Google Debuts 'PhotoScan' App for Scanning Old Photos With iPhone

[MacRumors]

Google today launched a new app called PhotoScan, which is designed to make it easy to scan printed photographs using your iPhone's camera.

PhotoScan instructs users to take four separate quick images of a printed photo, stitching them together to create a perfect high-resolution digital copy. Google's multi-image capture method eliminates issues that normally plague digital photos of print photographs, including glare and distortion.

Automatic edge detection crops photos to the correct size, and PhotoScan is also able to fix orientation and perspective for a clean-looking scan.

PhotoScan gets you great looking digital copies in seconds - it detects edges, straightens the image, rotates it to the correct orientation, and removes glare. Scanned photos can be saved in one tap to Google Photos to be organized, searchable, shared, and safely backed up at high quality--for free.

Alongside PhotoScan, Google is also updating Google Photos with improved auto enhance, new looks, and more advanced editing tools for improving images.

PhotoScan can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Google Debuts 'PhotoScan' App for Scanning Old Photos With iPhone

 

[SBlue1]

Whoa, was looking for something like this forever. Wish it was not from Google though. Who knows what they do with all the data and faces the app recognises.

 

[jerry16]

Very useful tool.. bummer it is from Google. Will have to suck it up and download it though as this is pretty cool.

 

[macduke]

I've been thinking about buying my grandpa an iPhone 7. He might find this to be really useful!

 

[Mad Mac Maniac]

Can you add meta data like date and location?

 

[QCassidy352]

That's pretty cool. Not sure it's better than a scanner though (for those that have them).

 

[JGIGS]

Whoa, was looking for something like this forever. Wish it was not from Google though. Who knows what they do with all the data and faces the app recognises.

Very useful tool.. bummer it is from Google. Will have to suck it up and download it though as this is pretty cool.

I love the constant google paranoia this group seems to hold on to.

What could they really do with pictures of peoples faces that would be so harmful? Unless they are stealing my identity and all my money, which I can't see happening with a photo, do I care that much? Besides most people have there current photos all over the net already anyway so....

 

[pcmacgamer]

Great so Google can now datamine photos of people from times before the internet exsisted.
[doublepost=1479247308][/doublepost]

What could they really do with pictures of peoples faces that would be so harmful? Unless they are stealing my identity and all my money, which I can't see happening with a photo, do I care that much? Besides most people have there current photos all over the net already anyway so....

They could do a lot of things perhaps build a giant database of individuals and use it to track people even more than they already do. The possibilities are endless.

With that who cares mentality why have locks on our doors and shades on our windows. Who cares what could happen . Who needs privacy!

 

[jerry16]

I love the constant google paranoia this group seems to hold on to.

What could they really do with pictures of peoples faces that would be so harmful? Unless they are stealing my identity and all my money, which I can't see happening with a photo, do I care that much? Besides most people have there current photos all over the net already anyway so....

Not paranoia, just a desire not to do business with Google. As a consumer in a free market, I have been afforded that right.

But yeah, I also don't trust Google whatsoever.

 

[hellosil]

I love the constant google paranoia this group seems to hold on to.

What could they really do with pictures of peoples faces that would be so harmful? Unless they are stealing my identity and all my money, which I can't see happening with a photo, do I care that much? Besides most people have there current photos all over the net already anyway so....

What if someone from Google came knocking at your door, and asked you if he could meticulously go through your physical photo albums, writing down every detail in the photos like who you are with, what emotion you shared with these people, what you own, etc.,

connecting that to the information collected from the photo albums of those people, connecting that data to other data they collected while you visited friends, family and public places, what you did there etc, for the sake of showing you ads.

Would you like that?

 

[cmwade77]

I love the constant google paranoia this group seems to hold on to.

What could they really do with pictures of peoples faces that would be so harmful? Unless they are stealing my identity and all my money, which I can't see happening with a photo, do I care that much? Besides most people have there current photos all over the net already anyway so....

Exactly, google will use the information to better its photo matching technology, such as looking at places in the background, determining where the photo was taken, what expressions are in the photos, etc.

 

[Erik Humphrey]

Whoa, was looking for something like this forever. Wish it was not from Google though. Who knows what they do with all the data and faces the app recognises.

Get over it.

What if someone from Google came knocking at your door, and asked you if he could meticulously go through your physical photo albums, writing down every detail in the photos like who you are with, what emotion you shared with these people, what you own, etc.,

connecting that to the information collected from the photo albums of those people, connecting that data to other data they collected while you visited friends, family and public places, what you did there etc, for the sake of showing you ads.

Would you like that?

Ads that are relevant to my interests, the horror!

 

[DemonMF777]

Just tried it & it works great. Final image resolution is decent... 1332 x 1999 for a 3x5 picture
[doublepost=1479248696][/doublepost]

That's pretty cool. Not sure it's better than a scanner though (for those that have them).

Works great, but still won't beat a scanner. Sure beats the usual results from taking a pic of an old photo!

 

[2010mini]

Great so Google can now datamine photos of people from times before the internet exsisted.
[doublepost=1479247308][/doublepost]
They could do a lot of things perhaps build a giant database of individuals and use it to track people even more than they already do. The possibilities are endless.

With that who cares mentality why have locks on our doors and shades on our windows. Who cares what could happen . Who needs privacy!

Privacy? Have you met humans today? Who share their every moment with complete strangers the world over?

 

[JimmyJimmyYam]

Most useful app I've seen in ages... would have been even more useful 5 years ago!

 

[Naraxus]

Whoa, was looking for something like this forever. Wish it was not from Google though. Who knows what they do with all the data and faces the app recognises.

It's cute that people still think this way considering the bs privacy spin Cook likes to tout all the while ignoring their own data collection issues....

 

[Carlanga]

Whoa, was looking for something like this forever. Wish it was not from Google though. Who knows what they do with all the data and faces the app recognises.

does it really matter?
---------

Google again innovating, love the four corner shots for better reproduction of the images, now that I don't have to scan I might scan a few albums and digitalize them

 

[RootBeerMan]

Got it on my iPhone now. Just have to scan a few pics and get a feel for it to see how it works.

 

[Razeus]

And this is why I continue to hold Google stock and sold off my Apple stock.

 

[cmwade77]

What if someone from Google came knocking at your door, and asked you if he could meticulously go through your physical photo albums, writing down every detail in the photos like who you are with, what emotion you shared with these people, what you own, etc.,

connecting that to the information collected from the photo albums of those people, connecting that data to other data they collected while you visited friends, family and public places, what you did there etc, for the sake of showing you ads.

Would you like that?

There is a difference here, one is google coming and asking, the second is you volunteering with the full knowledge of what they intend to do with the photos. Say what you will, but Google's TOS is very easy to understand and is not hidden in legalese that you need a lawyer to decipher (which is what most other companies, including Apple does). So to me the choices are let go of privacy in favor of some amazing features to a company that tells me upfront that I am abandoning my privacy and exactly what they can and cannot do with my information (Google) or trust that the legalese is the same as the rhetoric that the CEO and other executives spew that my private information will remain private and that there isn't something lurking in the TOS that would change that (Apple and many others). Personally, I prefer the one that is upfront and honest and makes it easy for me to understand what is going on.

 

[Clarky!]

Is it just me or does it only work about 5% of the time? i found the circle alignments just float away from the picture

 

[69Mustang]

What if someone from Google came knocking at your door, and asked you if he could meticulously go through your physical photo albums, writing down every detail in the photos like who you are with, what emotion you shared with these people, what you own, etc.,

connecting that to the information collected from the photo albums of those people, connecting that data to other data they collected while you visited friends, family and public places, what you did there etc, for the sake of showing you ads.

Would you like that?

You know the most amazing thing about your comment? It led off with "What if someone from Google came knocking at your door and asked..." and, and, and not 1 but 2 (as of this posting)... 2 real live humans who breathe the same air that I do. Who I assume are fully functioning adults... that hold down jobs. They gave this post a thumbs up. I'm going to assume that @tennisproha and @mejsric thought you were doing satire and found humor in what you wrote. There are no other acceptable explanations for giving that post a thumbs up. Paint chips, alien abduction... maybe. Nope, not even that.
As for the complete comment, you didn't even try to come up with a remotely plausible scenario. Didn't. Even. Try. A random word generator would have done a better job.
edit: another person thumb up this post. @ksnell - please tell me why... pleeeeeeease.

To your question. Would I like that? I would absolutely love it. I would make up all sorts of stories about each photo. Granddad was best friends with a cousin of the next door neighbor of the girlfriend of the aunt of one of the Rough Riders who rode with Teddy Roosevelt. Aunt Shirley was the secret trainer of Bruce Lee. My sister Karen dated Charles Manson. He was normal before she got to him. My mother Mathilda, she fought the law and the law won. But this being America, she sued and now owns the entire police department. Please send Google to my house, forthwith.

What if someone from Google came to... hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. I'm sorry for picking on your comment. If no one had given it a thumbs up, I would have bypassed it entirely. Blame them.

 

[m.x]

Works quite good, but sometimes the points are floating around...
The image processing seems to be done on the device, no upload necessary. I put the iPhone in flight mode, used the app to scan 25 photos, transferred them into the photos album and deleted the app. After the last step I turned WiFi on again. This seems to be the best way to do it, or?

 

[shareef777]

What if someone from Google came knocking at your door, and asked you if he could meticulously go through your physical photo albums, writing down every detail in the photos like who you are with, what emotion you shared with these people, what you own, etc.,

connecting that to the information collected from the photo albums of those people, connecting that data to other data they collected while you visited friends, family and public places, what you did there etc, for the sake of showing you ads.

Would you like that?

Yes ... especially all the ones showing my hairy ass crack.

 

[C DM]

Yes ... especially all the ones showing my hairy ass crack.

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