Tips for Scanning Documents and Reducing File Size

There is no limit to the number of files you can upload to TherapyNotes, allowing you to maintain all of your client records in a secure, central location. However, each file you upload must be smaller than 25MB in size.

Below are tips for reducing the file size for some of the most common types of documents you may scan and upload. To learn how to upload files to a client's chart, read How To: Upload Client Documents.

Scanning Insurance and ID Cards

We recommend scanning insurance cards or other ID cards at 150 dpi in grayscale. To maintain readability, these documents should be saved as PNG files. An insurance card scanner may save you some time with scanning, but any scanner should work for you.

Scanning Paper Documents

When scanning documents such as intake paperwork or homework, we recommend scanning the document at 150 dpi in grayscale and saving the document as a PDF. To facilitate scanning multi-page documents, we recommend acquiring a scanner that can automatically scan multiple pages and save them as a single PDF file.

Scanning documents at a quality higher than 150 dpi may result in a file size greater than 25MB, making the files too large to upload. Higher quality documents also take longer to upload, and any quality above 150 dpi is, in most cases, a higher quality than can be displayed on a computer monitor. To prevent large file sizes and unnecessarily long upload times, we recommend against using the highest quality scan settings.

Scanning Photographs

For best results, photographs should be scanned at 150 dpi. To reduce file size while maintaining quality, scanned photographs should be saved as JPG files. 

Uploading Digital Images

Images taken with a smart phone or digital camera are often of high quality and, as a result, may be extremely large. In some cases, these images are of a higher quality than can be displayed on a computer monitor at a reasonable size. If your image is too large to upload, we recommend resizing the image in a program such as Microsoft Photos or Mac Preview.

To resize an image on Windows:

• Open the folder containing the image.
• Open the file you want to upload.
• Microsoft Photos will open. Click the three horizontal dots to open a dropdown with more tools.
• Click Resize.

To resize an image on Mac:

• Open the folder containing the image.
• Open the file you want to upload.
• Preview will open. Click Tools > Adjust Size.

For additional support scanning documents, consult your scanner's user guide and the support team of the manufacturer.