How to use it
- The “Colour” look is already selected. Tap “Take photo” and photograph the certificate from above, or choose a photo from your gallery.
- Check that the four circles sit on the certificate's corners — drag any that are off — and tap “Done”.
- Compare the looks if you like: “Colour” whitens the paper and keeps stamps vivid; “Original” changes nothing but the crop.
- Add the back side or the next certificate, and arrange the pages with the arrows.
- Pick “Fit” for certificates that aren't A4-shaped, tap “Create PDF”, check the size and download.
When a certificate should be scanned in colour
Verification at admissions, scholarship portals and recruitment boards is done by looking at the document: the round seal of the issuing office, the signature in blue ink, the hologram or watermark on a marksheet, and the photo on the certificate. In a black-and-white scan a red seal can vanish and a blue signature can look like print. When a form asks for a “scanned copy of the original”, colour is the safer choice.
- Caste, income, domicile, EWS and non-creamy-layer certificates — they usually carry a coloured seal and signature.
- Degree and provisional certificates, and marksheets with a coloured border or security print.
- Character, migration and transfer certificates from your school or college.
- Aadhaar, PAN, voter ID and other cards with a photo.
What the Colour look does
A phone photo of a certificate is rarely evenly lit: one side is brighter, a bulb adds a yellow tint, the phone casts a shadow. The Colour look measures the colour of the bare paper all over the page and divides it out, so the paper becomes plain white across the whole sheet, then deepens the ink a little. Areas that aren't paper — your photo, the seal, a coloured logo — keep their own colours instead of being bleached.
Getting a good certificate scan
- Laminated certificates reflect light. Turn the flash off, avoid a ceiling light straight overhead and tilt the phone slightly until the glare spot slides off the text. The tilt is corrected when the page is straightened.
- Big certificates. Many degree certificates are larger than A4 or nearly square. Choose “Fit” as the page size so the PDF page takes the certificate's own shape instead of being placed on A4 with white bands.
- Front and back. Marksheets often have instructions or a verification note on the back. Scan both — each photo becomes its own page, in the order you set.
- Self-attested copies. If the form asks for a self-attested copy, sign the photocopy (usually with “self attested”, your signature and the date) before you scan it.
- Several certificates, one upload? Keep scanning — all pages go into the same PDF. Check the portal first: some want each certificate as a separate file.
Colour scans are bigger — here is what to do
A colour page holds much more detail than a black-and-white one, so expect a few hundred KB per page. The size is shown before you download. If the portal sets a limit like 200 KB or 500 KB, create the PDF here and then shrink it with Compress PDF, which keeps the colours. For a portal that wants a JPG instead of a PDF, use Compress Image. For a plain text document, the black-and-white document scanner gives the smallest file.