Questions about FixMyScan
Short answers about what FixMyScan does to a scanned book, which devices it works on, what happens to your files and what it costs.
Key takeaways
- Upload scanned PDFs or DjVu files of up to 1,000 pages; you always get a PDF back.
- The PDF opens on Kindle, Kindle Scribe, Kobo, reMarkable, Boox, PocketBook and tablets.
- Every upload is deleted 24 hours after the book is ready, or 24 hours after upload if it was never converted.
- Plans are $9.99 a week or $79.99 a year.
Your e-reader
Can I read a scanned PDF on my Kindle?
Yes. Kindle opens PDFs, but a raw scan shows tiny grey text inside wide margins. FixMyScan crops the margins, turns the pages white and the text black, and adds searchable text, so the book reads well at normal size. Our Kindle guide has the details.
Why is the text so small on my e-reader?
A PDF keeps its page shape, so the whole page, margins included, shrinks to fit your screen. Cutting the margins once for the whole book makes the text fill more of the screen. More in PDF text too small.
Does it work on Kobo, reMarkable, Boox and PocketBook?
Yes. You get a standard PDF, which they all open. The Kindle Scribe, reMarkable and Boox also let you write on it.
My PDF is too big to send to my Kindle. Will this help?
Usually. Clean black-and-white pages compress far better than grey scans. Amazon’s Send to Kindle takes PDFs up to 200 MB on its website and 50 MB by email. See PDF too big for Kindle.
Can you turn my scan into an EPUB instead?
No. Your book stays a PDF with every page, picture, footnote and page number where it was. Converting a scan to EPUB often drops lines and moves footnotes into the text; our guide to scanned PDF or EPUB explains when each makes sense.
Can I write on the PDF on a Kindle Scribe?
Yes. Send it with Send to Kindle rather than a USB cable: Amazon says handwriting isn’t supported on PDFs loaded over USB-C. Our Kindle Scribe guide covers the rest.
Clean-up and search
Can I search and highlight the book afterwards?
Yes. Every page is read and hidden text is added under it, so search, highlight, copy and dictionary look-up work on your e-reader and computer.
What happens to illustrations and photos?
Pages with pictures stay in greyscale so the pictures survive. Only plain text pages are turned to pure black and white.
Do my page numbers stay the same?
Yes. Every page stays in its place, so citations and page references still match the original book.
Can it fix crooked pages and dark scanner edges?
Yes. Slightly tilted pages are straightened, and the crop removes dark edges and margins across the whole book.
Which languages can it read?
19: Arabic, Chinese (Traditional), Dutch, English, French, German, German Fraktur, Ancient Greek, Modern Greek, Italian, Latin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Sanskrit, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil and Ukrainian. The language is found automatically; Ukrainian and Modern Greek you pick in Settings.
Does it read handwriting?
No. It reads printed text. Handwritten letters, registers and notes need a handwriting tool such as Transkribus.
Your files
What files can I upload?
Scanned PDFs and DjVu files, up to 750 pages a book, or 1,000 on a paid plan.
How many books can I run at once?
One book is processed at a time. When it is ready, start the next.
Is my book private?
Your files are private to your account. Our providers process and store them for us, and we never sell or share them otherwise. Every upload is deleted 24 hours after the book is ready, or 24 hours after upload if it was never converted. Full details: privacy and deletion.
Can I use it on books from Internet Archive or Google Books?
Yes. Public-domain scans from Internet Archive, HathiTrust and Google Books are often grey and very large, and they come out clean and much smaller.
I scanned my own books. Will this finish the job?
Yes. Upload the PDF from your scanner, phone app or scanning service, and FixMyScan does the crop, the clean-up and the searchable text. Our guide to scanning a book to PDF covers the scanning itself.
Questions
What does it cost?
$9.99 a week or $79.99 a year, billed today, with unlimited books under fair use of 5,000 pages a week, up to 1,000 pages a book, one book at a time.
What does fair use mean?
You can process as many books as you like, up to 5,000 pages in a week in total, one book at a time.
Can I cancel any time?
Yes, in one click from your account. Access runs to the end of the period you paid for.
What if a book fails?
It isn't counted. Try again, or write to support@fixmyscan.com and we'll look at the file.
Is there a plan for teams or libraries?
Yes. Team plans start at $29 a month, billed yearly, for 3 people and 20,000 pages a month; Department and Library plans cover more. Every team plan has one shared account. Buy online, or pay by invoice if you prefer. See the pricing page.
Who writes the guides on this site?
The FixMyScan Editor. The about page explains how facts are checked and corrected.