About 30 seconds a photo
Upload, choose the colors and press Restore Photo. Most runs finish in about half a minute, so you can work through a box of prints in one sitting.
AI photo restoration
Old Photo Restoration with AI: Repair Damage, Add Color
Image2Layer's old photo restoration turns a scan or phone photo of a damaged print into a clean picture, free to try. AI fixes scratches, cracks, tears and fading in about 30 seconds and can add natural color.
- Free to try
- Keep or add color
- PNG in about 30 seconds
- HD 2K for prints
1. Upload an old photo
Sexual or explicit content isn't allowed. Images and results that contain it are blocked automatically.
No image handy? See a sample
2. Choose the colors
Scratches, cracks, tears, stains and fading are repaired either way.
Black and white or sepia photos keep their tone, and color photos stay in color.
About 1,200 px on the long side. 10 credits.
3. Restore Photo
10 credits per photo · Failed runs never use credits
Real result of this tool
Upload your own image to get a PNG.
What it fixes
What Old Photo Restoration Fixes
Old photo restoration brings a damaged print back to how it looked when it was new. Upload a scan or a phone photo and the AI repairs the damage across the whole picture in one run, with no brush, no clone stamp and no prompt to write.
It rebuilds torn corners and missing pieces from what is around them, keeps faces, clothes and lettering as they were, and keeps the tone of the print or adds natural color. It suits old image restoration of portraits, groups, streets and landscapes alike. Afterwards you can lift a person out with cut out image or split the picture with image to layers.
- Scratches, dust and spots
- Cracks and fold lines
- Tears and missing corners
- Water stains and fading
- Black and white to color
- Faces and lettering kept
BeforeRestoredWhy Restore Old Photos with AI
Six reasons to repair old photos here instead of by hand.
Faces stay the people you knew
The AI is told to keep every face, expression and hairstyle as it is and to repair only the damage, so a grandparent still looks like themselves, only clearer.
Keep its colors or add color
Black and white and sepia prints keep their tone, or switch to Add color for natural shades of their era.
Tell it what you remember
Type a short note such as "her dress was navy blue" and the restoration takes it into account when it repairs and colors the photo.
Works from a phone photo
No scanner? Photograph the print flat in daylight and run the whole restoration in your phone browser, with nothing to install.
10 credits, failed runs free
Each photo costs 10 credits, or 20 in HD 2K for large prints. No subscription is needed, and a run that fails never uses credits.
How to Restore Old Photos in 3 Steps
How to restore old pictures without editing skills: three steps from a damaged print to a clean PNG.
JPGPNGWebPup to 24 MB
AI Photo Restoration That Repairs, Rebuilds and Colors
Three things this restorer does on real prints. Drag, hover or watch each example.
BeforeRestoredRepair Old Photos with Cracks, Tears and Missing Pieces
A black blot covered part of this lakeshore print and a crack ran through it. The AI rebuilt the house, the trees and the water from what was around them, so the picture is whole again. The same run will fix old cracked photos, restore old torn photos and fill corners lost to an album. Drag the divider to compare.
Repair a damaged photo
BeforeRestored and coloredRestore Old Photos and Colorize Them in One Run
Switch to Add color and the run that removes the damage also adds natural color: skin, fabric, brick and sky each get a believable shade of the time. These students were photographed on a glass plate around 1920, and one run repaired the stained edge and colored the whole group. To remove a modern caption or a date stamp afterwards, use remove text from image.
Add color to a photo
Move to see the damageFix Old Photos and Keep Every Detail
Faces, hands, lettering and patterns are repaired, not redrawn. On this 1938 street photo the shop signs still read Libraria Cultura Romaneasca and Cafeneaua Unirea, and the photographer's name in the corner is still there. Move the lens across the picture to see the damage that was removed. To paint away a stray object as well, use generative fill.
Fix an old photoOld Photo Restoration Before and After
Eight real results of this tool on damaged public domain prints from libraries and archives. Hover a card to wipe between them, or open it to compare closely.
Family portrait, colored
Scratches and flaking across a Swedish family portrait from around 1907 are gone, and Add color gave every dress its own shade.
Family group from the 1880s
Spots and flaking all over a group portrait cleaned up, with every face and the painted backdrop kept.
Water-stained sepia print
A brown water stain across the sky of a motorcar and windmill photo removed, with the sepia tone and the number plate kept.
Studio portrait, colored
A faded 1920s studio portrait with a stained top edge, repaired and colored with Add color.
Village street, 1898
A torn corner rebuilt and the whole street colored, from the roof tiles to the parasol.
Tennis club, around 1905
A broken corner of the glass plate filled in, so the trees and the court are whole again.
Family on library steps
A bright scratch across the father's leg and the stairs repaired on a print from around 1908.
Portrait with a torn top edge
The missing strip along the top was filled in with the wallpaper and vases around it, and her face stayed the same.
Tips to Repair Old Photos for the Best Result
Four habits that make a restored photo look natural.
Scan or photograph the print well
A flatbed scan at 600 DPI is best. With a phone, lay the print flat in soft daylight, hold the phone straight above it and avoid glare. Restore old scanned photos from the largest file you have; uploads are scaled to 2048 pixels on the longest side.
One photo at a time, cropped tight
Crop away the album page, the frame and the table around the print. The restored photo keeps the shape of what you upload, so a tight crop gives the cleanest result.
Choose the colors on purpose
For old photo restoration, black and white prints often look most authentic in their own tone, so Keep its colors suits family history records. Add color gives natural colors of the era, but they are the AI's best guess, so add a note when you know one. For a print with no damage that only needs color, colorize photo is the simpler tool.
Add a note, then check the faces
A short note helps: "his suit was grey", "the house was white". After the run, look closely at faces and hands with the slider. AI can change small details, so run it again if something does not look right.
AI Photo Restoration vs Photoshop and Restoration Services
Image2Layer next to Photoshop by hand and old photo restoration services.
- Time per photoImage2Layer:About 30 secondsPhotoshop by hand:Often an hour or moreRestoration service:Usually days, plus sending the photo
- CostImage2Layer:10 credits a photo, 20 in HD 2KPhotoshop by hand:A Photoshop subscriptionRestoration service:A fee per photo, higher for heavy damage
- Skill neededImage2Layer:None: upload and press Restore PhotoPhotoshop by hand:Healing brush, clone stamp and practiceRestoration service:None, a retoucher does the work
- Adding colorImage2Layer:Add color in the same runPhotoshop by hand:Painted by hand, area by areaRestoration service:Usually an extra charge
- Heavy damageImage2Layer:Rebuilt from what is around it, check the resultPhotoshop by hand:Full control over every detailRestoration service:A retoucher can redraw lost faces by hand
- Where it runsImage2Layer:In your browser, also on a phonePhotoshop by hand:A desktop appRestoration service:You send the print or a scan
Photoshop is a trademark of Adobe. Image2Layer is not affiliated with Adobe or with any restoration service.
Who Uses Old Photo Restoration
Families, family historians and anyone with a box of prints.
Family albums
Restore old photographs of grandparents, weddings and first homes, and restore an old photo album one print at a time.
Family history
Clean up portraits for a family tree, a genealogy profile or a reunion slideshow.
Memorials and anniversaries
Prepare a clear photo for a memorial card, an anniversary gift or a framed print.
Local history
Repair old streets, shops and harbors for a town archive, a museum label or a history post.
Prints and gifts
Download the restored PNG for a photo print, or make a matching poster from a short description with the AI poster generator.
Design projects
Use restored pictures in collages and invitations, and turn them into editable layers with image to PSD.
Old Photo Restoration FAQ
Answers about restoring old photos, color, faces, price and privacy.
Upload a scan or a phone photo of the print above, choose Keep its colors or Add color, and press Restore Photo. About 30 seconds later the repaired photo is ready: compare before and after, then download a PNG.
Yes. Each account gets one free run across Image2Layer's AI tools: sign in, press Try it free, and you get a watermarked result with no credits needed. It is an easy way to test AI photo restoration free before you buy credits. The free run is in standard quality; after that each photo costs 10 credits.
Usually, yes. The restoration is told to keep every face, expression and hairstyle exactly as it is and to repair only the damage. Where a face is badly damaged or missing, the AI has to rebuild it, so check faces with the slider before you print.
Yes. It removes scratches, dust, cracks and fold lines, and fills torn or missing corners from what is around them. It can repair old photo scratches and creases in one pass, with no brush or selection.
Yes. Choose Add color and black and white or sepia photos get natural colors true to their era in the same run that repairs them. The colors are a realistic guess, so add a note such as "the car was red" when you know one.
Yes. Water stains, tide lines and spots are removed and the picture under them is rebuilt, so photo restoration from water damage takes one run. The water-stained motorcar print in the examples above was restored this way.
No. The tool already tells the AI what to repair and what to keep. You only choose the colors, and you can add a short note about details you remember.
Each photo costs 10 credits, or 20 in HD 2K. Credit packs need no subscription, and a run that fails never uses credits. The pricing page lists the current plans and packs.
Yes, when the run is paid with credits: that gives you an old photo restoration without watermark. Only the free trial result carries a watermark, and it disappears as soon as you buy any plan or credit pack.
Standard results come back at about 1,200 pixels on the longest side, which prints well up to about 6 by 4 inches. Choose HD 2K for about 2,400 pixels, enough for larger prints and frames, or enlarge the result further with the image upscaler. Uploads up to 24 MB are accepted.
Yes. Open this page in your phone browser, photograph the print flat in daylight, upload it and download the result. There is no app to install.
Right here, in your browser. Your prints never leave home: you upload a scan or a phone photo, and the original stays safe in your album.
Photoshop gives you full manual control, but repairing a damaged print with the healing brush and the clone stamp can take an hour or more. Here a restored photo takes about 30 seconds, and you can still finish small details in any editor afterwards.
Your uploads and results are visible only to your account, and every upload passes our content checks. Only restore photos you own or have permission to use.
More Tools to Fix Old Photos
More image tools for the next step after a restoration.
Keep Editing After You Restore Old Photos
Four tools for what usually comes next.
Old photo restoration
Restore Old Photos from Your Family Album
Upload a scan or a phone photo and get it back repaired in about 30 seconds. Old photo restoration starts free with an account.
Restore a photo