Photograph or scan the print, upload it with up to three clearer photos of the same person, press Generate, then crop and print it in PhotoCraft.
Last checked 2026-11-04
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GPT Image 2.5 Flare
When this option is enabled, the output image may be selected by AI Generate and published to the Explore.
One water-stained 1960s portrait restored alone, then with a clearer side photo of the same woman as a reference, then sized for print, plus a 1970s print shot in its album sleeve and shot flat, and a restored wedding print animated into a short clip.
The “old photos” here are generated originals of original adults, not anyone's real family prints. Each restore was made once on November 4, 2026 with GPT Image 2.5 Flare through the project's sample tools, the same image-to-image route as the workbench above: image 1 is the damaged print, later images are references.
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Capture the print flat and glare-free, upload it with any clearer photos of the same person, generate the repair, then crop, touch up and export in PhotoCraft.
Scan it, or photograph it flat in soft daylight with the flash off and the phone square to the paper. Keep that untouched file as your master copy.
The damaged print goes in the first slot. Slots 2 to 4 take clearer photos of the same person or place; on GPT Image 2.5 Flare and Sunburst one request takes up to 16 images.
Add notes in the prompt box if you have them, such as “keep her face, keep the film grain, the dress was navy blue”, then press Generate; the cost shows on the button first. Compare the result with the original.
Open the result in PhotoCraft to straighten, crop the border, touch up leftover specks and export the print file.
Put the damaged print first, then add up to three sharper photos of the same person or place; the model borrows eyes, hairline and fabric from them instead of guessing.
Same person, another yearA clearer face from a few years before or after, ideally a similar angle. The sample used one side-view garden snapshot.
Another print of the same porch, room or street helps the model rebuild a torn corner or a burnt-out background.
A close shot of the same dress, uniform or jacket gives it the right fabric and pattern.
A sibling who looks alike, a beauty-filtered selfie or a painting pulls the face toward someone else. Over-processing can make a face look like another person even without references, so ask to keep identity and compare with the original.
It clears scratches, creases, stains and yellowing, rebuilds small torn areas, sharpens faces, colorizes black-and-white prints and enlarges the result for print.
Scratches, dust, creases, small tears and stains are cleared and small missing areas rebuilt. Detail that is fully gone, such as a missing face, is filled with a guess.
The yellow cast is neutralised and contrast comes back, as on the 1970s porch print.
Colour is predicted from context: skin, sky, grass, wood and uniforms. A dress or car colour cannot be known from a black-and-white print, so name the colours you know and keep the black-and-white copy next to the colour one.
Soft faces come back sharper; with a reference photo, eyes and hairline follow the real person instead of a guess.
Write “keep the film grain” or “keep the paper texture” and the restore stays clean without looking like a new digital photo.
Output at higher resolution, then size the print file: about 1200 × 1800 pixels for 4×6 at 300 ppi.
Open the restored file in PhotoCraft, the free browser editor here, to straighten and crop the border, touch up leftover specks by hand, even out color and save a PSD before you export the print file.
Rotate a print that was shot at a slight angle and crop the white border or the album edge.
Paint out any speck the restore left, even out colour with an adjustment layer, and save a PSD so you can come back to it.
| Pixels at 300 ppi | |
|---|---|
| 4×6 | 1200 × 1800 |
| 5×7 | 1500 × 2100 |
| 8×10 | 2400 × 3000 |
The PhotoCraft editor is free and open source; nothing in it uses credits.
Open in PhotoCraft →Take the print out of its sleeve, shoot it flat by a window with the flash off, scan at 600 dpi for big prints, and know that uploads are encrypted in transit and your account can be deleted any time.
For screens and small prints, a flat, sharp phone photo is enough. The Library of Congress personal archiving guide suggests 300 dpi for 4×6 to 8×10 prints and 400–600 dpi for prints you will enlarge; 600 dpi is a safer minimum if you may crop, and wallet-size prints are often scanned at 1200 dpi. Scan in colour even for a black-and-white print, turn off the scanner's sharpening and dust removal, and keep a TIFF master plus a JPEG to work on.
✓ Out of the plastic sleeve · ✓ Flat on a table · ✓ Window light from the side · ✓ Flash off · ✓ Phone square to the paper · ✓ Print fills the frame. Google PhotoScan merges several shots from slightly different angles to remove glare.
Transfers are encrypted, and you can view, update or delete your account at any time; see the privacy policy.
Pick AI restoration for most family prints, Photoshop when you want to repair every pixel yourself, and a professional restorer for one-of-a-kind photos with large missing areas.
→ AI restoration with references, then PhotoCraft.
→ Photoshop: the Spot Healing Brush by hand, plus its Photo Restoration neural filter.
→ A professional restorer.
| Route | Good for | Note |
|---|---|---|
Face apps: Remini and MyHeritage | Remini (Bending Spoons) sharpens faces on a phone; MyHeritage Photo Enhancer does faces, In Color colorizes, Deep Nostalgia animates faces (since February 25, 2021) | Free use and limits follow each product's own plans |
Chat editors like Gemini | Quick fixes by chat (“remove scratches”, “restore colors”), popular since Gemini 2.5 Flash Image in August 2025 | Edits carry an invisible SynthID watermark |
When to hire a restorer | Large missing areas, a burnt-out corner, the only copy of a portrait | A person rebuilds it by hand from what remains |
| Lovart ME | Damaged print plus up to three references of the same person, then a free PhotoCraft finish | Uses credits on this site; the cost shows before you run it |
Turn the restored portrait into a memorial card with Agent, give it a film look with Vintage Film, or animate it on Image to Video.
Give Agent the restored portrait and a line such as “memorial card, 5×7, her name and years” for a finished design, or lay out a family-tree page for an album.
Want it to look like film again, on purpose? Run the clean restore through Vintage Film.
Send the restored still to animate it on Image to Video for a short clip with a smile and a turn of the head.
Each restore uses credits on this site, and the cost shows on the button before you generate. PhotoCraft, the editor for cropping and touch-ups, is free. See pricing.
Take the print out of its plastic sleeve, lay it flat with window light from the side, switch the flash off and hold the phone square to the paper. A multi-shot scanner app such as Google PhotoScan merges several angles to remove glare.
Add one or two clearer photos of the same person as references after the damaged print and ask to keep her face. Compare the result with the original before you save it.
Yes. The repair removes the yellow cast and brings contrast back; write “keep the paper texture” or “keep the film grain” if you want it to still look old.
Skin, sky and plants usually are; clothes and objects are guesses unless someone remembers them. Tell the model the colours you know, such as “the dress was navy blue”, and keep the black-and-white copy too.
At 300 pixels per inch, about 1200 × 1800 pixels gives a sharp 4×6, 1500 × 2100 a 5×7 and 2400 × 3000 an 8×10. Crop and export the print file in PhotoCraft.
Transfers are encrypted, and you can view, update or delete your account and its data at any time under the privacy policy. Privacy policy.
Sources: Library of Congress scanning guide, The Signal on scan resolution, Digital Trends on PhotoScan, Adobe neural filters (checked 2026-11-04).