How to Improve the Quality of a Scanned ID in Adobe Acrobat for Document Verification?

Guy, there are lots of reasons why you may be having issues scanning ID cards, which we covered when you asked the same question a month ago, and other times previous to this post. 

As you’re playing your greatest hits here, please allow me to reach back into my catalog and bring back an oldie I offered to you before.

https://community.adobe.com/questions%2D9/how%2Dto%2Dimprove%2Dscanned%2Did%2Dquality%2Din%2Dadobe%2Dfor%2Donline%2Dverification%2Dappointment%2Ddocuments%2D1559082?postid=7546473#post7546473

The “Scan ID Card” feature in the Adobe Scan application may offer some additional assistance, but all the structural limitations of scanning laminated content still come into play. I truly believe you’re running a repeated errand to pick up different answers than folks here have given you before. 

Good luck,

Randy

Hi @Mick Judo ,

Hope you are doing well, and thank you for reaching out. 

You're definitely not alone in this. Getting a scanned ID sharp enough for official document verification is a common challenge, especially when scanning from a phone. Let me walk you through the best options, step by step.

Step 1: Enhance the scan you already have in Acrobat

If you've already got the PDF open in Acrobat, start here before re-scanning:

1. Open your PDF in Acrobat

2. Go to All Tools > Scan & OCR > Enhance scanned file

3. In the dialog, select the pages you want to improve

4. Check the Recognize text box (this runs OCR and helps Acrobat sharpen text rendering)

5. Click Settings, set image quality to High, and turn off lossy compression

6. Click Enhance

For more information, please check the help page  Enhance scanned PDFs in Acrobat

Step 2: Run OCR to sharpen text rendering

For blurry or low-resolution images, use the Enhance scanned file or the Enhance camera image tool before editing. You can also go to Scan & OCR > Recognize Text to re-scan and improve OCR output. Edit scanned PDFs in Acrobat

Step 3: Check your resolution

For best results, scans should be at least 300 DPI for black and white, or 600 DPI for grayscale or documents with more complex fonts. If your phone or scanner is saving below that, that's likely the root cause of the blurriness. Adobe Support Community

For more information, check this help page Improve scanned PDFs – settings reference

Also, you can re-scan using Adobe Scan (best option for IDs)

Adobe Scan has a dedicated ID card scanning mode built exactly for this use case. It handles both sides of the card, corrects for page curvature, and produces much cleaner results than a regular camera app.

1. Download Adobe Scan for free:

   • Adobe Scan for iOS (App Store)

   • Adobe Scan for Android (Google Play)

2. Tap the camera icon and select "ID card" as the document type

3. With auto-capture enabled, keep the ID card face up; the app captures the first side and prompts you to flip and capture the second. Tap "Adjust and save" to finalize and save as a PDF.

4. The app uses auto-crop and image cleaning to improve scan quality automatically.Scanning with Adobe Scan – full documentation

Hope this information will help. 

~Amal