Google launches PhotoScan to save your old photo albums

Google Photos has become an indispensable tool for scores of people, allowing them to seamlessly back up their smartphone snaps. But what about physical photo albums? You could take a picture of it, or you could use PhotoScan, Google‘s latest app.

Available for Android and iOS, PhotoScan allows you to simply scan your old photos with your smartphone. But the app also offers a number of tweaks, fixes and features to go with the basic scanning functionality.

“PhotoScan gets you great looking digital copies in seconds — it detects edges, straightens the image, rotates it to the correct orientation, and removes glare,” reads a description on the Google blog. In fact, for the latter, Google says it stitches multiple images together.

As for the actual quality? Well, we’re hearing mixed results at this stage, with several redditors claiming that taking a photo still produces a much better result.

Anyway, the company adds that users can also seamlessly save their scanned photos to Google Photos.

In addition to PhotoScan, Google Photos has seen some love as well

Speaking of Google Photos, the service has also seen three new or improved features announced. For starters, the company has tweaked the auto enhance feature.

“First, for auto enhance, just select Auto, and see instant enhancements a pro editor might make — like balancing exposure and saturation to bring out the details,” the company wrote on its blog.

The second feature that has seen attention is the filters/looks option, as Google delivers 12 new options in this department.

“These unique looks make edits based on the individual photo and its brightness, darkness, warmth, or saturation, before applying the style. All looks use machine intelligence to complement the content of your photo, and choosing one is just a matter of taste,” the company explained.

Finally, the tools for light and colour adjustments are getting some love as well.

“Third, our advanced editing controls for Light and Color allow you to fine tune your photos, including highlights, shadows, and warmth. Deep Blue is particularly good for images of sea and sky where the color blue is the focal point.”

The new/improved features should be rolling out across Android, iOS and the web already.