(ABC 6 News) – Remember that box of old photos in the closet? The faded prints from vacations, birthdays, and family holidays? Most of us have stacks of photo albums or loose prints tucked away, slowly aging and at risk of being lost for good. But with one free app, you can breathe new life into those memories and turn them into high-quality digital images, right from your phone.

Google PhotoScan is one of those apps you may not need every day, but when you do, it’s a game-changer.

Unlike simply taking a photo of a photo, which usually results in glare, weird angles, and washed-out colors, PhotoScan is designed to capture printed photos the right way. The app doesn’t just snap one quick image. Instead, it takes multiple shots from different angles and then stitches them together using Google’s smart image processing. The result? A clear, glare-free, high-resolution digital copy of your photo.

It’s incredibly easy to use. Open the app, point your camera at the photo, and follow the on-screen dots. Within seconds, you’ll have a clean, cropped, and enhanced version saved to your phone’s gallery. And if you’re using Google Photos, the scan can be backed up automatically to the cloud. That means you can search for photos by location, date, or even who’s in them, all without digging through dusty shoeboxes.

Once the photos are captured and saved to your phone, you can use the Apple Photos or Google Photos app to remove unwanted things in the background and create a slideshow with music. That’s a great project for gifts for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, or Christmas.

One of my favorite features? You don’t need a flatbed scanner or any fancy equipment. Just your phone. And it works great on both Android and iPhone.

Whether you’re helping your parents digitize their photo collection, organizing your own albums, or just trying to preserve a few childhood pictures, PhotoScan makes it easy. And because it’s a Google product, it’s completely free to download and use.

Old photos fade. Albums get lost. But with this app, your memories don’t have to.

If you’ve got five minutes this weekend, grab a few photos and give it a try. You might end up with a priceless digital collection that’s easy to share—and impossible to lose.