Google releases app to digitize boxes of old photo prints

The PhotoScan app for iPhones and Android phones will use the phone's camera to capture an old photo in four sections and stitch them together, much like a panorama shot.

The app will make minor adjustments to restore color in faded photos and to aligned corners when the photo print is bent.

Julia Winn, a product manager for the new app, said scanning photos with traditional scanners takes time, while third-party digitizing services cost money and require you to part with your photos temporarily, risking loss and damage.

The new manual options include "deep blue" to give skies and water more color, without oversaturating the rest of the photo, and "skin tone" to adjust only the colors on skins.