Best way to scan old photos?

[scottishlad]

Not sure where else to post this, but I’ve recently come into possession of some old family photos and letters which I’m currently scanning using Adobe Scan. So far it has gone incredibly well. I’m very happy with the quality of the scans. However, the issue is more than a few aren’t completely flat. I could use weights, but I’d prefer for them to not be in the photo. I could bend them the other way, but I’d rather not cause any more wear and tare. My newest idea was placing them underneath plexiglass, but no matter what I do the glass is just too reflective.

Any other ideas? I just can’t think of how to take these scans any other way. I guess I just have to live with the weights appearing in the corners.

[Treetotal]

I have had this with old documents and old photos and I put a slim book on them to keep them flat when scanning them.
It worked for me. Some of the more stubborn photos, I placed on a hard surface and put a pile of heavy books on top of them and left them for a few days, they flattened out and I was able to scan them.
Carol

[Handypandy]

If you don't have your own flat bed scanner, a lot of public libraries have them for public use. Take your own usb stick, or I believe that you can email to yourself.

[Gadget]

One idea might be to buy some removable double sided tape.  Quite a few versions are listed  on online sites. You could then stick the corners of the document/photo/etc to a flat surface and click away, removing the tape afterwards.

I prefer a flat bed scanner though.

Gadget

Add - search for "removable double sided tape"

I used this method in the olden pre-digital/smart phone days. I used to tape (removable)  family photos to a wall or a table and photograph them.

[farmeroman]

Weigh them down with a book and then crop the resulting image. I've used this method for all (hundreds) of my old photos, except for a couple of old (1940s and 1950s) black and white albums (see below).

Then just today I received an email plugging the Reimagine app from MyHeritage for fast "scanning" of old photo albums. I've just used it on my iPhone to scan my father's old WWII album where high resolution scanning would not really improve the low quality 3" x 2" black and white prints. The results are excellent and at least it gets them into a folder with the rest of my photos.

Edit: Sorry, I just realised that you're using Adobe Scan on your phone rather than a flatbed scanner. I should have read your post properly.