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Restore Old Photos Online — Free AI Photo Restoration

Fix yellowing, scratches, and torn corners on an old print in one upload. One free generation, no signup.

The same 1950s studio portrait restored, clean and naturally colored, with the film grain still visible.
A clearly faded and yellowed 1950s studio portrait of a couple, with a visible crease, hairline scratches, foxing stains, and dust.
BeforeAfter
Drag the line. The left side is the damaged print.
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JPG, PNG, or WebP, up to 20MB. The free download is 1K (1024px).

Where old prints come from

These prints are how a family remembers the people in them. Family albums, uniform portraits, weddings, and group scans tend to fail in different ways, so the repair is not the same job every time.

A restored 1960s living-room portrait of an African American grandmother, her daughter and son-in-law, and two children.

Family photos

Names and dates written in the white border are how you tell people apart later. Treat that margin as part of the photo, not empty space to crop away.

A restored 1950s portrait of a young East Asian nurse in a white uniform and cap, standing in a hospital corridor.

Military and uniform portraits

Military portraits, nursing portraits, and other uniform photos are easy to over-smooth. After the repair, check insignia, badges, and buttons, because a rank mark or a cap badge can soften into a blob.

The same wedding portrait restored, with the fade and scratches removed and the couple unchanged.

Wedding photos

White dresses yellow before the rest of the print, and lace is easy to over-smooth into a flat patch. If you can still see the pattern, keep it.

A restored 1950s school class photo of a teacher and ten children posed on the steps outside a brick school.

Group photos and scans

Faces in the back row of a class or team photo are small, so a low-resolution scan does not hold them. Use a high-DPI scan when you still have the paper.

What went wrong with the print

Yellowing, a tear, a stain, dust from a scan, and a black-and-white portrait are different problems, so match the mark before you pick a fix. Drag each slider to see the repair.

Yellowing and mould spots

The paper has gone yellow, and dark or pale mould spots sit on the picture where they were never part of the scene. The color comes back, and those spots come off.

The same family picnic photo restored to natural color, with the yellow cast and mould removed.
A yellowed 1970s picnic photo of East Asian parents and their daughter, with mould spots along the print.
BeforeAfter

Torn corner and fold crease

A corner of the paper is missing, and a straight crease runs through the picture. The corner is rebuilt and the crease comes out. Where the paper was gone, the fill is an estimate.

The same couple portrait with the torn corner rebuilt and the fold crease removed.
A 1960s portrait of a Latin American couple with a torn corner and a vertical fold crease.
BeforeAfter

Scratches and dust

Fine white lines and specks sit on top of the picture, from the paper or the scanner glass. The picture underneath is still there, so the pass only has to clear the surface.

The same family scan cleaned of scratches and dust, with the people and pose unchanged.
A scanned 1980s photo of a South Asian family of four, covered in scratches and dust specks.
BeforeAfter

Black-and-white uniform portrait

A black-and-white portrait can take color. Treat those colors as an estimate, not a record of the original dyes.

The same soldier portrait colorized, with the face, pose, and uniform unchanged.
A black-and-white 1940s studio portrait of a young African American soldier in uniform.
BeforeAfter

Restore a photo like these

Work through the print in this order

  1. 01

    Scan

    A 4×6 at 300 DPI is only 1200×1800 pixels, so faces look soft. If you still have the paper, rescan it flat at 600–1200 DPI, turn scanner sharpening off, and save a TIFF or a single JPEG. No scanner: photograph it straight down, in even light, with no glare.

  2. 02

    Repair

    Repair the yellowing and mould, a torn corner and a fold crease, or the scratches and dust, and leave sharpening for later.

  3. 03

    Colorize

    Colorize a black-and-white print only after the damage is gone, whether it is a military portrait, a nursing portrait, or another uniform.

  4. 04

    Sharpen

    Sharpen lightly only if the edges are still soft. That pass does not remove mould, a tear, or dust, and sharpening before you enlarge also enlarges the halos.

  5. 05

    Upscale

    Upscale last, and only if the file is still too small.

How to scan an old photo before you restore it

Restore, colorize, unblur, or upscale

A closer view of the restored family picnic, showing faces after the repair pass.RestoreUse Restore for yellowing and mould spots, a torn corner and a fold crease, and scratches and dust.
A closer view of the colorized soldier portrait.ColorizeColor is not a separate tool. You ask for it in the Restore prompt.
A closer view of the restored couple portrait.UnblurSharpening only rebuilds edges on a photo that is intact but soft. It will not lift mould, rebuild a corner, or wipe dust. If the photo is mainly out of focus rather than damaged, use Unblur Image.
A closer view of the cleaned family scan.UpscaleUpscale adds pixels and does not clean a crease, so run it last.

File limits and privacy

Formats

JPG, PNG, and WebP, color or black and white, up to 20MB.

Resolution

There is no separate input pixel cap. Guests download at 1K (1024px). A paid plan unlocks 2K and 4K.

What happens to the file

Files travel exclusively through secure TLS encrypted connections. We never use your private uploads to train machine learning models, and you maintain complete authority to delete stored sessions whenever you choose.

How long it takes

Most photos finish in 5 to 15 seconds. After the one free photo, each photo costs credits by model, starting at 40 credits.

Questions about restoring an old photo

  • Yes. You get one free generation for the whole site, shared by every tool, not one try per tool. No account and no watermark. The free download is 1K (1024px). After that, sign in or buy credits.

  • No. The uploader on this page runs in the browser, including a phone browser. There is nothing to install.

  • Yes. One free generation, with no account. It covers every tool on the site. The next photo needs an account or credits.

  • Yes. Tears are filled back in, scratches and dust are cleaned off, and a water stain is lifted the same way. Where the stain has eaten the picture away, the fill is an estimate, not the original pixels.

  • Paper and dyes age into a yellow cast, and mould spots can sit on the picture. That is fading, not a photo that is simply out of focus.

  • If you still have the paper, rescan it flat at 600–1200 DPI and turn scanner sharpening off. A 4×6 at 300 DPI is only 1200×1800 pixels, so faces stay soft. No scanner: photograph it straight down, in even light, with no glare.

  • No. Scan it or photograph it, then upload it here. The first restore is free and does not need an account. Later photos use credits. You do not ship the paper.

  • Yes. Color is part of the Restore prompt, not a separate button. What you get is an estimate, not the dyes the paper still holds.

  • It can repair the damage, but it cannot invent detail a 300 DPI scan never captured. Rescan at 600–1200 DPI if you still have the paper. Guests download at 1K, so upscale last.

  • It can. The model fills in pixels, so fine detail may shift. The face stays the same person: pose, crop, and who is in the photo do not change.

  • JPG, PNG, or WebP up to 20MB, with no separate input pixel cap. The free export is 1K (1024px), and a paid plan unlocks 2K and 4K.

  • Most photos finish in 5 to 15 seconds. After the one free photo, each photo costs credits by model, starting at 40 credits.

  • Yes. The download has no watermark, so you can print it or share it. The free download is 1K (1024px), fine for screens and small prints. Paid plans can request 2K or 4K.

Restore one print

Upload the scan for one free generation, with no account and no watermark on the download. Delete your files anytime from your history.

Restore old photosSee pricing