Photo restoration: give old photographs a clearer future

Old photographic paper can accumulate scratches, dust, cracks, fold lines and stains. Restoration targets this visible physical damage in a scan or photograph of the print, rather than creating an unrelated new image.

Torn edges and lost patches need reconstruction from the surrounding picture. The filled area is an interpretation, not a recovered piece of paper. The less information left beneath damage, the less confidently you can judge the original detail.

Restoration aims to retain an existing monochrome or sepia appearance. Adding color is a separate transformation. If a scan is intact but simply soft, use photo enhancement for that clarity issue rather than treating it as paper damage.

Add color with Photo Colorizer

Enhance an otherwise intact photo

Try a scratched portrait, a folded family print, a scan with water or mold-like marks, flaking photographic emulsion or a damaged album photograph. A detailed source makes it easier to inspect what changed. Keep the original scan even when you prefer the edited appearance.

Look for a cleaner presentation of the same photograph, while treating reconstructed areas as estimates.

• Fine scratches and specks: inspect lines across portraits and group scans, including small marks near eyes and hair.
• Creases, tears and lost edges: repair the visible interruption, then compare any invented continuation with the surviving image.
• Monochrome and sepia character: keep that palette as the goal; use the colorizer separately when you want a color interpretation.
• Watermark-free paid exports: packs and Pro use the same restoration option and credit rate, with original-size downloads.

Assess the repair at the level of the original photograph, not only the removed mark.

• Portrait scratches: compare facial contours and skin texture so a cleaner surface does not silently change a familiar feature.
• A crease or torn corner: check reconstructed clothing, background and edges; those missing regions have no complete original to recover.
• Staining across a group print: inspect every person, including small background faces and any handwritten names.
• Flaking emulsion on a plate scan: compare captions, original borders and surviving texture as well as the repaired patch.
• A heavily damaged family portrait: keep uncertainty visible when an absent face has been redrawn. The edited face is not family-history evidence.

Capture as much surviving detail as possible before asking AI to repair the image.

• Scan the print flat at a useful resolution, such as 300–600 dpi. Avoid forcing fragile paper or leaving a curved album fold across the image.
• If it is safe to remove a frame, digitize the print without reflective glass. Otherwise inspect the capture for glare.
• For a phone capture, keep the camera parallel to the print, turn off direct flash and use even light from the side.
• Repair damage first and colorize afterward. Keep the unedited scan and each intermediate result as separate files.

Reduce glare in a photographed print

• Missing paper and torn regions are filled from context. That reconstruction is not the lost original.
• A face beneath heavy damage may be substantially redrawn. Compare lighter repairs with the scan, and review every person in a family group.
• The edited image is not a historical record of details that were absent from the source. Preserve the original scan for research or identification.
• This treatment does not add color or restore faded color in a color print. Use the separate colorizer for a color interpretation after repairing damage.
• Files are sent to an AI processing provider and have a 24-hour retention window. Save your output and consult the Privacy Policy for handling details.