Old Photo Restoration — Fading, Cast, Dust
Bring a scanned print back: faded contrast, the yellow or magenta cast of old dyes, dust specks and grain are corrected on your device in a second. Tears and colourising are available as an optional AI step with your own key.
Drop photos here, paste with Ctrl+V, or browse
JPEG, PNG or WebP up to 60 MB · select several for a batch · processed on this device, nothing uploaded
Fine-tune
AI repair & colourise (optional, your own key)
Gemini can paint over tears, creases and long scratches, and can colourise a black-and-white print. It redraws the image, so check faces and text closely afterwards.
Get a free key at ai.google.dev. Stored only in this browser, sent only to Google. Takes 10–30 s.
How it works
Drop the scanned photo
JPEG, PNG or WebP straight from your scanner or phone. Decoded in the tab; nothing uploaded.
Choose colour or black & white
Black & white mode also removes uneven colour staining. Turn dust removal off if the print is clean and very detailed.
Compare and download
Drag the slider to check skin tones and detail, then save as PNG or JPG.
What restoration does to an old print
Prints fade in a predictable way: the dyes lose density unevenly, so contrast collapses and the whole image drifts toward yellow, orange or magenta. The tool fixes this with a per-channel histogram stretch — each of red, green and blue gets its own black and white point, which both recovers contrast and neutralises the cast in one step. A gentle S-curve restores mid-tone punch. For black-and-white prints, the colour channels are collapsed to a neutral grey, which removes the blotchy staining that scanning picks up.
Dust and specks are removed with a thresholded 3×3 median (despeckle): a pixel is replaced by the median of its neighbours only when it disagrees with them strongly, so isolated white or black specks vanish while real detail — which agrees with its neighbours — stays. Film grain is then softened with an edge-preserving smoother and a mild sharpen brings back definition.
Scanning tips
Scan flat at 300–600 dpi, with the scanner lid closed and no flash. Phone photos of prints work too — shoot square-on in daylight, avoid glare, and crop to the print before uploading. Long scratches, tears and missing corners need the AI repair step, which redraws the damaged regions.
Frequently asked questions
What does the free restoration fix?
Faded, low-contrast tone; yellow, orange or magenta colour casts from aged dyes; dust and small specks; film grain; and a little softness. It runs on your device in about a second and never uploads the photo.
Does it remove scratches and tears?
Dust and small specks, yes — a thresholded median filter removes them without blurring real detail. Long scratches, creases and tears need pixels to be repainted, which is what the optional AI repair does using your own Gemini key.
Can it colourise a black-and-white photo?
The instant mode cleans a black-and-white print to neutral grey. Colourising requires guessing colours that were never captured, so it is offered as an AI step with your own Gemini key; results are plausible rather than historically exact.
How should I scan or photograph the print?
Scan at 300–600 dpi with the lid closed, or photograph square-on in soft daylight without flash and crop to the print. Either way, upload the largest version you have — the tool scales it to about 2.2 megapixels for processing.
Is my family photo kept anywhere?
No. In instant mode the photo is decoded and processed inside your browser tab and never leaves the device. If you use the AI step, the image is sent directly to Google with your key and is not stored by us.
Is there a cost or limit?
The instant restoration is free with no signup, no watermark and no daily cap. The AI step bills to your own Gemini key, so there is no cap from us either.