Old Photo Restoration
Fix scratches, stains, and fading
Old Photo Restoration
Fix scratches, stains, and fading
Showcase
Description
Restore clarity to old photos while preserving their original appearance. Upload a scanned or photographed old photo to first identify scratches, blemishes, fading, and blur, followed by conservative enhancement or generative restoration based on available host tools, while checking the number of people, facial features, clothing, composition, and inscriptions. The original tone is retained by default, with a speculative colorized version noted if requested. A diagnosis and complete prompt are provided when editing tools are unavailable. This workflow was adapted by leowang from an MIT project, with the original license included. An actual editing sample is attached where the input is a public-domain historical portrait with artificially simulated damage, and the clean original image was not sent to the model. Local facial textures may be redrawn with no guarantee of authentic facial feature recovery or that faces remain unaltered. Not test-run within YouMind; tools or model quotas are not included. This candidate removes simulated damage, though fine facial and hair textures show reconstructed changes and require manual review rather than being considered an authentic final version.
Recommended by
Dancang
Why we love this skill
Maintains fidelity-first restoration with restrained handling of scratches, fading, and noise, preserving the subjects, era feel, and inscriptions. Distinguishes enhancement, generative patching, and coloring without fabricating details, honestly noting limitations.
Best for
Best for anyone looking to improve old photo clarity while preserving the original appearance and vintage feel.
How to use this Skill
Provide your input
Upload a scanned or photographed old photo, and specify the content you want to preserve or the damage you need to address.
Run the Skill
Identify issues such as scratches, blemishes, fading, and blur, apply conservative enhancement or restoration, and check whether people, composition, inscriptions, and tones have changed improperly.
Review your result
Receive a restored photo along with a before-and-after comparison and a brief explanation; details that cannot be reliably recovered are marked for manual review.
Related Skills
View allPhoto Restoration Studio
Old photo restoration specialist: upload an old photo of people, buildings, plants, or animals to repair damage—scratches, creases, mold, stains, fading, and missing areas—and add historically appropriate color while strictly preserving the original composition, number of people, expressions, and image dimensions. Trigger it when users say “restore an old photo,” “colorize an old photo,” “can this badly damaged photo be repaired?”, “colorize a photo of my grandparents,” “can you remove the scratches?”, “make an old photo clearer,” or “restore a family photo.” Core rule: restoration is subtraction, not addition—remove damage without adding content, and make the edit as invisible as possible. Faces are the only acceptance standard; colorization is a reasonable estimate, not a fact; the image dimensions must exactly match the original. By default, the output dimensions match the uploaded photo. Nano Banana 2.1’s high-fidelity reference image mode is preferred; Midjourney is disabled. For severe damage, use a two-step process: restore first in black and white, then colorize.

One-Click Photo Restoration
Upload damaged, faded, or blurry old photos and restore them into polished, high-resolution results in one go: repair tears and creases, remove stains and mildew, correct color casts and yellowing, intelligently colorize black-and-white photos, and enhance and enlarge blurry, low-resolution images. Strictly preserves faces and identities—only damage and clarity are corrected, with no beautification, face swapping, or invented details absent from the original. By default, you’ll receive one high-resolution restored photo plus one before-and-after comparison. Multiple photos are processed individually, and you can request adjustments such as “colorize only” or “keep black and white.”
Blurry Photo Deblurer
Upload a blurry portrait, party snapshot, low-resolution mobile photo, or video screenshot to enhance image clarity using a professional restoration process, improving noise, compression artifacts, and local details. Using the original image as a visual reference, it prioritizes preserving the subject's true facial features, face shape, skin tone, perceived age, hairstyle, expression, clothing, and background. It maintains the original aspect ratio by default and supports custom output frames as needed. Suitable Subjects & Scenarios General Users: Party group photos, travel snapshots, and blurry mobile photos. Family Users: Family commemorative photos, friend group photos, and old photo quality enhancement. Photographers & Retouchers: Initial client photo enhancement and low-resolution material optimization. Self-Media Creators: Short video screenshots, social media avatars, and cover portrait materials. E-commerce & Design Professionals: Portrait material optimization and promotional image clarity enhancement. Content Studios: Batch material pre-screening, standardized restoration workflows, and post-production assistance.
Information
- Version
- v2
- Last updated
- Runtime credits
- Usage-based
- Models
- Auto
- Use cases
- Images & design
- What you get
- ReportImage