# Look Scanned

> Website: https://lookscanned.io

> Look Scanned turns PDFs, images, Office documents, and other supported files
> into scanned-looking PDFs. The standard web scan flow renders and processes
> source documents locally in the browser.

## Features

- **Local standard scan flow**: `/scan` and `/scan/bulk` process source
  documents on the user's device; the optional Scan API is a separate remote
  service.
- **Multiple processing engines**: Canvas and WebGL paths provide scan effects,
  with a WebAssembly-based Magica fallback where needed.
- **Real-time preview**: Compare the source and scanned result before exporting.
- **Multi-format input**: Supports PDF, common images, DOCX, PPTX, spreadsheets,
  Markdown, HTML, RTF, SVG, and plain text.
- **Custom scan effects**: Adjust rotation, noise, blur, brightness, contrast,
  borders, paper tone, and color mode.
- **Bulk scanning**: Convert several documents in one batch.
- **PDF metadata**: Customize author, title, subject, keywords, creator, and
  producer.
- **Watermarks, signatures, and stamps**: Add text or image watermarks and place
  reusable signatures or stamps on document pages.
- **Offline support**: The PWA can run cached web-scan routes offline after its
  required application and locale assets finish caching.
- **Responsive UI**: Works across supported desktop and mobile browsers.
- **Localization**: Provides 26 locales, including left-to-right and
  right-to-left languages.
- **Optional Scan API**: Authenticated Pro users can submit queued remote scan
  jobs through the REST API.
- **Community edition**: A public community edition is MIT licensed; no desktop
  application installation is needed for the web app.

## Local processing and remote services

The interactive web scanner is local by default: selecting a document on
`/scan` or `/scan/bulk` does not upload that source file for processing. This
avoids document upload latency and lets cached routes continue working offline.

The site also has network-backed features with separate purposes, including
accounts, subscriptions, analytics/error reporting, and the explicitly invoked
Scan API. A file submitted to the Scan API is processed remotely; that API is
not the same path as the standard browser scanner.

## FAQ

**Q: What file formats does Look Scanned support?**
A: PDF; common image formats such as PNG, JPEG, WebP, GIF, BMP, and TIFF; DOCX;
PPTX; many spreadsheet formats including XLSX; Markdown; HTML; RTF; SVG; and
plain text.

**Q: Is Look Scanned free to use?**
A: The core browser scan flow is available without a subscription. Pro provides
additional capabilities such as higher limits, bulk scanning, advanced
document customization, and Scan API access.

**Q: Do I need to create an account?**
A: No account is required for the core local scan flow. Account authentication
is required for subscription-backed Pro features and the Scan API.

**Q: Are documents uploaded?**
A: Documents selected in the standard `/scan` and `/scan/bulk` web flows remain
in the browser. Documents deliberately submitted through the optional Scan API
are uploaded for remote processing.

**Q: Can I use Look Scanned offline?**
A: Cached standard web-scan routes can work offline after the service worker has
finished caching their required shared and locale-specific assets. Accounts,
payments, analytics, and the remote Scan API still require a network connection.

**Q: Can I add signatures or stamps to a PDF?**
A: Yes. Signatures and stamps can be imported or created, saved in a local
reusable library, and positioned, scaled, rotated, or duplicated on pages.

**Q: Is Look Scanned open source?**
A: A public community edition is available under the MIT license.

## Main pages

- `/` - Home page
- `/scan` - Local single-document scanner
- `/scan/bulk` - Local bulk scanner
- `/scan/api` - Scan API documentation and interactive client
- `/pro` - Pro plan information and purchase options
- `/pro/manage` - Subscription management
- `/settings/profile` - Account profile settings
- `/blog` - Articles on PDF handling and document workflows, with tag, archive
  and search views under `/blog/tags`, `/blog/archives` and `/blog/search`
- `/feedback` - Feedback page
- `/privacy` - Privacy policy
- `/tos` - Terms of service

Public pages have fixed locale-prefixed variants such as `/zh/scan` and
`/fr/scan`, plus prefix-less adaptive routes. Blog pages are locale-prefixed
only, and are published in nine languages beyond the application's own:
Afrikaans, Czech, Greek, Filipino, Hungarian, Romanian, Swahili, Ukrainian and
Urdu.

## Links

- [Look Scanned Website](https://lookscanned.io): Main application
- [API Documentation](https://api.lookscanned.io/docs): REST API reference
- [Look Scanned Blog](https://lookscanned.io/en/blog): Tutorials and announcements
- [Community Edition Repository](https://github.com/lookscanned/lookscanned.io): Public source code