AI Photo Restoration
Bring Old Photos Back to Life
Restore scratched, faded and damaged photographs with FLUX Kontext and fal Photo Restoration engines — scratch removal, fade repair, detail recovery.
- HD Output Quality
- ~40s Processing Time
- 3 Credit Per Photo
- Operational
- 3 cr · fal photo-restoration · Kontext
By using this tool, you agree to our Terms of Service. Uploaded images are processed securely and not stored permanently.
A failed job costs nothing — credits are returned automatically. We keep photo and video results for 30 days, and guest files are deleted after 14 days.
Credit packs from $1.49, one-time. Credits never expire and no subscription is required.
What is Restore Old Photo?
Restore Old Photo is an AI tool in Pixelift that runs in the browser with no installation. Restore scratched, faded and damaged photographs with FLUX Kontext and fal Photo Restoration engines — scratch removal, fade repair, detail recovery. Engine: fal photo-restoration · Kontext. Cost: 3 credits per result; credits are bought once in packs from $1.49, no subscription, and they never expire. Files are processed on EU servers and never used to train models.
How It Works
Scratch & Tear Removal
AI detects and removes physical damage including scratches, tears, creases, and foxing spots from scanned photographs.
Fading & Color Recovery
Restores faded colors, corrects yellowing, and recovers lost contrast in vintage prints from any era.
Face Enhancement
Automatically detects and enhances faces, bringing back clarity and detail to portraits in old family photos.
Microsoft Research AI
Powered by Microsoft's Bringing Old Photos Back to Life model, trained on millions of old/new photo pairs to learn damage patterns and restoration techniques.
- Trained specifically on real photo degradation patterns
- Dual-branch architecture for structural and texture restoration
- Optional scratch detection with dedicated analysis network
Perfect For
Family Photos —
Restore grandparents' wedding photos, childhood pictures, and family portraits from past generations.
Vintage Prints —
Bring back detail and color to faded prints from the 1950s-1990s era, including Polaroids and film prints.
Historical Documents —
Enhance scanned historical photographs and documents for archival, research, or publication purposes.
Damaged Photos —
Fix water damage, mold stains, and torn edges on photos that suffered from poor storage conditions.
What People Use It For
From family heritage to professional archival work
Family Heritage
Digitize and restore old family albums to preserve memories for future generations in high quality.
Genealogy Research
Enhance old ancestor photos for family trees, genealogy databases, and heritage documentation.
Archival Work
Restore historical photographs for museums, libraries, and digital archive collections.
Memorial Projects
Create beautiful restored prints for memorial displays, tribute videos, and family gatherings.
Tips for Best Results — Best Practices
- Scan at 300 DPI or higher for the most detail to work with
- Clean the scanner glass to avoid adding new artifacts
- Upload a badly damaged photo whole, without cropping — the model repairs scratches and creases on its own
- Use a flatbed scanner rather than a phone camera for best results
Pro Tips
- For very damaged photos, try multiple passes with different settings
- Combine with our Colorize tool to add color to restored B&W photos
- Use Upscaler after restoration to get print-quality resolution
- Save originals — you can always re-process with different settings later
What this tool is (and is not) for
Use this tool for
- •Vintage photos (>50 years old)
- •Photos with scratches, tears
- •Faded photographs
- •Scans from family archive
DO NOT use for — try instead
- •Modern photos (nothing to restore)Instead try: Denoise / Deblur / Upscaler— pick the tool matching the problem
- •You just want to colorize a B&W photoInstead try: Colorize— simpler and cheaper
- •Only a blurry faceInstead try: Face Restore— specialized for faces
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of photo damage can it fix?
Scratches, tears, fading, yellowing, water damage, foxing spots, mold stains, and general deterioration from aging. Works best on scanned prints from any era.
Does it work on very old photos from the 1800s?
Yes. It handles daguerreotypes, tintypes, and early paper prints. Very heavily damaged photos may benefit from multiple restoration passes.
Will it change how people look in the photo?
No. The AI preserves identity and facial features. It restores detail and fixes damage without altering appearance or facial structure.
Do I need to set anything for a scratched photo?
No. Removing scratches, creases and tears is part of restoration and always happens — there is no switch to turn on. Upload the photo whole, without cropping the damaged edges.
What scanning resolution should I use?
300 DPI minimum, 600 DPI for best results. Higher resolution scans give the AI more detail to work with during restoration.
Can it also colorize my black and white photos?
This tool focuses on damage repair. For colorization, use our dedicated Colorize tool after restoring — they work great together.
How long does processing take?
About 30-45 seconds for most photos. Half come back in 33 seconds, and nine in ten under 41.
How much does it cost?
3 credits per restoration. Credit packs from $1.49 — one-time, no subscription. Credits are refunded if processing fails.
What to Do Next
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Upscale & Sharpen
A small or soft photo, large and crisp, up to 8×. Usually 17 seconds.
1-4 kr
Colorize Old Photo
Black-and-white photos get natural color. Usually 19 seconds.
1.5 kr
Remove Noise & Grain
Clean up noisy, grainy or over-compressed photos.
0.5-6 kr
Fix Blurry Photo
Shaky and out-of-focus shots regain sharpness. Usually 24 seconds.
0.5-1 kr
Brighten a dark photo
Recover detail from dark, underexposed shots without blowing out the lights.
0.5 kr
Restore Your Old Photos Today
Bring your family's precious memories back to life with AI restoration. Free credits included.
Call it from code
One endpoint, key in the header. The same tool that runs on this page — no browser, no clicking.
curl -X POST https://pixelift.pl/api/v1/generations \
-H "Authorization: Bearer pk_live_..." \
-H "Idempotency-Key: $(uuidgen)" \
-F "tool=photo-restore" \
-F "file=@zdjecie.jpg" \
-F "mode=basic" \
-F "withScratch=true"Response: { "id": "cmk8…", "tool": "photo-restore", "status": "succeeded", "assets": [{ "kind": "output", "url": "/uploads/…" }], "result": { "processedImage": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0…", "creditsUsed": 1 } }
A retry with the same Idempotency-Key header is never charged twice; status and the event stream live at /api/v1/generations/{id}. The tool's direct route still works: POST /api/old-photo-restore
Request fields
tool | string | required | Narzedzie (v1) |
file | file | required | Stare zdjecie |
mode | basic · full | optional | |
withScratch | boolean | optional |