It is worth knowing about beforehand rather than discovering later, and worth keeping your original file for.
Drag the file onto the upload area, or browse from your device.
Barely noticeable, moderate, or heavy like an old copier.
Every page is redrawn on your own device, with nothing uploaded.
Save it. Your original PDF is left untouched.
Add your PDF, choose how worn you want it to look, and run it. The paper picks up a slight warmth, the contrast lifts, and a little grain is added.
At a glance, usually. Under any real scrutiny, no. A real scan is never perfectly straight, the lighting varies across the page, and the file carries traces of the scanner that made it. This is a look, not a forgery, and it would be unwise to treat it as one.
Some offices still insist a signed document look as though it went through a scanner, even when a clean signed PDF would be better. Printing and rescanning wastes paper and time for a worse result.
How warm the paper looks, how much the contrast is lifted, and how much grain is added. Barely noticeable keeps the page nearly clean, while heavy looks like an old office copier.
No, and this matters. Every page is redrawn as a picture, so the words become part of that picture. They look the same but cannot be selected, copied, or searched. Keep your original if you need those things.
No. Everything runs inside your browser on your own device. Your file is never sent anywhere, and nothing is stored.
No. Your original PDF stays exactly as it is. The tool creates a new file for you to download.
Yes. It is completely free with no sign-up and no limits.
Continue working with your images and PDF files using these free browser based tools.