#DIGITAL IMAGE CLEANER FREE#

Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-Year Subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). You could also use a digital picture frame or another smart display. It is best to check with the folks in photos before you post them on social media.ĭisplay them: We use Google Photos and have a folder that displays our favorites on Nest Hubs and TVs with Chromecast around the house. Share them: Friends and family will get a real kick out of forgotten photos, so it can be fun to share them privately by sending them in messages or emails or sharing folders in cloud services. It’s also crucial to be still to avoid blurring. Avoid taking shots at an angle and ensure they are in focus before you scan. Position carefully: You want to be directly above the photos and as close as possible. Avoid strong light sources and artificial light, as they can cause glare. Natural lighting is vital: Bright and soft natural light is best, so scout out a location and do a couple of test runs. You should avoid patterned or textured surfaces. Use a plain background: Even block colors work and enable scanning apps to find the edges of your images. Sometimes it is easier to clean the image with editing tools after scanning. Any fluid, even water, is likely to cause damage. Try a lint-free cloth if there are marks or stains, but do not use cleaning supplies, and always go slowly and gently. Remove from albums: It may be tempting to save time by scanning photos in frames or albums, but plastic and glass layers will boost the risk of reflections.Ĭlean your photos: You can use a soft brush or compressed air to remove dust. You also don’t get automatic processing or editing tools, though you can upload to something like Google Photos to backup and edit your shots later.

The scanner does pick up every blemish, and several images had to be cropped.Īside from the comparatively high upfront cost, scanning photos with the scanner is slow and cumbersome. The detail was consistently good, and results were probably closest to the original photos, though that isn’t always a good thing. It did the best job with an old black-and-white photo and nailed a color group shot. The scanner was the clear winner for a couple of our test photos. Thankfully, it can upload scans directly to your cloud service of choice. It is slow, as you must position photos and tap the button to scan one at a time, and each scan takes a few seconds.

It draws power via USB, so you can plug it into your computer and start scanning. Relatively affordable and very popular, this compact flatbed document scanner from Canon is a good choice if you want to go the hardware route.

#DIGITAL IMAGE CLEANER FREE#

It’s also easy and only requires your smartphone or a scanner and a free afternoon.Ĭanon CanoScan LiDE 400 Photograph: Canon It’s an exercise I recommend, stirring long-dead relatives, old friends, and younger versions of ourselves into the digital photo frame mix. You were such an emo dad.” (For the record: Yes, still is, and I was heavily into grunge). “Is that really you? Mum looks so beautiful. I recently scanned a selection of old photos, many lying forgotten in an old shoebox, and spent a happy couple of hours reliving special days with my wife as our kids looked on incredulously.

It can unlock forgotten days for everyone who was there and bring moments to life for those who were not. Digging out favorites and digitizing them makes them available to share on screens, through messages, or on social media. For older folks, memories are often linked to aging images chemically fixed on paper and slotted neatly into frames or plastic pockets. The cloud holds all, ready to share on a screen near you. With digital imagery we don’t have to worry about limited shots, whether we put the film in correctly, or what will come back from the drugstore.

Digital image cleaner