# AI Old Photo Restoration – Restore & Colorize Old Photos | AI Image Tools Source page: https://www.aiimagetools.net/tools/ai-photo-restoration > Restore old photo AI tool: repair scratches, tears, creases and fading, or colorize old photo AI with natural tones. Faces stay the same person — not a new portrait. Plain-text version of this page for AI assistants and readers. Site overview: https://www.aiimagetools.net/llms.txt Prices and plan details change; the current ones are on https://www.aiimagetools.net/pricing --- - [Home](https://www.aiimagetools.net/) - [Tools](https://www.aiimagetools.net/tools) - Photo Restoration # Restore Old Photos with AI AI old photo restoration in your browser: repair scratches, tears, creases and fading on a scan or a phone photo of the print, and colorize when you want color. Faces are preserved, not reinvented. ~25s — typical time, FLUX.1 Kontext 5 — credits at the default model 4 — damage presets 10 MB — max upload ## Real results from Photo Restoration A real result from this tool. Drag the handle to compare. After Before Drag to Compare Before & After Faded, creased print restored with the default model ## Will Photo Restoration work on your photo? Match what is wrong with your image to what this tool can realistically do. Where it cannot help, the row says which tool can. ### Scratches, tears, creases, stains Good match This is the core case. The instruction tells the model to repair the damage and leave faces, expressions and composition exactly as they are. ### Fading and yellowing Good match Pick the Vintage preset. Exposure and contrast are recovered without repainting the scene. ### A black and white original you want in colour Good match Turn on Add color. Colours are inferred from context, so treat them as plausible rather than documented. ### A missing corner or a small hole Partial improvement Small gaps are filled convincingly. A missing face cannot be recovered truthfully — whatever appears there is a guess. ### The print is intact but the face is just soft Use another tool There is no damage to repair. Sharpen the face instead with [Unblur Face](https://www.aiimagetools.net/tools/ai-face-restoration) ## How to restore old photos online Old photo restoration comes down to three things: a good digital copy of the print, the repair that matches the damage, and a careful look at the result. Everything below runs in the browser, on a computer or a phone; there is nothing to install. ### Get the photo off the paper first A flatbed scan at 300 dpi or more gives the model the most to work with. No scanner? Photograph the print in daylight, phone held parallel to it, no flash, no glare, and take it out of the album sleeve first: plastic adds reflections the model will try to keep. Crop to the photo before uploading. ### Match the preset to what is actually wrong Scratches & tears is for physical damage: cracks, creases, missing specks. Vintage / faded is for yellowing and lost contrast. Black & white with Add color on is for colorizing. General old photo handles a mix of everything and is the safe default when you are not sure. ### Restoring a whole box of old photos Each photo is one run. Sort the prints by damage type before you scan so the preset stays the same for a batch, then work through them; every result is saved to My Creations, so you can download them all at the end instead of one by one. ### When to restore old photos by hand instead Manual retouching in Photoshop or a professional restorer is still the better choice for a single heirloom with a large missing area, especially a missing face. AI fills a gap with something plausible, not with what was there. For ordinary wear, fading and scratches, a 25-second run gets most of the way. ### Keep the original scan Save the unretouched scan next to the restored copy. Restoration is an interpretation, and colorization doubly so; for family history, the original is the record and the restored version is the one you share. ### Compared with Firefly, Fotor, Picsart and Krea Adobe Firefly, Fotor, Picsart and Krea put restoration inside a full editor or a broad AI suite. This page is only restore old photo AI: upload, pick the damage, optional colorize, download. Preview with the credits you get at sign-in; free-plan downloads carry a small watermark. Identity stays locked — the model is told not to beautify or reinvent faces. ## Why Photo Restoration on AI Image Tools ### Repairs, doesn't repaint The instruction sent to the model insists on keeping every face, expression and object exactly where it is. It fixes the damage instead of imagining a new photo that looks similar. ### Tell it what is wrong Pick the damage type: general wear, vintage fading and yellowing, scratches and tears, or a black and white original. The prompt adapts to it. ### Color when you want it Leave the photo as it is, or flip Add color for natural skin tones and period-appropriate colors. Colorization is an interpretation, and it is off by default. ### A focused page, not a suite No Firefly canvas, Fotor workspace, Picsart project or Krea playground to learn. One restore tool: preview with signup credits, free downloads watermarked, then Unblur Face / Enhancer / Upscaler if you need the next step. ### A workflow, not one button Restore first, then sharpen faces with Unblur Face, clean up with the Enhancer and double the size with the Upscaler. The related tools are linked at the bottom of this page. ## Every image model in one place Pick any of these from the Model menu above; the price is shown before you generate. Each name links to what that model is good at. [Compare every tier](https://www.aiimagetools.net/models). ### Z-Image Turbo Alibaba · cheapest and fastest, text-to-image only 1 credits per image ### Seedream 5 Pro · 1K ByteDance · same model as 2K at half the price 9 credits per image ### GPT Image 2.5 Flare · 2K OpenAI · same price as Sunburst, tuned for speed and volume 13 credits per image ### Qwen Image 3 · 2K Alibaba · strong at readable text inside the image 6 credits per image ### [Nano Banana](https://www.aiimagetools.net/nano-banana) Google Gemini 2.5 Flash · fastest, cheapest 5 credits per image ### [Nano Banana 2.1 · 1K](https://www.aiimagetools.net/nano-banana-2) Google · newest Nano Banana, sharper text, banner ratios 10 credits per image ### [Nano Banana 2.1 · 2K](https://www.aiimagetools.net/nano-banana-2) Google · same model at 2K 15 credits per image ### [Nano Banana 2.1 · 4K](https://www.aiimagetools.net/nano-banana-2) Google · for print or heavy cropping 23 credits per image ### [Ideogram V3 · Turbo](https://www.aiimagetools.net/ideogram) Ideogram · text inside the image, fastest tier 5 credits per image ### [Ideogram V3 · Balanced](https://www.aiimagetools.net/ideogram) Ideogram · text inside the image, posters and logos 9 credits per image ### [Ideogram V3 · Quality](https://www.aiimagetools.net/ideogram) Ideogram · text inside the image, highest detail 13 credits per image ### [FLUX.1 Kontext](https://www.aiimagetools.net/flux-kontext) Black Forest Labs · fastest, about 5s per image 5 credits per image ### [Seedream 5 Lite](https://www.aiimagetools.net/seedream) ByteDance · good at Chinese text and posters 7 credits per image ### [Seedream 5 Pro · 2K](https://www.aiimagetools.net/seedream) ByteDance · most photorealistic, highest detail 18 credits per image ### [GPT Image 2 · 2K](https://www.aiimagetools.net/gpt-image) OpenAI · good with text in images, half the price of 2.5 7 credits per image ### [GPT Image 2 · 4K](https://www.aiimagetools.net/gpt-image) OpenAI · for print or heavy cropping 10 credits per image ### [GPT Image 2.5 · 2K](https://www.aiimagetools.net/gpt-image) OpenAI · newest, better instruction following 13 credits per image ### [GPT Image 2.5 · 4K](https://www.aiimagetools.net/gpt-image) OpenAI · newest, highest resolution 20 credits per image ## Photo Restoration specifications InputOne JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC up to 10 MB; scan prints at 300 dpi or more Damage presetsGeneral old photo, Vintage / faded, Scratches & tears, Black & white ColorizationOff by default; one switch to add natural color ModelsFLUX.1 Kontext by default; Nano Banana, Nano Banana 2.1, Seedream 5 Lite / Pro, GPT Image 2 / 2.5 and Ideogram V3 selectable SizesSame as input, 1:1, 4:3, 3:4, 16:9 OutputPNG or JPEG depending on the model, saved to My Creations Cost5 to 20 credits per image, depending on the model TimeAbout 25 seconds with FLUX.1 Kontext; Seedream around 50 seconds, GPT Image about a minute Free plan10 credits on sign-in — 10 images on the default model; free downloads carry a small watermark ## How to use Photo Restoration - Step 1 ### Scan or photograph the print Flat, evenly lit, no glare. A phone photo of the print works; a flatbed scan works better. - Step 2 ### Pick the damage type and color option Choose the preset that matches the print and decide whether to colorize. The “Try a sample photo” button in the input box loads one if you want to test first. - Step 3 ### Restore, then refine Check faces and edges at full size. If a face is still soft, send the result to Unblur Face; if you need a print, run the Upscaler. ## Get a better result A few choices before you upload change the output more than any setting on this page. ### Crop to the photograph itself Leave out the album page, the frame and the desk. Everything you include is detail the model spends attention on instead of the picture. ### Run it twice if you want colour Restore once with Add color off, then again with it on. You get both versions for the price of two runs and can pick per photo. ### Sharpen the faces afterwards Restoration fixes the paper; it does not target faces. For portraits, send the result on. [Unblur Face](https://www.aiimagetools.net/tools/ai-face-restoration) ## Pricing Every tool draws from one balance. 40% OFF No hidden fees • Cancel anytime • Unused credits roll over 16% OFF - Save $18.8 $8.3/month $9.9/month $100/year billed yearly 480images / year $0.21 per image on Nano Banana - [Included] 2,400 Credits renew yearly - [Included] Or 120 images in 4KGPT Image 2.5 · 4K - [Included] All 26 tools, one balance - [Included] All 18 models, including the 4K tiers - [Included] Download without watermark 20% OFF - Save $70.8 Popular $24.0/month $29.9/month $288/year billed yearly 1,920images / year $0.15 per image on Nano Banana - [Included] 9,600 Credits renew yearly - [Included] Or 480 images in 4KGPT Image 2.5 · 4K - [Included] All 26 tools, one balance - [Included] All 18 models, including the 4K tiers - [Included] Download without watermark 40% OFF - Save $238.8 $30.0/month $49.9/month $360/year billed yearly 4,320images / year $0.083 per image on Nano Banana - [Included] 21,600 Credits renew yearly - [Included] Or 1,080 images in 4KGPT Image 2.5 · 4K - [Included] All 26 tools, one balance - [Included] All 18 models, including the 4K tiers - [Included] Download without watermark Swipe to compare plans → ## Photo Restoration: frequently asked questions ### ### Will it change my relative's face? It is built not to: the model is told to keep facial features, expressions and identity unchanged and to add or remove nothing. AI can still err on very damaged faces, so compare at full size and rerun or switch model if something looks off. ### ### Can it colorize black and white photos? Yes — that is the colorize old photo AI path. Turn on Add color. Colors are inferred from context, so treat them as plausible rather than historically certain. ### ### How damaged is too damaged? It needs most of the image to still be visible. Small tears and missing corners are filled in convincingly; a missing face cannot be recovered truthfully and will be a guess. ### ### What scan quality works best? 300 dpi or higher, saved as PNG or a high-quality JPG, cropped to the photo itself. Avoid glare and shadows if you photograph the print instead. ### ### Can I restore old photos for free? Signing in gives you 10 credits. A restoration on the default model costs 5 credits, so that is 2 old photos restored without paying. Free-plan downloads carry a small watermark. ### ### Can I restore old photos on my phone? Yes. The site works in a phone browser: photograph the print, upload it from your camera roll, and download the restored copy to your phone. ### ### Which model should I pick? Start with FLUX.1 Kontext: it is the fastest for edits and costs 5 credits. Nano Banana follows instructions very closely but can take a few minutes when busy. GPT Image 2.5 and Seedream 5 Pro give the most detail at 13 to 20 credits. ### ### What happens if a generation fails? You are only charged when an image comes back. If the model fails or times out, nothing is deducted and you can simply run it again. ### ### What happens to my photos? Your upload is sent to the model provider only to produce the result. The result is stored in your My Creations gallery on our own storage, and you can delete it there at any time. ## Bring the print back Upload a scan at the top of the page. The first restoration is covered by your free credits. Try Photo Restoration now [See pricing](https://www.aiimagetools.net/pricing) ## Related tools More from Restore & Enhance, then the rest of the toolkit. - [Unblur Face — Sharpen blurry faces in old or low-res shots — Restore & Enhance](https://www.aiimagetools.net/tools/ai-face-restoration) - [Image Enhancer — Clean up noise and recover detail — Restore & Enhance](https://www.aiimagetools.net/tools/ai-image-enhancer) - [Image Upscaler — Double the resolution without going soft — Restore & Enhance](https://www.aiimagetools.net/tools/ai-image-upscaler) - [Christmas Photo — Turn any photo into a festive holiday portrait — Photo Effects](https://www.aiimagetools.net/photo-effects/ai-christmas-photo-generator) - [Baby Generator — See what your future baby could look like — Photo Effects](https://www.aiimagetools.net/photo-effects/ai-baby-generator) - [Caricature — Turn a photo into a fun exaggerated caricature — Photo Effects](https://www.aiimagetools.net/photo-effects/ai-caricature-generator) [See all tools](https://www.aiimagetools.net/tools)