The Tools screen

Tools is the second tab of the bottom bar. It puts every tool Paperwise has on one screen, so you can start from the job (“I need to sign something”) instead of from the document.

What it is

Tap Tools in the bottom bar. The screen shows a grid of tiles in six groups:

Group	Tools
Capture	ID card · Book · QR code · Count (Pro, only with the AI helper on) · ID photo · Board or screen
Edit	Sign · Annotate · Erase pen · Watermark · Adjust areas · Timestamp · Smart erase
Pages	Merge · Collage · Split · Reorder
Convert	To Word · To Excel · To PowerPoint · To Text · Password PDF (Pro) · Compress · Print · Long image
Check	Check a mark: is a file or a picture one of your invisibly marked copies?
AI	Ask · Extract · Translate · Read handwriting (all Pro)

Pro tools show a small Pro pill under their name while you’re on the free plan. Tapping one shows what Pro adds.

Every tool here is also where it belongs on a document: Edit, Markup, Ask and Share in the document’s toolbar, or + for the cameras. The Tools screen is simply another way in.

Step by step

Use a camera tool

Tap Tools in the bottom bar.
Under Capture, tap ID card, Book, QR code, ID photo or Board or screen. The camera opens, exactly as it does from +.

What you make from the Tools screen is saved on Home, not in a folder. To save straight into a folder, open the folder and use + there.

Use a tool on a document

Most tools work on one document. For those, Paperwise asks which one first.

Tap Tools, then the tool, for example Sign.
A list opens, titled in the tool’s words: “Sign which document?”, “Split which document?”, “Ask about which document?”.
Find the document: the newest are at the top, and there’s a Search field.
Tap it. The list closes and the tool opens on that document, just as it would from the document itself.

When you close the tool, you’re back on the Tools screen.

Start a tool that needs no document

Merge and Collage open their own screen, where you pick several scans (and, for Collage, photos) in the order you want. See Merge scans and convert files and Collage.

What the list shows

Only documents the tool can work on. Most tools work on scans. Split and Reorder need a scan with 2 or more pages. Ask, Extract and Translate also list files that have text.
Never anything in a private vault, in Recently deleted, or not saved yet.
For AI tools, never a document marked Never send to AI. A line under the list says when some were left out for that reason.
IDs, medical, bank and tax papers appear with a lock instead of a preview. Picking one asks for Face ID first; cancel and you stay on the list.

If nothing fits, the list says so, for example “Nothing here yet that Split works on. Split needs a scan with 2 or more pages.”

Free and Pro

The Tools screen is free, and so are most of its tools. Password PDF, Count and the four AI tools are Pro. AI tools also need the AI helper on: with it off, tapping one says “AI features are off. Turn them on in Account → AI helper.” Count is only shown while the AI helper is on.

Privacy

The Tools screen and its list are on your iPhone. Opening them sends nothing anywhere.
Each tool keeps its own rules: Capture, Edit, Pages, Compress, Print and Long image run on your iPhone; Word, Excel and PowerPoint ask first because they use our server; AI tools ask before anything goes to our AI provider. See Word, Excel and PowerPoint and What AI sees.
Private vaults never appear here, so a tool can’t be pointed at a vault item from this screen.

Tips

The Tools screen is only a shortcut: every tool that works on one document is also on that document’s own toolbar. The Edit and Markup tools are on a PDF’s or a photo’s toolbar too: Paperwise makes an editable copy, and your file stays until you choose. See Edit or mark up a file.
The Convert tools work on scans. To convert a PDF or a photo you imported, open it and choose Edit → Make a scan first.
On iPad, Tools is in the sidebar under More.

What if…

What if a document I expect isn’t in the list?

It may be the wrong kind for that tool (a note, a card, or a one-page scan for Split), in a private vault, in Recently deleted, or marked Never send to AI for an AI tool.

What if I don’t see Count?

Count uses AI, so it only appears while Account → AI → AI helper is on.