Instructions for Scanning and Sending Your Pilot Logbooks
Please e-mail your Digital Logbook File to Main@AnytimeLogbooks.com
FOR ALL SCAN METHODS:
- Leave the file names as default. Changing them with dates will only delay the process
- Only scan pages with flights (no simulators, summary pages, or blank pages)
- The YEAR must be visible at the top of each logbook page. (May need to hand write it at the top of each page)
- Arrange logbooks and/or pages in chronological order. Scan oldest flights first, newest flights last.
Scan Options:
- Smartphone App. (See TurboScan Instructions below)
- Home desktop scanner. (See Desktop Scanner Instructions below)
- Drop off the logbook with a local UPS store (or FedEx/Kinkos). These stores have scanned a few customer logbooks within one day of drop-off and delivered a high-quality PDF for our conversion process. It’s a bit expensive ($70-$150). But this is a good option if time is of the essence.
- Local library. This is free, but their equipment must be used to scan and create PDFs.
- As a last resort, logbooks can be mailed to us (we will provide a mailing address), but please realize this is high-risk to you. You are trusting your future career to the U.S. Postal Service.

TurboScan (See screenshots below) seems to be the best scanner app for smartphones (both iPhone and Android).
- $5.99 for the full version (Must be purchased to unlock the “Save to PDF” feature, which is necessary).
- Very simple/intuitive
- Scan in batches of 30-40 pages in each PDF, then send it to our email (Keep below 25mb per PDF file to remain small enough to email).
- You do NOT need to transfer the files to your computer first. Just send straight from your phone to our email.
- Best results when using a black/dark background.

TurboScan Instructions (for iPhone)
1. Lock your phone to “portrait screen orientation” (this will prevent the screen from accidentally switching between portrait and landscape view when scanning logbook pages). On an iPhone, open the quick options menu by swiping up from the bottom and click the lock with the circle arrow icon.
2 . Open the TurboScan app.
3. Press the “Camera” icon (bottom left).
4 . Holding the camera in one hand, use your other hand to splay open logbook on a flat surface, such as a desk.
5. Click the “Camera” button to take a photo. May need to keep the phone still for a few seconds while the app takes the photo.
In most cases, fingers will need to be used to splay open the logbook. Fingers do not cause a problem in the scan, but ensure they do not mask any flight data.
Scan both left AND right sides of each logbook page with each single “photo.” This is also true for civilian logbooks, which may look awkward since they are so wide. See examples below.
6. Upon first use of the app, after the first page only, click the “B/W” icon (lower right corner) and toggle through the 3 options until “Color” option is displayed. This will permanently change the PDFs to the Color mode to capture green, red, and blue ink for Combat Time, Night Flights, and Night Vision Goggle time.
7. If the app thinks the entire photo has been captured, it will display “Next” (top right corner). Simply click “Next” to move on to the next page.
- If the intended logbook page does not appear to be fully captured, simply click the “Frame” option (left corner) and drag the red frame box to capture all sides of the page. Then click “Done” (top right).
- Ensure the date (Month/Year) is visible at the top of the page.
- If both left and right sides do not get captured during the preview after taking the photo, simply drag the red frame box to capture both sides, then save.
- If the picture needs to be retaken entirely, click the trashcan icon (bottom left) and click “Rescan Page.”
8. When satisfied with the current page, click “Next” (to right).
9. To scan the next page, click the “Plus Page” icon (bottom right). Repeat process until about 30 pages (will show a queue of total pages scanned after taking each photo).
10. Once about 30 pages have been captured, click the “Up Arrow Page” icon (bottom left corner). Then click the “Email as PDF” option (red envelope icon), then select “Actual Size.” Send to Main@AnytimeLogbooks.com. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RENAME THE PDF FILES. (30 pages is a good number of pages that won’t exceed your email attachment limit.) DON’T WASTE TIME TRANSFERRING TO YOUR OWN COMPUTER. Send straight from your phone to our email.
TurboScan example “General Aviation”
- LEFT and RIGHT sides of original logbook captured in same image (or “scan”). Do not send a LEFT and RIGHT as separate images.
- YEAR visible at the top of EVER page
- Fingers are not a problem, assuming not masking data


TurboScan example “Navy”
- Appears as a photo but is actually a PDF-very simple
- Left and right sides of original logbook on same “scan”
- Shifted to “Color” mode to capture colors of Night, Combat, and NVG data entries
- Fingers are not a problem, assuming not masking data
Desktop Scanner Instructions
- Desktop Scanner (not recommended, adds time and effort)
- 100 DPI seems to be a sweet spot for resolution. Maximum of 150 (if you can’t read the scan, we can’t either).
- Try to reduce the aperture (scan software settings) of the swath to be scanned (9″ x 7.5″ for Navy logbooks). This will reduce scan time for each page and will reduce the file size.
- Time can also be saved by scanning multiple pages into one file. Recommend around 30 pages per file, max, to ensure not exceeding email attachment size (usually 25mb).
- Use the default file names when saving each batch of scans or use a simple numbering system (#1 for the first page with your earliest flights).
