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Old photo restoration for small damage

Brush over a scratch or small mark, then inspect the rebuilt detail before you download.

WatermarkObjectPeople
STEP 1

Upload an old photo

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BEFOREAFTERDRAG TO COMPARE
HOW IT WORKS

How to restore an old photo online

One damaged area at a time. That is the whole technique.

1

Scan or photograph the print

A flat, evenly lit copy works best. JPG or PNG up to 12 MB.

2

Brush one damaged area

Cover a single scratch, crease or dust spot. Small selections repair far better than one big one.

3

Repair the selection

The surrounding grain, skin tone or paper texture is continued across the damage.

4

Inspect, then run the next

Zoom into the repair before you accept it, then treat the next area as its own pass.

Facts about this tool

Restore old photos online, free

Restore old photos free within the daily allowance. Brush over small scratches or dust spots one at a time; the tool cannot recover missing original detail.

WHAT THIS REPAIRS

The damage it patches — and the damage it can’t

This tool patches damage. It does not re-imagine a face the negative never recorded.

Scratches and scuffs

A white scratch line across a print is the classic case: the fill continues the tone on either side of it.

Dust, specks and mould spots

Small light or dark specks on the emulsion. Brush a few at a time and inspect at full size.

Creases and torn corners

A fold across a plain area — sky, wall, clothing, paper border — repairs well. A fold across a face rarely does.

Stamps, dates and pen marks

A processing date burned into the corner, or a name written in biro across the front. Treat each mark as its own small selection.

What it will not do

It will not sharpen a soft print, colourise a black-and-white one, or rebuild a missing eye. For softness and size, the image enhancer is the other page.

ALL TOOLS

Every tool, its own page

Daily free edits are shared across all photo tools: 3 without an account, or 6 when signed in.

Remove & erase4 tools

Watermarks, people, objects and logos — brush over the target and erase it.

Enhance & restore3 tools

Sharpen, upscale and bring old or blurry photos back to life.

Background1 tools

Cut the subject out onto a clean transparent or white background.

FAQ

Restoring an old photo: what to expect

What can this old photo restoration tool repair?

Small scratches, dust, creases and marks you can brush over. Review each repaired area at full size before relying on it.

Will it recreate missing historical detail?

No. Erase makes a plausible fill from nearby pixels; it cannot recover information the camera never recorded.

Is this AI photo restoration free to use?

You get photo restoration online free for a few repairs each day; sign in for 6 free edits per day in total, or choose Erase Pro. The AI photo restoration model is the same either way.

Should I scan the print or photograph it?

Either. A flat scan at 300 DPI or more gives the model more grain to copy; a phone photo is fine if the light is even and no glare crosses the print.

Can I repair the whole photo in one selection?

You can, and it usually comes out worse. Each pass only has to match its own surroundings, so several small repairs beat one large one.

Does it change the parts I didn’t brush?

No. Only the painted area is rebuilt. The rest of the file comes back exactly as you uploaded it, at the same resolution.

THE RULES

What restoration here can and can’t do

Works well on
  • Scratches, dust, specks and small tears on a scanned print
  • Damage sitting on plain areas: sky, wall, clothing, paper border
  • One area at a time, inspected at full size before the next pass
Where it breaks down
  • It cannot recover detail the negative never held — a missing eye stays missing
  • It does not sharpen, upscale or colourise; that is the image enhancer, a different page
  • Damage crossing a face or a repeating pattern is where it fails first