How to scan old photos with your phone
No scanner? A recent phone is enough to digitise most family prints before restoring them, as long as you avoid glare, distortion and filters. Here is the method, in a few simple moves.
Can you really scan a photo with a phone?
Yes: for most family prints, a phone photo is enough for a good restoration. Quality depends far more on light and angle than on which phone you own.
A flatbed scanner still wins for very small photos (passport pictures, lockets) and printed postcards, which have a very fine dot pattern. For those, see what resolution to scan at.
How do you avoid glare on a glossy print?
Turn off the flash and sit near a window, in the shade, out of direct sun. Glare is always a light source bouncing off the paper, so shift the print or lean slightly until the bright patch leaves the screen.
If the photo is behind glass, take it out of the frame when you can do so safely: the glass nearly always adds reflections. Light-coloured clothing can also show up on glossy paper, so wear something dark if you can.
How should you hold the phone to avoid distortion?
Flat and parallel to the print, directly above it, so that one edge does not look wider than the other. Lay the photo on a table and, if it curls, hold the edges down with clean objects placed outside the frame.
Fill the screen with the photo rather than zooming in: digital zoom adds blur. Once the framing is right, rest your elbows on the table to keep still.
- Flash off, soft daylight
- Phone parallel to the print
- No zoom: move closer
- Tap a face on screen to focus
- Take two or three shots and keep the sharpest
Which phone settings should you turn off?
Turn off filters, portrait mode and any beauty or face-smoothing effect: they smooth out or invent detail before restoration has even started. The standard camera in plain photo mode gives the most faithful file.
If your phone offers a reduced size or a heavily compressed format, pick the highest quality instead. A well-exposed shot, neither too dark nor blown out in the whites, gives the tool more to work with.
Should you crop or edit before restoring?
No, upload the photo as it is, with no filter or auto-enhance. Those edits flatten detail that restoration could have recovered.
A rough crop to remove the table around the print is fine but not needed. Fine framing comes later, when you order a print, in the Souvenotte Studio, which can also centre on faces automatically. The rotation saved by your phone is applied on upload.
How many photos can you upload at once?
On Souvenotte, up to 20 photos at a time, as JPG, PNG or WebP, 25 MB max each. They are restored one after another and appear as soon as each is ready, each with a free preview.
Once a whole album is digitised, keep your original files in more than one place: see backing up family photos. And to see what restoration does next, read how to restore an old photo.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a scanning app?
No, your phone's standard camera is enough as long as the flash and filters are off. A dedicated app can help straighten the image, but it is not essential.
The photo is stuck in an album. What should I do?
Don't force it out: photograph it in the album, with the page as flat as possible. For looking after those albums, see how to store old photos.
Is a scanner always better?
For very small photos and printed postcards, usually yes. For an ordinary family print, a good phone shot often gives a similar result once restored.