You do not need to buy a scanner. The camera in your pocket is good enough to digitise most children's artwork, and it takes a few seconds per piece instead of a few minutes. The trick is to do it the same way every time. Here is a simple method.
What you need
- A phone with a decent camera (anything from the last few years).
- Daylight from a window, or two lamps.
- A flat surface, or a wall and a roll of low-tack tape.
- A scanning app that straightens and crops, such as Squiglet, or the scanning feature built into your phone's notes app.
Step by step
1. Prepare the page. Flatten any curl by putting the page under a book for a few minutes. Brush off any crumbs or glitter.
2. Set up the light. Put the drawing near a window with soft light, or use two lamps, one on each side. Switch off the flash.
3. Line up the phone. Hold the phone parallel to the page, directly above it, or tape the page to a wall and stand square to it. Use the grid lines to help.
4. Fill the frame. Let the paper fill most of the screen with all four corners in view.
5. Tap to focus and set the brightness. Tap on the page; if it looks grey, slide the brightness up a touch.
6. Capture. Hold still, or rest your elbows on the table, then take the picture.
7. Let the app tidy it. A scanning app finds the edges, straightens the page and balances the light. Check the crop, and adjust it if needed.
For more detail, read our tips on photographing artwork.
Which settings matter?
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Flash | Off |
| HDR | Leave on automatic |
| Resolution | The highest your phone offers |
| Zoom | Move closer instead of zooming in |
| Orientation | Match the page: landscape for landscape drawings |
Choosing a file type
- JPEG is the sensible default: small, universal, and good quality.
- HEIC (iPhone) is smaller still but not every service accepts it; most apps convert it for you.
- PNG keeps every pixel but is large. It is only worth it for flat, simple graphics.
Whatever you use, keep the original photo too, and never overwrite it with an edited version.
Keep your child's artwork safe
Join the waitlist and we will email you once, when the app is ready.
Name and organise as you go
Messy file names are why digital archives fail. Use a pattern such as year-month-child-title, for example 2026-10-max-rocket. An app that does this for you, filing each picture under the right child with a date, saves a lot of effort. In Squiglet every picture lands in the right child's timeline automatically, grouped by month.
Back it up
A scan you cannot find or that is lost with your phone is not much use. Follow the 3-2-1 idea: three copies, on two kinds of storage, with one somewhere else. In practice: your phone or computer, a cloud service, and an export on an external drive once in a while.
Big and awkward pieces
For a painting bigger than your phone's view, step back until the whole page fits, and let the app crop. For a mural or a very large piece, take a straight-on photo from a distance and accept less detail. For sculpture and 3D, see our guide to 3D art and large paintings.
A weekly habit
Pick one evening, put a few drawings on the table, scan them, name them, and file the keepers. Ten minutes a week means you never face a thousand-piece backlog.
Fixing common scan problems
| Problem | Why it happens | The fix |
|---|---|---|
| The paper looks grey | The camera exposes for the whole scene | Tap the page and raise the brightness |
| Colours look dull | Too much light or an automatic filter | Use soft daylight, and turn off any "enhance" filter |
| A shadow across the page | Your body or the phone is blocking the light | Stand to one side so the light falls across the page |
| Edges look curved | The page is curled | Flatten it under a book first |
| It is blurry | A shaky hand or low light | Rest your elbows, add light and let the camera focus |
| A bright patch | Glare from glossy paint or a lamp | Tilt the page or move the lamp |
Large and awkward pieces
- Big sheets: step back until the whole sheet is in the frame. Resolution drops a little but the whole picture is there.
- Rolled or curled pieces: weigh them down flat under a few heavy books overnight.
- Framed pieces: take the picture before it goes under glass, because reflections are very hard to avoid.
- Dark paper: use brighter, softer light so the crayon marks stand out.
A batch workflow for a big pile
If you have a hundred drawings to catch up on, a rhythm helps.
- Clear a table next to a window and tape up one sheet of plain paper as the background.
- Sort the pile first into keep, scan and release.
- Scan in one go, one after another, without editing as you go.
- Name and file later, in one sitting.
- Back up straight away, before you release any paper.
What to look for in a scanning app
- It finds the edges and straightens the page by itself.
- It keeps your original photo as well as the tidy version.
- It lets you add the child's name and date quickly.
- It backs up and lets you export everything at full size.
- It is private by default. Children's drawings often carry names, so check who can see them.
A note on privacy
A scanning app that uploads your pictures should be clear about who can see them. Choose one that keeps your library private to the people you invite, and avoid sharing pictures with names on them publicly. Our guide to sharing safely explains what to check.
Questions people ask
Is a phone scan good enough for printing?
For prints and photo books, yes. A modern phone camera captures plenty of detail for pages up to about A4 and often larger. Check the picture is sharp and well lit.
Should I save artwork as JPEG or PNG?
JPEG is smaller and fine for nearly everything. PNG keeps every pixel but makes much bigger files. Whatever you choose, keep the original photo as well.
How should I back up scanned artwork?
Keep at least two copies in different places, such as your phone or computer plus a cloud service, and one more if you can. A dedicated app that keeps its own copy and lets you export everything also helps.
