Before you throw away or return an original, zoom into the digitised scan at full size and check it’s sharp, complete, correctly coloured and free of major glare or distortion — a quick glance on a small screen isn’t enough to catch problems.
What you need
- The digitised scan
- A larger screen (computer or tablet, rather than just a phone) if possible
- The physical original, still on hand for comparison
Why check before letting go
It’s much easier to reshoot a photo you still have than to discover a problem after the original has been thrown away, returned, or put back in long-term storage you won’t easily revisit.
How to check a scan
- View the scan at full resolution, not just a thumbnail. Zoom in on your phone or, ideally, view it on a larger screen, since problems like slight blur or minor glare are often invisible at thumbnail size.
- Check the whole photo is included. Compare against the physical original to confirm no edges were cropped off and nothing important is cut out of frame.
- Check for glare or reflections. Look specifically at any glossy areas of the photo for bright spots or washed-out patches that could obscure detail.
- Check colours look reasonably accurate. Compare the scan’s colours against the physical original held nearby, particularly for skin tones, which are where colour inaccuracy is most noticeable.
- Zoom into faces and important details specifically. General sharpness can look fine while faces specifically are slightly soft or blurred; check the parts of the photo that matter most.
- Reshoot immediately if anything’s wrong, while you still have the original. It’s far easier to fix a problem now than to realise later and no longer have access to the original.
Check the copy matches the original
You should be able to confidently say the digitised copy matches the original in framing, sharpness and colour, having checked it at full size rather than a quick glance.
If the same problem keeps showing up
If a specific problem (glare, blur, colour cast) keeps recurring across multiple photos, it’s likely a lighting or camera-angle issue worth adjusting before continuing, rather than something to fix photo by photo after the fact.
Next step
Once you’re confident in your scan quality, it’s worth deciding what to do with the physical original itself — whether that’s proper storage or, eventually, letting some go. See Separate photos worth keeping from ones worth letting go.
Sources and date checked
General quality-control guidance based on standard digitising best practice; not tied to a specific product. Checked 22 September 2026.