After a scanning service: make the files readable
A scanning service sends back a faithful colour PDF of every page. FixMyScan turns that file into a cropped, white, searchable book small enough for your e-reader.
Key takeaways
- Services scan for fidelity. 1DollarScan's basic scan, for example, is 300 dpi colour, with OCR and file-size touch-up sold as extras.
- Faithful colour pages keep the margins, the paper tone and the bulk, which is what makes them awkward on e-ink.
- FixMyScan takes each PDF, up to 1,000 pages, and returns it cropped, straightened, black on white and searchable.
- Check the service's own tools first. 1DollarScan offers a free Fine Tune optimiser for devices, including Kindle.
Why service files read badly on an e-reader
A book-scanning service has one job: capture every page faithfully. That is what you want from a master copy. It is not what a 6 inch e-ink screen wants.
Take 1DollarScan’s pricing page as an example. Its basic scan is 300 dpi colour, in PDF, at $1.20 per set of 100 pages. Searchable text is an extra $1.00 per set. A 600 dpi option is $2.00 per set. Its High Quality Touch Up, also $2.00 per set, deskews the pages, uses OCR for over 40 languages and, by its own account, reduces file size by around 30%. A UK shop, Oxford Duplication Centre, lists 600 dpi TIFF, PDF and JPEG output, with OCR at £0.10 a page or £35 per book to turn TIFFs into a searchable PDF.
Those are good captures. But a faithful colour page still carries:
- The margins, so the text shrinks on a small screen
- The paper tone, cream or grey, which e-ink shows as a dim background
- The weight of colour images on every page, even where the page is only text
What services do better
Be fair to them. A service does the part FixMyScan cannot touch: it turns a physical book into pages, quickly enough that you never handle a scanner. The better ones straighten pages and add OCR for many languages. 1DollarScan also offers Fine Tune, a free optimiser that it says compresses files for a chosen device, with margin removal listed for Kindle, iPhone and Android. If your files came from 1DollarScan, try Fine Tune first; it costs nothing.
Its page does not say whether Fine Tune works on PDFs made elsewhere.
Turning the service file into a reading copy
- Download the PDF from your service and keep it as your archive copy.
- Upload it to FixMyScan. PDF or DjVu, up to 1,000 pages, in any browser.
- Draw one crop over the layered pages. It is applied to the whole book, so the margins go everywhere at once.
- Download the reading copy. Straight pages, white paper, black text, illustrations kept in greyscale, and a fresh text layer on every page.
Text is read in 19 languages, including English, German, French, Latin, Italian and Spanish, plus Fraktur and Ancient Greek, and the language is detected for you. Page order and page numbers do not change, so the reading copy and the archive copy line up.
If the service delivered two book pages side by side on each PDF page, those are split into single pages. Right-to-left books are the one case to choose Don’t split.
Getting it onto the device
Colour book scans are often too big for the easy routes. Send to Kindle accepts PDFs up to 200 MB on its website and 50 MB by email. reMarkable’s web app and USB transfer take up to 100 MB.
Black-and-white text pages compress far better than colour ones. One 300-page book we processed on 2 November 2026 came down from 13.0 MB to 9.0 MB with full OCR; a colour service scan starts much larger, so your figures will differ. Before you upload anything, drop the service’s file into the free will it fit checker to see where it stands against each limit. It runs in your browser and uploads nothing.
A shelf at a time
People who send off a box of books get a folder of PDFs back. With FixMyScan you process them one after another: one book at a time, with unlimited books under fair use of 5,000 pages a week. A week of that covers a dozen 400-page books.
What FixMyScan will not do
- Scan anything. The capture stays with your service.
- Reflow the book into an EPUB.
- Read handwriting in the margins.
- Bring back pages the service missed. If a page is missing, the service’s rescan policy is your route.
Rights and privacy
1DollarScan’s FAQ says the physical book is cut and recycled unless a return exception applies, so the PDF may be the only copy you have. Keep the original file safe.
Your uploads to FixMyScan are private and are deleted 24 hours after the book is ready, or 24 hours after upload if you never convert it. Use it on books you have the right to copy.
Cost
Plans are $9.99 a week or $79.99 a year, billed today, for unlimited books under fair use.
Questions
Do I still need this if I paid for OCR?
Maybe not for search. OCR gives you text; it does not crop margins, whiten grey paper or shrink a colour file. If the book reads well on your device already, you are done.
Will FixMyScan replace the OCR my service added?
Yes. The pages are cleaned first and then read again, and the new text layer replaces the old one in the file you download.
My service sent one PDF per book. Can I upload several at once?
One book is processed at a time. Upload the next when the first is done.
The file is over 1,000 pages. What now?
Split it into two PDFs with any PDF tool, then upload each part.
Should I keep the original file from the service?
Yes. Keep the service's file as your master copy. FixMyScan gives you a reading copy, and we delete our copy of your upload within 24 hours.
Does FixMyScan scan books?
No. It works on files that already exist. You still need a service, a scanner or a phone app for the capture.
What does it cost per book?
$9.99 a week or $79.99 a year for unlimited books under fair use of 5,000 pages a week, not a per-page price.