In the digital age, paper media are slowly becoming a thing of the past, giving way to electronic copies. Smartphone owners Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO often face the need to urgently send a copy of a passport, contract or check without having bulky office equipment at hand. Fortunately, modern mobile devices are equipped with powerful tools for working with text and graphics.
The built-in MIUI and HyperOS shell capabilities allow you to turn your camera into a full-fledged portable scanner in seconds. You don't have to search for third-party programs or connect to a printer. You just need to know where the functions are and how to properly adjust the shooting parameters for a clear result.
In this article, we will take a look at all the available ways to digitize paper, look at both the standard system tools and specialized utilities that are pre-installed on most of the brand’s devices, learn to recognize text, correct perspective, and save files in the optimal format.
Use of built-in scanner in the Camera application
The fastest way to get a digital copy of a document is to use the functionality of the standard Camera application. Xiaomi engineers have integrated the scan module directly into the shooting interface, which saves the user from unnecessary actions, this solution is ideal for situations when you need to quickly capture information.
To activate the mode, you need to open the application and find the Documents or Scan tab in the bottom menu or sidebar. If you don't see this option right away, try pressing the three bars in the top corner or swiping left through the shooting modes. The AI algorithm will automatically determine the boundaries of the sheet and align the image.
When you point the lens on the paper, the system recognizes the edges and takes the picture at the moment of complete immobility or at the press of a button. After that, the image is automatically processed: shadows are removed, the white background is leveled and the contrast of the text is increased, the finished file is saved in the gallery in a separate album.
⚠️ Note: When shooting in poor light, the algorithm may misread the boundaries of the document. In this case, after the shot, use the built-in editor to manually adjust the angles of the cropping so that important information around the edges of the sheet is not lost.
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For best quality, place the document on a contrasting background (such as a dark white paper table) so that the camera can quickly determine the boundaries of the object.
Using a native camera has its advantages, chief among which is speed. You don’t have to wait for third-party software to download or open additional menus. However, if you need complex multi-page processing or text recognition (OCR) with subsequent editing, you should pay attention to other tools.
Google Documents: A Universal Solution
Most Android smartphones, including Xiaomi, have Google Docs pre-installed, a powerful tool that is often underestimated as a text editor, but it has a great multi-page scanner inside.
To get started, open the app and click on the floating button «+» In the menu that appears, select "Scan" and the camera will go to a special mode where you can take pictures sequentially, adding pages to one. PDF-It's very convenient for digitizing contracts or reports.
- 📄 Automatic edge detection: the system finds the boundaries of the sheet, even if you took the photo at an angle.
- 🌗 Processing Filters: Color, Black and White and Shade of Grey modes available to improve readability.
- ☁️ Cloud-based Save: A scanned file instantly lands in your Google Drive, taking up minimal space on your device.
Once you've finished shooting all the pages, click Save. You can name the file and select the folder to host. PDF format is the standard for business correspondence, and Google Documents creates it without losing font quality. You can also send the file directly through your email or messenger without leaving the application.
Specialized application Mi Scan (Scanner)
In the Xiaomi ecosystem, there is often a pre-installed application called "Scanner" or Mi Scan. It is part of system utilities. MIUI It offers a lot of functionality compared to a regular camera, and it's an application that's designed specifically for the camera. QR-Codes, barcodes and text documents.
The interface is minimalistic and productivity-focused. When you start up, you see a viewfinder that responds to different types of data. To scan documents, you need to switch to the appropriate mode, often marked by the paper icon, and you can see batch photography, which allows you to create a multi-page document in one session.
One of the key features of the Mi Scan is its built-in text recognition (OCR) with support for many languages, including Russian. After scanning, you can not only save the picture, but also copy the text to the clipboard or translate it into another language, which makes the application an indispensable tool for students and office workers.
⚠️ Note: In some regions or on global firmware versions, the Scanner application may not be in the basic build, in which case it can be found in the GetApps directory or downloaded. APK-A file from a trusted source that is compatible with your version of Android.
The Secret Possibilities of Mi Scan
Comparison of scanning methods on Xiaomi
The best way to digitize depends on your specific tasks: If you want to quickly photograph one page for a messenger, you can use a built-in camera; if you want to work with large documents, you can use specialized software. Let's compare the main characteristics of the available methods.
The table below shows the key differences between standard tools, which will help you decide which method to use in a given situation, and pay attention to editing capabilities and output formats.
| Method | Launch speed | Quality of processing | Text Recognition (OCR) | Multi-page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camera (Regime Document) | Tall. | Basic | No/Limited. | No (pagewise) |
| Google Documents | Medium | Excellent. | Yes (via Google Lens) | Yes (PDF) |
| Mi Scan (Scanner) | Tall. | Advanced. | Yeah (embedded) | Yes (PDF/JPG) |
| Third-party annexes | Low. | Professional | Depends on the app. | Yes. |
As the comparison shows, Xiaomi and Google’s native tools cover 95 percent of the user’s needs, and installing additional software is only required for specific tasks, such as batch processing hundreds of pages or working with secure documents.
Customization of quality and preservation parameters
To make the scanned document look professional, it is important to properly configure the save settings. By default, the camera can save images in high resolution, which leads to a large file size.
In most scanner settings, you can choose the compression format. For text documents, the best choice is black and white mode or Document. It removes color noise and makes the text more contrasting. If there are color prints or photos on the document, choose color mode, but keep an eye on the file size.
- 📐 Resolution: enough for text 150-200 DPI, photo-in-depth — 300 DPI higher.
- 📄 File format: choose PDF textual and table-topic, JPG — picture-card.
- 💾 Save Way: Configure automatic upload to the cloud so you don’t lose data when your phone breaks down.
☑️ Pre-sending check
Remember to check the file before you send it. Open it up and zoom in. If the text floats or compression artifacts are visible, it's better to reshoot the document in better lighting. The quality of the source directly affects the possibility of its further use, for example, for printing or recognition.
Solving problems in scanning
Even with smart algorithms, sometimes errors occur, and the camera may not see the boundaries of a document if it's in a colorful background, or the image is blurry, and understanding the causes of these problems will help avoid them in the future.
A common problem is the glare from lights or the sun, which makes some text unreadable. To avoid this, change the angle of the phone or the light source. If you use a flash, keep the phone perpendilar to the document so that the shadow from the device does not overlap the text.
⚠️ Warning: Never scan documents containing sensitive information (passwords, full card numbers, CVV-Using online services with dubious reputations, Xiaomi and Google's built-in tools process data locally or in secure clouds, which is safer.
If autofocus is walking and can’t fix itself on text, tap the screen in the letter area to block the focus manually. Also wipe the camera lens with a soft cloth – greasy finger marks often cause cloudy images that cannot be saved by software methods.
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The main secret of quality scans is smooth light and contrast backgrounds. Avoid shadows and use a tripod or a stop for your phone if you need to scan many pages.