How to Scan a Driver's License with Your iPhone
Use ID Card mode, lay the license on a dark surface with light coming from the side, and capture the front and then the back as two pages of one PDF. Rental agencies, insurers, and employers nearly always want both sides. Everything runs on your iPhone, so the license image is never uploaded to a server.
Tools used: Crop & perspective fixRotateBrightness & contrastOCR text recognitionPDF conversion
Step by step
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Switch to ID Card mode
A licence is credit-card sized, so document mode will often ignore it and latch onto the edge of the table. ID Card mode looks for that smaller rectangle and crops to it, which saves you a manual crop on every capture.
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Defeat the hologram overlay
Modern licences carry a full-surface holographic laminate that throws back a rainbow flare under direct light. Move out from under a ceiling fixture, stand beside a window, and tilt the card a few degrees until the flare slides off the photo and the licence number. This is the single biggest cause of a rejected licence scan.
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Capture the front, then the back
Shoot the portrait side first, then flip the card over and shoot the reverse as page two. The back holds the endorsements, restrictions, and the PDF417 barcode, and plenty of forms specifically ask for it even when the request just says "a copy of your licence".
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Square up and lighten
Run Crop & perspective fix to remove the desk and straighten any tilt, then Rotate if you turned the card to shoot the back. If the surface tint left the card looking grey, a small Brightness & contrast nudge makes the printed details legible without crushing the security pattern into a smear.
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Export as a single PDF
Send both sides as one PDF, not two separate images. Multi-page documents export as a single PDF file, which is what upload portals and email attachments handle most predictably, and it stops the back from getting lost in transit.
Frequently asked
- Why does my driver's license scan look washed out?
- Almost always the laminate. The overlay reflects the brightest light source in the room directly into the lens, and once an area is fully white the detail underneath is gone — no editing brings it back. Reshoot with the light coming from one side and the card tilted slightly away from it.
- Should I cover part of my license before sending it?
- That depends entirely on who is asking and why. Some organisations explicitly permit redacting a document number for identity verification; others reject any altered copy outright. Ask the recipient what they accept before you edit anything.
- Can the app read the barcode on the back?
- No. The scanner has a QR mode for QR codes, but the PDF417 barcode used on the back of a driving licence is a different symbology and is not decoded. Capture the back as an image so a human reviewer can see it.
- What if my license is bent or the corner is worn?
- Press it flat against the surface before capturing — a curled card creates an uneven surface that both blurs one edge and adds a bright band of glare. Wear on the print itself will show in the scan, and if the number is no longer legible on the card, it will not be legible in the copy either.
- Is this free?
- Saving and exporting to PDF or JPG is free with no watermark, and you do not need an account to start. A purchase unlocks extras such as additional OCR language packs and never restricts a file you have already exported.
Last updated 2026-07-28