PhotoScan by Google Photos is a new Android application
PhotoScan by Google Photos is a new Android application by
Google to scan printed photos using your device's built-in camera.
PhotoScan is a new scanner app from Google Photos that lets
you scan and save your favorite printed photos using your phone’s camera.
You have several options at hand if you want to turn your
printed photos into digital copies. You could simply use the camera of the
smartphone to photograph the photos for instance.
Google's solution goes further than that as it ships with a
couple of options that improve the process which in turn results in better
digital copies of the printed photos.
Note: The app requires a couple of extra permissions which seem
reasonable with the exception of one. I'm not sure why the app would require
microphone permissions, but it requested them. I disabled the permission on my
device and did not notice any issues afterwards when using the app.
PhotoScan by Google Photos for Android
The app offers the following benefits over using the camera
of the phone to take a snapshot of the printed photo:
Automatic cropping thanks to edge detection techniques.
Automatic rotation so that the photos stay "right-side-up".
Glare-free scans.
Perspective correction.
The app is easy to use but requires additional steps to take
the photo. It displays the scan interface right on start which acts like any
other camera app you may be using on your phone.
Simply move it over the printed photo that you want to
digitize and hit the "snapshot" button. Once you have captured the
photo, you are asked to move the camera over four dots placed in the edges of
the photo. This is done so that PhotoScan by Google Photos gets the edges of
the photo right.
Move the seeker icon over the dots and wait for the scanning
of the dot to complete. The photo is then added to the app from where you can
save it to the local device.
The app ships with a basic viewer / editor that you may make
use of. It supports rotating a photo, deleting it, or adjusting its edges.
That's it however in this regard, and it should not come as a surprise that
Google recommends that you install the free Google Photos app for more options
in this regard.
Closing Words
PhotoScan by Google Photos works really well. While it takes
longer to digitize a printed photo using the app, results will look better
usually
