Converting Photo Prints and Paper Documents into Digital Format: The Best Scanner App for Android and iPhone
You can save your photo memories by using either a smartphone scanning app, smartphone camera, or a photo scanner device. Here I will compare the best apps for scanning printed photos and paper documents and uploading them to OneDrive and Google Drive in JPG and PDF format. In my analysis, Microsoft Lens is the best photo scanning app for Android and iOS smartphones.
My Criteria for Deciding a Scanning App
There are various scanner apps for iOS and Android mobile phone. However, I would decide on a scanning app, based on following factors.
A trustworthy app – which should be safe for privacy of my personal photos and data.
The app should automatically detect the borders of photo prints and physical documents.
It should save the photos in JPG instead of PDF format. For documents PDF format is okay but for photo prints JPG format is best as it easier to download, share and view on any device.
Trust Factor
So, I would prefer a scanning app by Google, Microsoft, and Adobe because I trust these companies for safety of my personal data.
Comparison on Factors of Storage Format and Auto Detection of Borders
Following apps are offered by trustworthy sources but these are not good for the reasons mentioned below.
Google Drive app
Although you can manually adjust the borders after scanning a photo print or a document. However, Google Drive app does not automatically detect the borders. Google Drive saves the scans in PDF format only. Therefore, it is good for documents but not for photo prints.
PhotoScan by Google
I also installed and tested the PhotoScan app by Google. It saves the scans in JPG format, but it does not automatically detect the borders. You can manually adjust the borders after capturing the photo.
Adobe Scan
Adobe Scan app is also a good option for scanning photos and saving them in JPG. Another feature I really liked is removing imperfections and unwanted portions from documents.
However, it is has some drawbacks too. It saves your files in Adobe cloud - it does not allow to save photos and docs locally in phone gallery. Secondly, when you share a document, it attaches Adobe advertisement with it, which is a nuisance. Thirdly, it is not free - you have to buy its subscription.
Microsoft OneDrive
Microsoft OneDrive app automatically detects the borders for documents (and whiteboard, business card) only and saves them only in PDF format. It also automatically straightens the scanned image. After capturing, you can also select the Crop option to manually adjust the borders. However, when you select the Photo option, it does not automatically create border lines around the object. Therefore, it is good for scanning docs but not good for scanning the old photo prints.
Why Microsoft Lens is the Best Scanning App?
Microsoft Lens (former name Microsoft Office Lens) is the best app for scanning documents as well as physical photo prints, owing to the following features. To install it, click Microsoft Lens for Android and Microsoft Lens for iOS (Apple iPhone app store).
It gives the option to save the scans in either JPG format or PDF format. You can upload a photo scan to OneDrive in either JPG or PDF format.
It can also convert images to Word (OCR document), PowerPoint, and Excel files.
Microsoft Lens provides the options either to directly upload images to OneDrive or OneNote or just save them in mobile phone gallery only.
Through Actions menu, you can do various jobs such as extracting the printed text on photos, reading aloud (immersive reader), extracting information on a business card, and reading a QR code.
You can select the resolution such as HD or 4K. You can select the flash options of Auto, Off or On. You can choose from various photo filters. You can rotate an image to adjust its orientation.
After you click Done, you can rename the image or document file.
You can type text on the scanned images.
Pro Tip
Microsoft Lens offers limited share options (OneDrive, OneNote) within the app. However, you can first save your scans in phone gallery, and then share them anywhere online including Google Drive, Dropbox, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram etc.
More Photo Scanning Options
Other than using a image scan app (Microsoft Lens), you can also consider using a photo scanner device.
You can also use the camera app on your smartphone. The camera apps of latest smartphones have built-in scan feature. For example, the default camera app of Samsung Galaxy A73 highlights borders around an object – just click over the yellow-colored scan button which even empowers you to extract the text from an image.
More Resources
Tips for Scanning the Prints of old Photos, Receipts and Paper Documents.
Visit the Home Page of Dozro website for more learning resources.
