How Scanlio works: a walkthrough of scanning, OCR, editing and signing
Scanlio is a free-to-download document scanner and PDF editor for iPhone, iPad and Mac (iOS 17, iPadOS 17 or macOS 14 and later) that processes every scan on-device, with no account required.
This page explains what happens from the moment you install Scanlio to the moment a finished PDF leaves your phone. It is written for someone who has never opened the app. Every feature described here is taken from the App Store listing (version 1.0.17, August 2026) and the support page, so what you read is what the app actually does today.
What you need before you start
Scanlio is a single universal app. The same download runs on iPhone and iPad (iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 and later) and on Mac (macOS 14 and later). The download is about 24 MB, and the interface is localized in 34 languages. There is no sign-up screen: you install it, open it, and start scanning. Because nothing is stored on a server, there is also no password to remember and no account to delete later.
Step 1: scanning a document
Tap the camera button and point the phone at the page. Scanlio finds the edges of the sheet automatically, so you do not need to line the paper up perfectly or crop by hand. When the frame locks on, the page is captured, straightened and cleaned up into a high-contrast image that looks like output from a flatbed scanner rather than a photo. The capture is built to cope with low light, which matters when you are scanning a contract on a desk lamp or a receipt in a restaurant.
Keep shooting to add pages. A stack of pages becomes one multi-page PDF, not a pile of separate images. If the document already exists as a file, skip the camera: the “+” menu imports PDFs and images (PNG, JPG and HEIC) from Files or Photos, and from there the imported file behaves exactly like a scan.
Step 2: scanning an ID card, passport or driver’s licence
Identity documents get their own mode. Choose “Scan ID / Passport” and Scanlio shows a guide frame sized to a card or passport page instead of a full sheet. You capture the front, then the back, and both sides are auto-cropped to the frame and saved together as one document. Because these files are sensitive, you can long-press any document in the library to lock it behind Face ID or a PIN. The scan is stored on your device only, which is the whole point of doing this in an offline app rather than a photo roll that syncs everywhere.
Step 3: OCR and search
OCR (optical character recognition) turns the picture of your page into real text. Scanlio runs multilingual OCR on the device, so the words in a scan become searchable, selectable and copyable. Two things follow from that. First, you can copy a paragraph out of a scanned letter and paste it into an email. Second, the library gains full-text search: type a vendor name, a client, or an invoice number and Scanlio finds the scan that contains it, even if you never renamed the file. The listing describes this as built for archiving contracts, invoices, receipts and letters.
Step 4: editing and signing
Open a document and choose Markup to reach the editor. This is a real PDF editor, not just a pen tool, and it offers five kinds of change:
- Text boxes you can move, resize and recolor, for filling in a form or adding a note.
- A reusable signature that you draw once, with your finger or Apple Pencil, and drop onto any later document.
- White-out to cover existing text and type a replacement on top.
- Freehand drawing and highlighting for marking up a draft or a textbook page.
- Annotations layered on the page without altering the original scan underneath.
Page-level work lives under Pages. From there you reorder, rotate and delete pages, split one file into several, or extract only the pages you need. To merge, select several documents in the library and combine them into a single PDF. That covers putting a signed last page back into a contract or bundling a week of receipts.
Step 5: converting to other formats
Not everyone wants a PDF. Open Convert and Scanlio exports the document to Word (delivered as an .rtf file that Word, Pages and Google Docs open), to images, or to plain text. Conversion, like everything else, happens on the device, so a confidential file never travels to a conversion server.
Step 6: sharing
Sharing uses the standard system share sheet. You can send a document as PDF, JPG or Word through Mail, AirDrop, WhatsApp or any app that accepts files, and you can save to iCloud Drive or another storage app if you want a copy elsewhere. Scanlio does not run its own cloud you have to sign into.
The library
Every scan lands in a library you can sort by name, date or page count. Rename documents, lock the sensitive ones, and use full-text search to find anything by its content. The library is the home screen of the app, and the camera button, the “+” import menu and search all start from there.
How privacy is built in
Scanlio works entirely offline. Scanning, OCR, editing, conversion and storage all run on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, and the developer’s privacy policy states that documents, images and text you create are never uploaded, collected or viewed. The free version on iPhone and iPad displays ads through Google AdMob; the Mac version contains no ads at all, and Scanlio Pro removes ads everywhere. In the EEA and the UK, Google’s consent form is shown before any ad is requested, and Scanlio then asks for App Tracking Transparency permission: allow it and AdMob may use the advertising identifier (IDFA) for personalized ads, decline it and ads stay non-personalized. Your files exist only on your device and in whatever backup you already run, such as your own iCloud backup.
Free allowance versus Scanlio Pro
Downloading and scanning are free. As of version 1.0.17, every tool shares the same free allowance, and saving is never blocked, so you can try OCR, the editor, signatures and conversion before paying. Scanlio Pro removes the limits: unlimited OCR, the full PDF editor, e-signatures, format conversions, unlimited exports and zero ads.
Pro is sold as a weekly, monthly or yearly subscription, and the App Store listing also shows a one-time Lifetime purchase. At the time of writing the US listing shows Pro Weekly at $4.99, Pro Monthly at $12.99, Pro Yearly at $22.99 and Lifetime at $119.99, with a free trial on the yearly plan whose length is shown on the purchase screen. Prices appear in your local currency at checkout and can change. If you reinstall or move to a new device, open Settings inside the app and tap Restore Purchases. To cancel, go to the App Store, open your account, choose Subscriptions and select Scanlio; you keep Pro until the end of the current period.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account to use Scanlio?
No. Scanlio has no sign-up and no login. Documents are stored on your device and processed there; nothing is uploaded to a server.
Which devices and versions does Scanlio run on?
iPhone and iPad on iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 and later, and Mac on macOS 14 and later. It is one universal app of about 24 MB, localized in 34 languages.
What is free and what needs Scanlio Pro?
Downloading and scanning are free, every tool shares one free allowance, and saving is never blocked. Scanlio Pro unlocks unlimited OCR, the full PDF editor, e-signatures, format conversion and unlimited exports, and removes ads.
How do I restore a purchase on a new device?
Open Settings inside Scanlio and tap Restore Purchases while signed in to the same Apple Account you used to buy Pro.
How do I cancel Scanlio Pro?
Open the App Store, tap your account, choose Subscriptions, select Scanlio and cancel. Pro stays active until the end of the period you already paid for.
Download Scanlio free on the App Store
Related guides
Sources: Scanlio on the App Store (v1.0.17, 26 Aug 2026), Scanlio support page, Scanlio privacy policy. Prices are those listed on the US App Store on 6 September 2026 and can change.