I recently discovered a small photo album containing Costa Rican flora/fauna from when my parents went there over 20 years ago. There are some quality photos of plants that I cannot identify but would like uploaded to Inat.
I did not take these photos, but I have permission to upload them to Inat. My question is how do I upload physical glossy and matte photo prints to Inat without compromising the quality of the photo? They are 4x6 photo prints developed off of film but the original film has been lost.
Best to use a flatbed scanner. If you don’t have access to that, light them from the side and take a picture with your phone above them, fitting the print in the frame. You’ll most likely have to mark them all as casual observations though unless you know exactly the date and location of each photo.
As people have already said, the best way is to scan them with a flatbed scanner, but carefully copying them with your phone would probably work as a last resort. The problem is not with converting them to digital format, but providing a suitably accurate date and location. Do you have more detailed information about when and where they were taken?
A photo scanner is best, but your phone is fine. The key is to not point a light straight at the photo (it’ll give it a shiny spot) and keep an eye on the shadow that you yourself are casting. You want bright, indirect lighting. A slightly overcast but bright day is great, but indoor lighting is manageable.
I recommend propping the photos up slightly so that they’re on an angle rather than on a table. This angle will help prevent you from casting a shadow on them. If they don’t lay totally flat, put a tiny bit of mounting putty behind each corner (temporarily; remove fully when you’re done) or put a piece of glass on it to weigh it down. This will prevent distortions and help avoid glare.
Line up your shot in the camera app. Make sure the edges of the photo are parallel to the edges in your display. Double check that you aren’t casting a photo OR if you are casting a photo, ensure you’re casting it evenly across the whole photo. (If you are casting an uneven photo, move your setup to a new angle relative to the light source or move the light source.)
You don’t have to fill the whole frame and you’re more likely to cast a bad shadow the closer you get—hold the phone like 2 feet away and just crop it after.
You may have to go into the photo editing and do a little color correction, especially if you were using indoor lighting, but it should be good enough to upload.
For five dollars I picked up a little desktop print/slide scanner device at my local thrift store. You just drop a standard print into a little sleeve thing and press a button and it snaps a file onto a chip or to your computer via USB. I just wanted it for the inside lens and I have a good flatbed, so I ended taking it apart.
You can also try just getting a tripod clamp for your phone, set up an easel tipped to the sun on a clear day, piece of card leaning on easel with the 4x6 frame outline in marker. Adjust the tripod cam to just inside the frame, and… start plopping them in and shooting. May need a decent weight of glass taped on the bottom to hold down your prints of they have a lot of curl.