How to Scan Sheet Music into a PDF

Page Turner works with PDFs, but a lot of music still lives on paper. Here's how to turn printed sheet music into a clean, readable PDF for your tablet, with just your phone or with a scanner.

Before You Scan

Already have photos or screenshots of the music? You can skip scanning and combine the images into a PDF instead.

Copyright still applies to scanned music. Scan music you own, and check that you're allowed to share copies with your group. Public-domain pieces and your own arrangements are the safest bets.

Option 1: Scan With Your Phone or Tablet (Free)

For a few pages, the scanner already built into your device works well. It finds the page edges, straightens the page, and saves a PDF.

• iPhone or iPad: open the Notes app or the Files app and choose Scan Documents.
• Android: open Google Drive, tap +, and choose Scan.

For the best results:

• Lay each page flat on a dark, plain surface so the edges stand out.
• Use bright, even light, such as near a window, and avoid casting your own shadow on the page.
• Hold the camera straight above the page, not at an angle.
• Scan every page of a piece into one document, in order.

Option 2: Use a Scanner

A scanner is worth it if you have a lot of music to convert, or want sharper, more consistent pages than a phone camera gives. There are three main kinds:

• Overhead (camera-style) scanners sit above the page. They handle large pages and bound books without pressing them flat, and many straighten curved pages automatically.
• Sheet-fed scanners pull a stack of loose pages through quickly. They're the fastest for single sheets, but can't scan books.
• Flatbed scanners scan one page at a time under a lid. They're affordable and simple.

Check the Page Size First

Much printed sheet music is 9 × 12 inches, which is larger than US letter paper (8.5 × 11). Most flatbed and sheet-fed scanners stop at letter or A4 width, so they cut off the edges of a 9 × 12 page. For full-size scores and bound books, an overhead scanner that handles A3 pages is the better fit. For letter-size parts printed at home, any scanner works.

Popular Scanners

These are popular choices for scanning documents and music. Check each one's current details on Amazon, including the largest page it handles, before buying.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Overhead Scanners (Best for 9 × 12 Pages and Books)

• CZUR ET16 Plus on Amazon
  An overhead scanner with a 16-megapixel camera that handles pages up to A3 (about 16.5 × 11.7 inches) and flattens curved pages from bound books.
• CZUR Shine Ultra on Amazon
  A smaller, portable overhead scanner with a 13-megapixel camera (about 340 DPI), auto-cropping, and page flattening.

Sheet-Fed Scanners

• Ricoh ScanSnap iX1600 on Amazon
  A fast sheet-fed scanner for stacks of loose pages up to 8.5 inches wide (216 mm). Great for letter-size parts; too narrow for 9 × 12 pages.

Flatbed Scanners

• Canon CanoScan LiDE 400 on Amazon
  A slim flatbed scanner for one page at a time, up to letter or A4 size (216 × 297 mm). Too small for full 9 × 12 pages.

Tips for Clean, Readable Scans

• Resolution: 300 DPI is plenty for reading music. Higher settings mostly make bigger files.
• Color mode: choose grayscale rather than pure black-and-white, which can drop faint notes, ties, and pencil markings.
• Trim the margins: Page Turner fits each page to the screen, so cropping away wide white borders makes the music itself larger and easier to read.
• Straighten and order the pages: fix crooked or upside-down pages, and check the page order before you upload.
• Keep files reasonable: Page Turner accepts PDFs up to 100 MB, which is far more than a scanned piece needs at 300 DPI.
• Name it clearly: the file name is what everyone sees as the piece's title in the room, like Amazing Grace - Alto.pdf.

Getting Your Scans Into Page Turner

1. Save each piece as its own PDF. To set the order, start each file name with a number, like 01 Prelude.pdf, 02 Anthem.pdf. The set list guide has more naming tips.
2. On the home page, tap Choose PDFs… and select all of them. They become the room's set list, in file-name order, so you can switch pieces during rehearsal and everyone follows.
3. To add more later, open the room's Set List and tap + Add PDFs….

Next, set up your tablet with a good stand and, for hands-free page turns, a Bluetooth pedal.

Questions? Contact us.