Shoebox Lab

Save your family photos before they fade.

Plain-English guides to scanning old prints with your iPhone: no glare, the right resolution, the dates kept, and copies everyone in the family can see.

Guides

  1. How to Scan Old Photos Without Glare on iPhone Glare ruins phone scans of glossy prints. Here's why it happens and five fixes that work with any iPhone, from free tricks to multi-shot scanning.
  2. What Resolution Do You Need to Scan Old Photos? 300 DPI covers most family prints; 600 DPI is for small prints or ones you'll enlarge. Here's what that means in pixels, and whether your iPhone camera is enough.
  3. How to Digitize a Photo Album in a Weekend A realistic three-part plan to scan a family photo album with your iPhone - prep on Friday, scan on Saturday, organize and back up on Sunday.
  4. How to Save the Writing on the Back of Old Photos The back of an old photo often holds the only record of who, where and when. Here's how to scan it, link it to the front, and keep the date searchable.
  5. How to Share Scanned Family Photos With Relatives The easiest ways to share digitized family photos with relatives on iPhone, Android or no smartphone at all, without losing quality.