How to Digitize Old Photos and Documents

Printed photos fade over time, and paper documents can be lost in floods, fires, or moves. Digitizing your most important photos and documents preserves them forever and makes them available for sharing with family.

The fastest free option is Google PhotoScan (free app, iPhone and Android). It is specifically designed for scanning printed photos — it reduces glare, automatically crops, and enhances colors. Open the app, position your phone above the photo, tap the shutter button, then move your phone to capture four corner markers. The app combines these into a single, glare-free digital copy.

For documents (birth certificates, insurance policies, legal papers), use your phone's built-in scanner. iPhone: open the Notes app → create a new note → tap the camera icon → "Scan Documents." Position the document under the camera and it automatically captures and crops it. You can save as PDF. Android: open Google Drive → tap "+" → "Scan." Same process — position the document and it captures and saves it.

For large photo projects (shoe boxes full of old photos), consider a dedicated photo scanner ($50-100) or a scanning service. Companies like ScanCafe and GoPhoto send you a prepaid box — you mail your photos, they scan them at high quality, and mail them back. Prices range from 10 to 40 cents per photo.

After digitizing, back up your files. Upload to Google Photos, iCloud, or a cloud storage service. Also keep a copy on an external hard drive stored in a different location than the originals (a family member's house, a safe deposit box).

Start with the most irreplaceable photos first — the oldest ones, the ones that are fading or damaged, and photos of people who have passed away. These are the ones you cannot replace.