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Want to quickly rotate scanned PDF files so they can be viewed correctly on various devices? This article will teach you how do you rotate a scanned PDF by using MiniTool PDF Editor and Adobe Acrobat.

Why Do You Rotate a Scanned PDF

A scanned PDF is a file generated by converting a paper document or image into PDF format using a scanner or other scanning application.

When paper documents are scanned as PDFs, the page orientation is not always correct. Then, you need to rotate the scanned PDF files. In general, rotating the scanned PDF files has the following benefits.

  1. Improve document readability and user experience: If scanned pages are landscape or inverted, reading becomes inconvenient. Rotating the scanned PDF to the correct orientation ensures the document functions correctly for reading and printing.
  2. Avoid frequent device orientation adjustments: If keeping the orientation of PDF pages inconsistent, users may need to constantly rotate their devices to view documents, impacting reading efficiency.
  3. Ensure print quality: Incorrect PDF page orientation can lead to messy layouts or display errors when printing. Rotating the scanned PDF files can eliminate the issues.
  4. Make documents look more professional and standardized: Correctly oriented scanned PDFs look more formal when sending work documents or sharing materials.

After understanding why it’s necessary to rotate scanned PDFs, the following content will show you how to rotate a scanned PDF on Windows.

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How Do You Rotate a Scanned PDF?

When scanned PDF pages are horizontal or upside down, it can negatively impact the reading experience.

But don’t worry, you can easily correct the PDF’s orientation by rotating the scanned PDF files.

To do that, try using MiniTool PDF Editor or Adobe Acrobat.

Tips:
Each page of a scanned PDF is essentially an image, not editable text, and therefore cannot be directly edited. To edit a scanned PDF document, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology is needed to convert the images into editable text.

Method 1. Use MiniTool PDF Editor

MiniTool PDF Editor, a professional PDF editor, can help you rotate a PDF file quickly.

The software comes with a clean and user-friendly interface, allowing you to use it without difficulty.

Moreover, it is a feature-rich PDF editor that can help you create/edit/convert/split/translate/merge/encrypt PDFs, and add/remove links, text, images, and backgrounds to PDFs.

Note:
MiniTool PDF Editor offers a 7-day free trial. Once the trial expires, access to many advanced features will be restricted. To continue using them, you must upgrade to the Pro edition.

MiniTool PDF EditorClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 1: Download and install MiniTool PDF Editor on your computer.

Step 2: Right-click the scanned PDF file you want to rotate, click Open with, and choose MiniTool PDF Editor.

Step 3: In the main interface, click the Page > Rotate Pages. In the new pop-up window, choose Orientation, Page Range according your needs. Finally, click OK to rotate your scanned PDF.

The MiniTool PDF Editor Page interface with the selected Rotate Range option.

Step 4: Once the rotation is complete, save the PDF document.

Further Reading:

When you scan a document with a scanner or your phone, the page content may sometimes be slightly tilted.

In this case, you can use the Deskew function in MiniTool PDF Editor, which can automatically correct tilted text and images in scanned documents or pictures.

Here are the steps:

  1. Launch MiniTool PDF Editor and then click Open to upload the scanned PDF.
  2. Go to the Edit tab and then select Deskew.
  3. In the prompted window, you can select a deskewing option, page range, and output option according to your needs.
  4. After that, click OK. MiniTool PDF Editor will then begin correcting the tilt in the scanned PDF.
The Deskew interface with the selected OK option.

Method 2. Use Adobe Acrobat

Adobe Acrobat is a powerful PDF management tool that can be used to edit and manage PDF files.

With this software, you can easily edit text and images, rotate scanned PDF pages, merge or split PDFs, compress file sizes, and convert PDFs to common formats such as Word and Excel.

Below are the specific steps for rotating scanned PDFs using Adobe Acrobat.

Step 1: Launch Adobe Acrobat, click Open File, select and upload the scanned PDF you want to rotate.

Step 2: On the main interface, click Edit on the left, find the rotate icon, and click it to rotate the scanned page to the correct orientation. Note that this feature is only available in the paid version.

The Adobe Acrobat interface with the selected Edit and the Rotate icon option.
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How Do You Rotate a Scanned PDF FAQ

1. Can I rotate a scanned PDF without performing OCR?
Rotating a scanned PDF does not require OCR. It only adjusts the page orientation. You only need to enable OCR if you need to edit or search the text.
2. Can I rotate scanned PDFs on my phone?
Yes. You can use apps like iLovePDF, Adobe Acrobat, or online tools like Smallpdf to quickly rotate scanned PDF files on your phone. These tools allow you to rotate individual pages or the entire document.
3. Can I print a rotated scanned PDF directly?
Yes. After saving a rotated scanned PDF file, the page orientation is adjusted and fixed. This means that no matter whether you open the file on a computer, phone, or tablet, it will print in the new orientation.
4. Will rotating a scanned PDF file change its size?
Normally, rotating a scanned PDF page will not change the file size because rotation only adjusts the page orientation.
However, if the scanned PDF document is compressed after rotation, the file size may change.

Bottom line

How do you rotate a scanned PDF file? You can rotate scanned PDF files using professional tools such as MiniTool PDF Editor. It also allows you to perform OCR on scanned PDF files and quickly edit PDF content on Windows systems.

If you have any questions or suggestions while using the MiniTool PDF Editor, you can contact us via [email protected] to get a quick reply.

About The Author

Cecilia
Cecilia

Position: Columnist

Cecilia is a new member of MiniTool. She works as an English editor on the MiniTool team. She likes to learn articles about computers and is passionate about partition management and Windows operating systems. She is committed to allowing readers to use simple, efficient, and fast methods to solve the computer problems they encounter. To provide more professional solutions, she will continue to learn and master computer knowledge.