You've meant to digitise the artwork pile for months — maybe longer. The flatbed scanner never got set up. The photos you took on your phone have patchy lighting and curved edges where you couldn't hold the paper flat. The pile is now in a box in the hallway that you step over twice a day and feel vaguely guilty about. You don't need specialist equipment, a technical background, or a free Saturday — but you do need a clear surface, your phone, and a process that takes less than a minute per piece.
VaultIt removes every technical barrier. Open the app, point your phone at the artwork, and the camera automatically corrects perspective, removes shadows, and captures true-to-life colour — no scanner, no special lighting setup, no editing required. Each scan takes under 30 seconds, and the AI immediately organises it into your child's private vault by age and type. You can digitise an entire school year's worth of artwork in a single focused evening.
Natural daylight from the side — not direct sun — is the best free lighting for scanning artwork at home. Lay the piece on the floor, stand above it, and photograph from directly overhead. Floor scanning removes the angle distortion that comes from holding a piece in your hands.
Most children's paintings are landscape format — rotate your phone before scanning so the artwork fills as much of the frame as possible. You'll get more detail, less empty background, and far less cropping to deal with after the fact.
Large A2 paintings are the hardest to store and most at risk of physical damage, so prioritise them in your first session. Once the oversized pieces are done, the rest of the pile feels far more manageable and the project gains momentum.
The most common reason digitising projects stall is fatigue from trying to do everything at once. Commit to twenty pieces per session and then stop. Four sessions of twenty pieces covers a full year of school art without the session ever feeling like a burden.
What if the lighting in my house is really bad — do I need to buy special equipment?
A clip-on phone ring light costs under £15 and makes a significant difference in low-light rooms — it's the only piece of equipment worth buying specifically for scanning artwork at home. Otherwise, work near a window during daytime. Overcast daylight is actually better than direct sun, which creates glare on any paint or glitter surface.
What if the artwork is 3D — a clay pot or a papier-mâché model?
Photograph 3D work from multiple angles: front, sides, top, and a three-quarter perspective view. For each angle, use a clean white or dark cloth as a background to isolate the piece from surrounding clutter. Three or four photos from different angles gives you a complete visual record of a 3D piece that a single flat scan could never achieve.
I have paintings going back five years — how long will this actually take in total?
A year's worth of school artwork — roughly 40 to 60 pieces — typically takes 30 to 45 minutes in a single session when you're not stopping to sort or organise. Five years of backlog means five sessions, or less than a working day spread across five evenings. Most parents are surprised by how much less time it takes than the pile looked like it would require.
“I put it off for two years because I thought it needed to be a big project with the right equipment. It took me one Sunday morning with my phone and a clear kitchen floor. I'm genuinely annoyed I waited so long.”
— Lucy, mum of two