Tips for Better Scan Quality

Practical advice to make every scan cleaner and more detailed.

Lighting

Lighting is the single biggest factor in scan quality. The ideal setup is soft, even illumination from multiple angles so the surface details are clearly visible without harsh shadows.

• Best: overcast daylight near a large window, or two diffused lamps on opposite sides
• Good: well-lit indoor room with overhead lighting
• Avoid: direct sunlight creating strong shadows, single-point light sources, backlighting

If one side of the object is much darker than the other, the reconstruction algorithm has less data to work with and geometry quality drops on the dark side.

Background and surface

Place your object on a plain, non-reflective surface. A solid-color table or desk works well. Textured tablecloths, patterned floors, and cluttered backgrounds can confuse the feature-matching algorithms.

If you are scanning on a reflective table (glass, polished wood), lay down a sheet of plain paper or a matte mat underneath.

Object selection

Some objects scan better than others. Here is a quick reference:

• Great subjects: textured objects, matte surfaces, solid colors - shoes, figurines, rocks, ceramics
• Challenging: thin objects (pens, wires), transparent items (glass, clear plastic), highly reflective surfaces (chrome, mirrors), uniformly featureless objects (plain white sphere)

For challenging objects, try dusting them with a matte spray or placing small stickers to add trackable features.

Distance and angle

Keep a consistent distance from the object throughout the scan. For small objects (under 20 cm), stay about 20-30 cm away. For larger objects, 40-60 cm works well.

Capture from multiple heights - not just eye level. Tilt the phone slightly down to capture the top, and slightly up (or crouch) to get the bottom edges. The more angles covered, the more complete your model will be.

Common mistakes

1. Moving too fast - the most common issue. Slow down, especially around detailed areas
2. Incomplete coverage - skipping angles leads to holes in the mesh
3. Too close / too far - getting too close causes tracking loss; too far loses detail
4. Shaky hands - use both hands to hold the phone steady. Consider a gimbal for serious work
5. Moving the object - the object must stay completely still during scanning. If it shifts, start over

Pro tips

• Do a quick practice circle without scanning to plan your path and check for obstacles
• Scan in multiple passes if the object has complex geometry - one pass at table height, another from above
• For LiDAR scans, keep the phone upright (portrait orientation) for the best depth sensor coverage
• Close unnecessary apps before scanning to free up memory and processing power

Ready to put these tips into practice? Head back to our beginner scanning guide or learn about exporting for 3D printing.