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Institute of Advanced Technological and Commercial Studies

Practical guides

Scanning and sending your documents

A sharp scan saves several days of processing. This guide gives the method that produces legible documents first time, with an ordinary phone: framing, light, file naming and transmission. Each document takes about a minute.

What a good scan changes

A document legible first time is processed immediately. The gain is measured in days: a document redone means a round trip, a follow-up and a decision pushed back by as much. Four points are enough to get a usable scan, and each takes a minute per document.

  • All four corners of the document visible in frame
  • Natural side light, with no glare on the paper
  • One file per document, named by its purpose
  • Colour kept for stamps and signatures

From photo to filing

  1. 01

    Lay the document flat

    On a plain table, ideally dark: the contrast helps automatic cropping find the edges.

  2. 02

    Stand near a window

    Daylight, from the side. Turn the flash off: it creates a central glare that wipes out exactly the stamps.

  3. 03

    Frame and check sharpness

    The document fills the screen, horizontally. Zoom on the finest line: if it reads, the document will pass.

  4. 04

    Name the file

    « identity », « qualification », « transcript-2025 ». An explicit name saves time in processing and for you.

  5. 05

    Upload and check the preview

    The form shows a preview of each uploaded document. Read it: that is exactly what processing will see.

What your upload represents

documents to send
4

Bundling makes review harder.

file per document
1
minutes to file, documents ready
15

Three ways to scan

The phone camera

The fastest route, and how most files arrive. Daylight, flash off, horizontal framing.

The scanning app

It straightens perspective and raises contrast. Check that colour mode stays on for stamps.

An internet café scanner

Useful for fragile or large documents. Ask for colour and one file per page.

Questions about sending

My file is too large. What do I do?

Retake the photo at medium resolution rather than compressing an existing file: legibility holds up better. A page of text stays perfectly legible well below the maximum resolution of a recent phone.

Can I send a multi-page document?

Yes, one page per file, numbered in order. The form accepts several files for a single document and presents them grouped for processing.

Is a certified copy needed?

Filing is done on scanned documents. Presentation of an original is requested, where applicable, at final enrolment, and the request then states which document and by when.

Scanning and sending your documents — Practical guides | IHETC — IHETC