The pile-of-receipts problem
If you travel for work, manage field crews, or consult on-site, you know the routine: receipts accumulate in a wallet, a glovebox, or a shoebox until the end of a project. By the time you sit down with Concur, Expensify, or whatever your company uses, half of them are barely legible. Submitting them as-is risks rejection. Throwing them away means absorbing the cost yourself.
This is exactly what ThermalScan was built for.
Step-by-step: process a batch quickly
- Spread your receipts on a flat, dark surface. A black notebook or matte tabletop works. The contrast helps your phone's autofocus and exposure.
- Photograph them one at a time under even lighting — overhead room light is fine. Each photo at full resolution; modern phones already produce 12+ MP, which is plenty.
- Batch through ThermalScan. With practice, each receipt takes under a minute.
- Default settings for faded receipts: Adaptive Threshold ON, Gamma 1.2, Sharpness 10–15%, Saturation 100% (keep colour if your reimbursement system accepts it; otherwise toggle Grayscale).
- Download as PNG, name them
YYYY-MM-DD-vendor-amount.png, and drag into your expense tool.
A word on your company's policy
Most reimbursement systems accept a "clearly legible copy" of a receipt — they do not require the original physical paper. A few high-compliance industries (legal, government contracting) may insist on the original. Read your company's expense policy before you toss the originals; if in doubt, keep a sealed envelope of physicals for 90 days after submission.
Pro tip: do it weekly
The single biggest lever isn't restoration software — it's not letting receipts fade in the first place. A 60-second weekly habit of photographing fresh receipts means you'll never need restoration again. ThermalScan is the rescue mission; weekly photos are the prevention.
Open ThermalScan Pro → — no signup, no upload, free forever.