# Scanned PDF Quality Checklist: 25 Points Before You Share

Run these checks after every scan, before the file leaves your hands.

## Capture quality (8 points)

1. Scan text documents at 300 DPI in grayscale — crisp text, small files.
2. Use 200 DPI for simple text-only pages to save space; 400–600 DPI only for photos, fine print, or archival scans.
3. Check page alignment: no page should be tilted more than 1 degree — deskew if needed.
4. Watch for shadows and uneven lighting along the page edges; rescan if present.
5. Confirm no page edges are cut off — margins should be visible on all four sides.
6. For double-sided originals, verify no blank backs were included and no fronts are missing.
7. Remove paper clips, sticky notes, and fingers from the scan area before scanning.
8. Check multi-page order: flip through the thumbnails to confirm correct sequence.

## Text layer / OCR (6 points)

9. Run OCR on every scan — an image-only PDF cannot be searched, copied, or read by screen readers.
10. Verify OCR worked: select a sentence — if it highlights and copies, the text layer is live.
11. Search the PDF for a word you know is there — no hits means no real text.
12. Spot-check OCR accuracy on one dense page: compare three random lines against the original.
13. Check reading order on two-column pages — OCR sometimes scrambles the flow.
14. Set the document language in your OCR tool for dramatically better accuracy.

## Optimization (6 points)

15. Keep the file under 10 MB for email; compress or split into parts if larger.
16. Target 50–150 KB per page for grayscale text at 300 DPI after compression.
17. Delete blank pages — they inflate size and confuse readers.
18. Downsample color scans to 150 DPI when the color is decorative, not informational.
19. Set the page size to match the original (A4, Letter) — don't ship random dimensions.
20. For scans over 100 pages, consider splitting into logical sections with clear names.

## Pre-share review (5 points)

21. Zoom to 100% and skim every page — catch shadows, cut-off edges, and smudges.
22. Confirm the page count matches the original document.
23. Name the file descriptively: `2026-10-22-contract-acme-signed.pdf`.
24. Open the PDF in a different viewer (or on your phone) to catch rendering issues.
25. If it contains sensitive data, check whether it needs password protection or redaction before sharing.

## Recommended scanner presets

- **Quality Scan (default):** 300 DPI, grayscale, auto-deskew, OCR on, compress.
- **Quick Scan:** 200 DPI, grayscale, OCR on — for internal reference only.
- **Archive Scan:** 400 DPI, color, OCR on, no compression — for permanent records.
- **Receipt Scan:** 300 DPI, black-and-white, aggressive crop — tiny files.

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