Can I just photograph documents with my phone?

In-depth Answer

Source-file quality bears directly on translation accuracy, because whatever the practitioner cannot read must be marked illegible — and that is exactly what receiving bodies query.

What works: place the document on a flat dark surface that contrasts with the paper, use daylight or diffuse light to kill shadows and glare, shoot straight down with all four edges inside the frame, turn filters off, and don't crop into the margins.

Critically, always capture the reverse where there is a seal, text, or an endorsement; even an apparently blank back should be sent so it can be checked.

For bound records such as a house registration, photograph every page carrying data, including the cover page with the house number.

Sending one PDF with the pages in order makes checking and page referencing easiest.

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