Scanning with a mobile phone

 I have been scanning photos and documents for many years, In the DOS days I had a hand-held scanner. Then as the price of flat-bed scanners dropped, I gladly embraced the improved technology. When I got my first  laptop computer I bought a thin flat-bed scanner that would fit into the laptop case along with the laptop. I carried this combo with me everywhere from BC to New York, visiting as many relatives as possible and scanning their old family photos. It was amazing!

These days most of my scanning is done on the flat-bed scanner that is part of my multi-function printer. (But I bought another ultra-portable flatbed scanner as a backup.)

Then yesterday I was planning a presentation on FamilySearch Memories, and I used my phone's camera to photograph two photos, I was not satisfied by the results, So decided to try using a dedicated scanner app. After watching Youtube videos on the subject, it appeared that PhotoMyne and Google's PhotoScan seemed like excellent options. PhotoScan appeared to be free, so I decided to try it first..

To really put it to the test, I used PhotoScan on a 35mm contact print, a very tiny photo. The results were further distorted by the fact that my phone's camera was not exactly centered over the photo. i.e. skewing and perspective were issues. The app led me to hover over the circles until it recognized them. I did this twice, with no real idea of what I was doing or why it was necessary.

The end result was a better photo than the phone's camera software had produced . It is 512 KB in size, I have not yet tried printing it, but it seems like a very useable scan. 

I am more confident with my tried-and-true flatbed scanner, but I see PhotoScan as a useful alternative. 

Unfortunately. a later attempt produced fuzzy copies. I am not sure why.

So "your mileage may vary."