How to turn your digital camera into a scanner:

Your digital camera can double as a scanner if you learn a few secrets. The important thing is that all pages of the contract are VERY CLEAR AND LEGIBLE as it is a legal document and thus should be easily readable with no ambiguities. Here are some tips and examples:

Set your camera to black and white mode.
Set your camera to at least 1600 x 1200 pixel width for good photo resolution. (The larger example photos on this page have been reduced to 800 x 600 pixels to conserve bandwidth.)

Take one photo of each page, not one photo of all pages at the same time.

Make sure no text of the pages is cut off. Make sure all the text of each page is in frame.

If the photos have shadows, turn on your flash and/or place a lamp on the table near the page.

Washed out. If your flash is too bright, try the close-up or "flower" setting which on some cameras may reduce the power of the flash. Or, try setting the page near a lamp or bright window during daytime and turn the flash off. With the flash off you will need to hold the camera very steady or you will get a blurry photo.

Two things can cause blurry photos; out of focus and a slow shutter with a hand that is not steady. If your photos are blurry, press the camera button half way, wait for it to focus, and then press all the way. This will help the camera focus on the document. If you have your flash turned off (shutter speed may be slower), hold the camera very still as you take the photo. Zoom in on this photo and you will see that the letters and words are not readable.

The page should rest completely flat on a table, not against a wall to avoid document distortion.

Look for a black and white picture taking mode on your camera. This will save you and I lots of color printer ink!

Keep the camera just close enough to the pages so that your table doesn't show, but not too close that text is cut off.

Luke Skywalker may like this one, but it's difficult to read. Avoid the starwars movie credits skew by keeping the camera directly above and centered on the page.