How to make a PDF with your phone
Photos of music do not scan well, but the scanner built into your phone makes a clean PDF in about a minute, and that scans well. Here is where to find it.
One tip first: if your piece is on IMSLP (imslp.org), download that PDF instead of photographing a printed copy. It is usually much sharper.
iPhone and iPad
In the Notes app:
- Open a note and tap the camera icon above the keyboard.
- Choose Scan Documents.
- Hold the phone straight above the page. The scan is taken when the yellow outline settles.
- Tap Save, then tap the scan, tap the share icon and choose Save to Files or share it to this site.
In the Files app, the same scanner is behind the three dots: tap the ... button, then Scan Documents.
On a recent iPhone or iPad, the Files picker that opens from Add music has that ... button too, so you may be able to scan without leaving this site. If you do not see Scan Documents there, use Notes.
Android
In the Google Drive app:
- Tap the + button, then Scan.
- Hold the phone straight above the page and take the picture. Adjust the corners if needed.
- Tap Save. The scan is saved to Drive as a PDF; share it to this site or download it to your phone.
Many Android phones also have a scanner in the camera app or in Google Photos, and those PDFs work the same way.
Then add it
On the Practice page, tap Add music and choose the PDF. A multi-page PDF is fine: you tick the pages to scan. A page that passes every check is ready at once; the rest is checked by the AI, usually within an hour. You can close the app; a page is shown in My pieces when it is ready.
Tips for a good scan
- Lay the page flat, with nothing covering the edges.
- Use good light, and avoid your own shadow on the page.
- Hold the phone straight above the page, not at an angle.
- Wait for the auto-crop to settle before the scan is taken.
- One piece per PDF. A multi-page PDF is fine; you tick the pages.
Clean, printed cello parts scan best. A scanned score shows notes, rhythms and slurs; use your printed part for dynamics and other markings.
When the scan is ready
You see the result as a score, with one line above it saying what was checked and how many bars were corrected. If the AI was not sure about some bars, a sentence asks you to check them against your part. Tap Add to my scores to practice it, or tell the AI what is wrong in the box below the score. Everything else is under More options: the clef, key and meter the piece starts with, the clef changes the scan found, the Change clef tool, and Download MusicXML. To correct notes yourself, download the MusicXML, fix it in MuseScore (free at musescore.org) or another notation program, export it as MusicXML and replace the score with the edited file.