Scanned vs. digital bank statements
Both may arrive as a PDF. One contains text you can select; the other is essentially a picture of a page.
How to tell which file you have
Open the PDF and try to select a single transaction description. If you can highlight and copy the words, the file likely contains a text layer. If selection grabs the whole page as one image, it is probably a scan. Some files contain a scanned image with an OCR text layer; the text can be selectable even when it has recognition errors.
A direct statement download from a bank is usually preferable to a photo or print-and-scan copy because it avoids blur, perspective distortion and missing edges. This does not guarantee that its table will copy cleanly: PDFs often store visual columns in a different order from what you see.
What makes a scan harder to read
OCR and visual document models need legible dates and amounts. Low resolution, shadows, skewed pages, faint print, highlighted text, watermarks and cropped columns all increase uncertainty. A statement photographed at an angle can also make rows appear to overlap. If a page is missing, no converter can recover its transactions from the remaining pages.
Handwritten corrections or annotations should be checked manually. The model may read them as source transactions or ignore them entirely, depending on placement and clarity. Always compare the extracted result with the document you intended to process.
Prepare the best source file
Choose the bank's downloadable statement when available. Keep all pages in order and make sure the account, dates and transaction columns are visible. For a paper statement, scan the complete page flat, with good lighting and readable small print. Avoid aggressive image compression. The converter accepts PDF, PNG and JPG files up to 10 MB; if a file is larger, reduce its size without making the transaction text unreadable.
Password-protected PDFs are not supported for direct conversion. Obtain an unlocked export you are permitted to use rather than sharing a password. Do not send a banking password in a support email.
Expect a review step either way
A digital PDF can still have wrapped descriptions, combined debit/credit values or page subtotals that resemble transactions. A scan adds possible character-recognition errors. In both cases, check the extracted table before export: compare the statement period, first and last rows, large transactions and any running balances.
If a value is not visible in the source, a blank field is safer than an invented number. For files that will support accounting or an application, keep the original statement with the exported CSV, JSON or Excel .xlsx workbook and document any manual corrections.