The time of needing a massive machine to copy a photo is long past, as smartphones become more and more powerful. Why buy a large scanner to take up home office space, or go to your local office supply store and pay someone to scan items for you?
Just download one of these amazing photo scanner apps, and you can do all of that and more right from your phone. How awesome is that?
In this guide, we’ll share some of the best photo scanner apps available for Android, some are totally free, some are freemium. We’ll also take a look at what makes each of them the best at what they do.
1. PhotoScan by Google Photos
- Price: Free
If you are looking for a good quality photo scanner app from a company you trust, PhotoScan could be the perfect one for you.
Developed by Google, this app works extremely well and is easy to use. Chances are you already use Google for your email. That gives it a familiar layout and look, and integrates seamlessly into your photo storage.
This app uses Google Photos for storage, which is perfect for Android users. It has a ton of great features like glare removal and quality enhancement. That will give you good-looking photos, regardless of lighting.
The app isn’t without faults, however. The resolution that the app uses to capture your scans is great for social media (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), but doesn’t do as well during scans.
In addition, the filters the app uses to “clean up” the image can be a bit overdone as well. Even so, PhotoScan is an incredibly solid option.
What We Like:
- Easy to use
- Google integration
- Photo touch-up and glare removal
What We Don’t Like:
- Low resolution. Photos aren’t great for printing
- Sharpening tends to be a bit harsh
2. CamScanner
- Price: Freemium
CamScanner is a great photo and document scanner available for both Android and iOS. It has a large feature set, a nice user interface, and OCR that allows you to scan your papers and convert them directly into a text document. That’s a nice addition if you want to use the app for more than just photo scanning.
There are some great automatic features built into CamScanner as well, such as auto-enhance image quality and auto-cropping. The first one works extremely well, enhancing and optimizing your photos to make them look as close to the original as possible. The auto cropping, on the other hand, is hit or miss. When it works, it works really well. However, it doesn’t always give you great results.
One of the best things about this app is the ability to print wirelessly across the network. This lets you print the images right from your phone, without having to connect to anything via wire. This is an extreme time saver, and will make your life much more simple.
Unfortunately, to unlock all the capabilities you do need to pay a monthly fee. Luckily, it’s not too expensive.
What We Like:
- OCR works well
- Supports wireless printing
What We Don’t Like:
- Auto cropping doesn’t work all the time
- Premium features are on a monthly subscription
3. Photomyne
- Price: Freemium
Photomyne helps you scan old photographs and save them as you see fit. While other apps are multi-purpose, this one focuses its energy on giving you the highest-quality photo scans possible. And it shows. This is one of the best apps on the market.
One of the best features here is the ability to scan multiple pictures at a time. While other apps have this functionality, the AI-powered version of Photomyne works extremely well. The quality will not be as high when scanning photos individually, but it’s perfect for uploading photos that you don’t want to lose.
Expanding on that, single photo scanning creates great-looking, high-resolution images. The image enhancement and auto-cropping work well too. The photo effects and the ability to colorize black-and-white images are nice additions that will allow you to spice up your photos.
Once you have your images scanned, Photomyne gives you the ability to make an album website and share it with whoever you want.
What We Like:
- Good image resolution
- Ability to make a website for your photos
- Scan multiple images at a time
What We Don’t Like:
- Doesn’t remove glare and reflections
- Mediocre auto image adjustment
Final Words
There are many, many more Android photo scanner apps out there, but the above ones are the best of the best.
Even if you can’t decide between them, simply pick the one that speaks to you and give it a shot. No matter which one you choose, you’re going to be satisfied with the great features and stunning photo quality.
Do you currently use your Android phone to scan photos? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below!
