How to Scan Old Photos With Your Phone and Actually Make Them Look Good
1 min read
Summary
If you have boxes of old printed photos that you’d like to digitize, there’s an app for that.
While professional digitizing services are available, it can be costly to have someone else do it.
You’ll get great results using your phone’s camera and the right scanning app.
The correct lighting is key to getting the best digital copy of your photos, so any distracting lights should be turned off, and you shouldn’t use your phone’s flash.
You should also position your photos so that they are flat and straight on, and not at an angle.
Avoid using your phone’s zoom feature, and don’t use modes like Portrait or Macro, which can blur the edges of the photo.
The best scanning apps include Google PhotoScan, Microsoft Lens, and iScanner.
Once you’ve scanned your photos, you can use any number of photo-editing apps to enhance them.
If you only have the negatives of your photos, you can photograph these with your phone and then use a photo-editing app to invert them.
