A document size detector for detecting a size of a document in use with a document scanner. The document size detector has an irradiator to irradiate the document with a light beam; a cover of the document; a receiver of the reflection light from the document and the cover; a converter to convert the reflection light to image signals; a detector to detect the shadow of the document on the cover in the image signals; and the determiner to determine the size of the document according to the detected shadow of the document.