Just out of curiosity, what’s your preferred method of taking photos of cards to upload to Postcrossing? I have one spot in my house that has almost perfect lighting, and I just use my phone to take a picture of them.
Where’s your magic photo spot, or what method do you prefer?
I have a printer/scanner attached to my computer. The printer part doesn’t work, but I don’t want to replace it because the scanner is pretty good, and I use it a lot for Postcrossing photos 
I already replaced the last printer, which worked though not great, so I don’t have a good track record with replacing my printer 
I have a desk lamp with a long light bar that sticks out about a foot. I prop my cards up against the lamp base and snap the pic. I can adjust the angle of the light to accommodate glossy cards.
My pretty photo spot is my balcony 
I use so called “bright light lamp” and place the cards flat on the desk. That way light comes from an angle and it is similar to day light. That is the best way for me to take a photo.
It is harder to avoid reflextions if the light source is above the card. Natural day light doesn’t work so well, either. Right now we already have less than 5 hours day light and often the colours do not look similar to the original picture.
I have a lamp like this, too! I use it on gloomy days when the sunlight in the bedroom isn’t sufficient! The one I have also lets you adjust the tone of the light, so it ranges from a harsh white light to a soft yellow.
Not often, but if the photo colors don’t match the card I do edit that to make the uploaded card more realistic.
I use and app on my phone to scan my postcards. I put them on my desk to scan them, as it’s next to a window so there’s pretty good lightning most of the time.
I use the scan app google photo scan. It uses the flashlight of the smartphone and directs me how to take the photo, so that there are nearly no more reflections.
I also use editing tools when needed, but it works better when you have a good photo to start with. I have tried taking pictures indoors with natural light, but ended up with strong blueish tint. That is why I rely on my bright light lamp or go outdoors during the summer.
I have not tried scan apps as it feels so easy just to take the photo with my phone, crop and edit it. But I know that those who use scan apps find them a great way to get good pictures.
I use the same method as @RalfH and for best results I usually scan my postcards in daylight.
I have a big white writing pad, on which i handle all my cards/envelope with hand and take pictures in lighting, all pictures looks very nice:)
I just take with the scan app, and don’t think too much of the light. I even took the optimising function off, because it’ slower. For me the image it’s to remember what I sent. Sometimes it looks good on my phone, but when I see it here, it’s too faded looking. Sometimes it looks the same on my phone and bigger screen. So, trying to make it look good is not worth it to me.
Photo Scan app. It takes the photo from five different points and you end up with a card with no reflections or unwanted backgrounds. It’s great, just doesn’t work for shaped cards obviously. If I can I take photos of the cards next to my balcony window which has a lot of natural, indirect light, so I get no shadows.
Using my perfect wooden desktop, which is smooth and well-maintained. Sometimes, I adjust the lighting myself. Also, I wanted to ask, is it normal for the resolution to decrease after uploading pictures? I’ve noticed that they become blurry after being displayed… Is this a common phenomenon?
I have a desktop scanner. Just toss the card on the glass, close the lid, and hit go. It’s especially convenient for when I have to scan a box of 100 cards. I can pre-crop in the scanning tool and load four cards at a time on the glass. Every scan generates 4 files. Then I just have to run through them and click ‘rotate’ for the ones that are in landscape.
I use the scanner attached to my computer to get a high resolution image but when I’m out in the wild using travel mode, I use the Google Photoscan app. It is free and very easy to use!
I scan it on my printer scanner.
