You need scan photos? You have come to the best place. In this article I will teach you how to scan a photo. I will share with you tips, tricks, tools and applications to scan photos, old and new; with the mobile or when digitizing negatives, etc.
scan old photos o Taking photos of photos is a perfect option to share them with the rest of the family or to create videos, digital albums, etc.
So, what are you waiting for to start digitizing the photos you have on paper?
INSIDE THIS ARTICLE… 📖
How to scan photos with mobile
The tool that we usually have most at hand is usually the smartphone and we are in luck because yes, it is possible to scan photos with the mobile.
Before launching into offering you tools and applications, I think these tips and tricks will be very useful for you to get the best result when scanning your photos with your mobile:
- Place the photograph on a contrasting, plain background. If you put a photo with a white border on a white surface, for example, the tool will have a hard time finding the borders.
- Try to ensure that the entire photo is illuminated in the same way, that there is no shadow on an area of the photo or a spotlight pointing to any part of it.
- The ideal is lateral lighting, if possible natural, but artificial light will also work. The important thing is that you avoid an overhead light that creates shadows and/or reflections on the image.
- Don’t leave a lot of space around the printed photo. Zoom the camera in so that it fills almost the entire frame.
- Place the mobile in parallel with the photograph, so that it is straight; and try not to move it, unless you see a reflection, in that case, turn it a little until you see it disappear.
How to scan photos with iPhone
If you have an iPhone, you have different photo scanning options, let’s get to know them.
Grades
The iPhone allows you to scan photos without the need to download any extra application. From your native app Grades you can scan documents or photos. This is also valid for iPad or iPod touch.
Next, how to scan a photo with iphone from Notes, step by step:
- in the app Gradescreate or open a new note, and select the button with the camera icon.
- tap on scan documents.
- if you’re in mode Automatic, placing the camera on the photo will automatically scan it. To do it in manual if it is in manual you will have to hit the shutter button (the round central button).
- Drag the corners to adjust. give to Save either repeat the operation if you want to add more copies.
- If you have not selected it before the scan, it will probably appear as an option Color, tap on the filters icon.
- Tap on the option Photo so that the appearance is more faithful to the original. Press OK or repeat the process to scan other photo to PDFin the same document.
As an example, the scan of a photograph of the beginnings of the newborn 😉
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6
Polaroid
This application offers a very good level of detail and tells you if there is enough light to take the photo. On the other hand, you have to do the trimming. For a single photo it doesn’t matter, if there are many… it still becomes a bit tedious.
Here is the example of a photo on paper scanned with Polaroid. The result is quite good, although there is some distortion of the corner lines due to the printed photo being a bit warped over time.
Photo Scanner: Scan old Albums
Although at first you will see an option with purchases and the request to leave your email, you can continue skipping these steps.
It is very intuitive and easy to use. You have a presentation video with tips to get the best results and the application itself tells you the steps. Once it detects the image, it does the automatic scanning.
It does the automatic cropping, although you may have to perfect it at some point, it usually offers a quite satisfactory result. If you have to scan many photos it is comfortable.
This is the same photo as before but now scanned with Photo Scanner, the distortion in the corners is also evident.
PhotoScan
This Google Photos application is quite powerful, it may not have the same definition as the previous two, however, it has corrected the distortion of the corners.
This application does not take a photo, but a digitization, once you press the button, four points appear to which you have to move the mobile so that it takes four images successively until the final image is formed.
If it seems difficult to you with the description, don’t worry, it’s quite easy, in addition, when you start the application it offers a short explanatory video and in this other video you can see how it works:
In my case I had to disable the flash, not because it left a reflection, which works very well in this, but because it changed the tone of the image a lot, removing the flash solved the problem.
Below you can see the difference.
With flash Without flash
Photo Scan App by Photomyne
Another interesting app for Apple users. It is free, simple and intuitive and has good ratings from its users.
You have to keep the button pressed for about three seconds, try to control the pulse 😉 . The good thing about this application is that it allows you to color the photos, it is not perfect, and in this case it has made up the men and painted some parts of the body in blue, but hey, I was surprised to see this photograph in color. By the way, he has also made the corner lines straight 😉
Scanned by Photomyne Photo Scan Colorized by Photomyne Photo Scan
How to scan photos with an Android mobile
Let’s now see what options Android offers to scan photos with the mobile:
Photo Scan, Photo Editor – Quisquee
Very simple and complete free application, with many satisfied users. Allows scanning and editing.
PhotoScan
A little above I have told you about this application that is also available for iPhone.
It is a free application that is very easy to use that allows you to scan and save your old photos with very good results. It has millions of satisfied users, and of all the ones you can find, it is the best.
scan photos online
Has it ever happened to you that they sent you a photo of a photo that you had nowhere to take it: crooked, with a lot of space around it, etc.? Like for example this:
Well, luckily there is a tool called OnlineCamScanner what fixes this waste (as they say in my land).
Once you enter the application, upload the photo, drag the blue corners to the corners of the photo and then select effects the option Original so that you do not see it as a document but as a photo and ready to Discharge. It gives you different download options: PDF, JPG or PNG.
In this gallery I summarize the steps to make a online scan:
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3
The result is quite satisfactory as you can see:
Photo scanned online with the OnlineCamScanner tool
Optimal resolution for scanning photos
If you use a scanner, the optimal resolution for scanning your photos is 300dpi. In this way you will get a resolution as close as possible to the printed photo.
But keep in mind that if your photo has a lot of texture or grain, a high resolution can also capture this grain, so you may want to lower the resolution. In this case, it is best to try until you find the most satisfactory result.
How to scan negatives
If what you have found in the trunk of memories are not positives (photos) but negatives, do not panic, I have some free options to scan negatives that can come in handy:
Photo negative scanner (Android): Another free tool with which you can scan your negatives in a super simple way and with quite good results.
film scanner pro (iOS): To digitize negatives, this time for Apple users. Simply by taking a photo of the negative in question, the camera converts it into a positive, and can also adjust the general tone of the image or the contrast. It’s free, so try it and see if the result convinces you 😉 .
FilmBox (iOS / android): Personally it has given me better results than the previous one, it is simple to use although it is recommended to scan with a white background (you can use this that they recommend from the app).
Keep in mind that with these applications you are not going to get great quality photos. If you want a higher quality result, I recommend a photo scanner like this or like this other.
How to make photos of photos
While we have seen various applications for scan photos, doing it with your camera will allow you to obtain higher quality in the final result, especially if you have good optics.
To digitize your old photos, there are several very important aspects that you must take into account:
- Use a flat surface to place the photograph and, if possible, in a tone neutral gray or similar, so that it does not affect the exposure of the image (even if you cut that background later).
- Find a place with natural light environmental. No artificial lights or spotlights to illuminate because they could generate reflections in your photo. A place where the sun does not enter directly but has enough light, would be ideal. You can close the curtains or take advantage of cloudy days if you have too much light.
- get in shape perpendicular to the image. This way there will be no distortion. You can put the images on the floor or climb on top of a chair. The important thing is that all areas of the photo are the same distance from your camera, so stand right on top of it and make sure it is. Can you help activating the grid your camera to see the lines and a tripod to stabilize the equipment and keep it always in the same position.
- Another important aspect is that you watch your shadow. If you are practically on top of the image, you may inadvertently make it shade. You can rotate until you find an angle where this does not occur or use the tripod and remote release.
- Use a medium diaphragm opening. Ideally, you should know the sweet spot of your lens to get the best possible sharpness. The sweet spot is usually 2-3 stops above the maximum aperture of your lens.
- The shutter speed should be fast enough so that the image does not come out blurred even an iota.
- Use the lowest ISO value that allows you to get a correct exposure, we are trying to get the sharpest possible. Remember that at high ISO values, noise in the image increases.
- Try to leave little margin on the sides, so you will not have to crop the photo and you will avoid the loss of quality that this entails. Get as close as possible, but be careful with the focus 😉 .
- Adjust the exposure well. You are not in a hurry and it is very important, everything…