App News

If you have shoeboxes of old prints in your closet, and no scanner to digitize them, Google’s new PhotoScan app may be just what you’re looking for. Available free for both iOS and Android, the simple app lets you digitize prints using your phone or tablet.

Part of Google’s initiative to get you to store all your images on Google Photos, Photoscan does a lot more than the “photo-of a-photo” apps out there. And you’ll save time and money by digitizing images yourself rather than running out to a service bureau.

Photoscan includes a number of useful features like automatic edge detection, smart rotation and perspective correction, and stitches together multiple images of your print during the process to enhance quality and remove glare from ambient light.

Using PhotoScan is simple: Just align your image within a border, press the scan button, and the app does the rest. After activating the flash on your device the app provides four circles in different portions of the photo; simply move your phone until each white circle turns blue, and the app will then produce the final scan.

PhotoScan can save scans to your device or upload them to Google Photos or elsewhere, where you can edit the images further or share them with others. The app is available now for Android on Google Play and for iOS in the Apple App Store.

The demo video below will help get your started. And if you're looking for a more serious approach to scanning, take a look at our recent review of the Epson FastFoto FF-640, billed as the world's fastest print scanner.