Best Scanning Apps to Preserve Old Polaroids and Prints
- Oliver Remington
- Jun 16
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 24
Nothing ages faster than a box of glossy Polaroids or shoeboxes of family prints. A good mobile scanner not only captures the image, but also fixes glare, straightens edges, backs everything up and, if you want, brings faded colors roaring back to life. We compared 20 popular iOS & Android apps published or updated in 2024-2025, then filtered for those that consistently score 4 stars or higher with thousands of verified reviews.
1. Google PhotoScan – ★ 4.8/5 (iOS) & 4.1/5 (Android) Scanning Apps
Best for glare-free captures in seconds
Four-point capture flow zaps reflections from glossy Polaroids; AI straightens and auto-crops.
Tight hand-off to Google Photos keeps everything safely backed up and searchable.
2. Microsoft Lens – ★ 4.8/5 (iOS & Android) Scanning Apps
Best free, do-everything scanner
Scores 4.8 from 133 K users after an April 2025 refresh. Batch-mode plus OCR make captions on the back of prints instantly searchable. One-tap export to OneDrive or Word is gold for scrapbookers.
3. Photomyne Photo Scan – ★ 4.7/5 (iOS) & 4.3/5 (Android)
Fastest whole-album digitizer
AI crops up to five photos per shot, revives faded color and even colors B&W, earning 76 K glowing reviews.
4. Photo Scanner: Scan old Albums – ★ 4.6/5 (iOS)
One-time purchase, pro-grade restoration
No subscription needed: pay once, get unlimited scans. Edge detection, color-revive filters and metadata editing make it a favorite with archival pros.
5. PicScanner Gold – ★ 4.2/5 (iOS)
Best for metadata & offline projects
Scans multiple prints at once, lets you add dates, places and captions, then exports lossless TIFFs perfect when you need museum-quality files without cloud storage.
Quick-Start Tips for Crystal-Clear Scans
Light it right: Shoot near a window with indirect daylight; avoid overhead bulbs that introduce hot spots.
Clean before you click: A microfiber wipe on both lens and print spares you hours of retouching.
Black background hack: Lay smaller Polaroids on matte black paper; apps detect edges faster and crop cleaner.
Back up twice: Save to cloud and an external drive; magnetic tape on vintage prints can shed emulsion dust on subsequent scans.
Add context now: Use the caption tools to write dates & names while memories are fresh.
Digitizing doesn’t erase the charm of the original, it future proofs it. Pick the app that matches your workflow, scan a handful of photos tonight, and give those Polaroids the second life they deserve.
From Your A Life Portrait Team
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