Easily Scan Old Photos with the NEW Ancestry.com App

Scan old photos easily to your family tree with the NEW Ancestry.com photo scanning app feature. Put a face to your ancestor’s name!

Ancestry.com has a new photo scanning app that allows you to scan, edit, and upload your family photos to your family tree. Scan up to 20 photos at a time to make quick work of your scanning project.

Start Scanning Old Photos With the Ancestry.com App

Before you start scanning your photos, you will need to upload the Ancestry.com app to your phone or your tablet. Once you have the app, follow the directions to sync your family tree. You are now ready to begin!

Chose the photographs you wish to add to your family tree and lay them out on the table or other flat surface. You can scan a single photograph or multiple photographs at one time.

If the photos are in an actual photo album, that’s not a problem. You can scan photos directly from the photo album.

In the video, watch as I walk you through how to scan photos and add them to an Ancestry.com tree using my cell phone.

[As a point of reference, I am using an Android cell phone.]

I hope you found it helpful to see the app in action. It’s quite easy!

Tips for Scanning Old Photos

I have a couple of tips for you as you’re scanning your old family photographs. Let’s make sure you are getting the best possible scans.

First, when it comes to scanning those old family photographs, I recommend putting them on a plain surface with a plain background such as a table. Do not place your photos on a busy placemat or tablecloth. You want the background to be plain if possible.

Next, choose a location close to a source of natural light, if possible. A natural light source is best for scanning.

Lastly, when scanning multiple photographs, make sure you’re leaving a little bit of space around each of those photographs. This allows the app to differentiate between individual photos.

Have Old Photos, But Not Sure Who They Are?

Sometimes we have old family photographs we want to add to a family tree, but we’re not sure who was in the photograph, or maybe we don’t know all of the individuals in the photograph. If that’s the case for you, I want you to watch the video below to start learning how to identify who is in your old family photos for your next steps.

Learn More About Using Old Family Photos for Family History

• Tips for Identifying People In Old Family Photos – The MOST popular!
• How to determine the date of an old family photograph
• Where to Find Old Family Photos
• How To Pull Genealogy Clues From Your Old Family Photographs
• Identifying an Old Family Photograph – Who IS That Couple?
• Are You Your Ancestor’s Doppelganger? Find Out What Your Ancestor Looked Like
• How to Date Antique Photographs Using Tax Stamps
• Restoring Old Family Photos – A Vivid-Pix Tutorial
• Best Practices for Storing Heirloom Photographs
• Top 10 Resources for Dating Old Photographs
• How To Find Your Ancestors in School Yearbooks!