How to Fix Water-Damaged Photos
For a recently water-damaged photo, act within two to three days. Do not let wet prints dry stuck together. Rinse them in clean cool water, air-dry them face up on a flat surface, then scan and repair the remaining stains and streaks digitally.
First aid comes before restoration
A water-damaged print has two problems: the physical state of the paper and the marks left on the image. The physical part is urgent and low-tech. The image part can wait until the print is dry and scanned.
The first 72 hours
Wet photographs are surprisingly stable while they stay wet. They fail when they dry uncontrolled: prints bond to each other, to album pages, and to glass, and the emulsion cracks. If you cannot clean and dry them right away, keep them submerged in clean cool water in the fridge and change the water daily. That buys you a few days.
Cleaning and drying
Separate prints under water, working from a corner and stopping if they resist. Rinse each one through two changes of clean cool water. Then lay them image-side up on absorbent paper or a drying screen, somewhere cool and out of the sun. Never wipe or blot the wet surface; the emulsion is soft and lifts easily.
Repairing what is left
Once the prints are bone dry, scan them at 600 dpi or higher. Water usually leaves tide lines, milky patches, and soft streaks. These are the kind of stain-and-fade damage a restoration pass handles well, because the underlying detail is still there.
Doing it on iPhone with Aion
After the print is dry and scanned or photographed, Aion can lift water stains and streaks with its scratch repair or full restoration treatment, then even out any patchy fading. See how to restore old photos for the full order of steps.
