How to Repair a Torn Photo
To repair a torn photo, fit the pieces back together, scan them flat as one image at 600 dpi, then rebuild the tear line digitally by filling it from the detail on both sides. Small gaps can be reconstructed; large missing areas cannot be recovered accurately.
A tear is two problems
There is the white line where the paper separated, and sometimes small missing flakes along it. The line is easy: there is real detail on both sides to copy from. Missing flakes are harder, and a large missing area is a hard limit.
Reassemble before you scan
Do the jigsaw on the scanner glass, not in an editor. Fit the pieces image-side down, cover them with a clean sheet and a light weight so they lie flat, and scan the whole print as a single high-resolution image. Scanning pieces separately and stitching them later almost always looks worse.
Do not tidy the edges
Resist trimming the torn edges straight or taping across the front. Both remove detail the repair needs, and both are visible in the final scan. If you need to hold pieces together, use a small piece of archival tape on the back only.
Rebuilding the tear
Digitally, the tear line is filled by pulling detail across it from each side: skin from skin, sky from sky, fabric from fabric. Small chips are filled from nearby texture. Anything larger than a chip should be left alone or handled by a conservator, because invented detail in a torn area rarely matches.
Doing it on iPhone with Aion
Once the reassembled print is scanned or photographed, Aion’s scratch repair and full restoration treatments fill the tear line and small gaps from the surrounding image. Run face restore afterwards if the tear crossed someone’s face. The full guide covers the order of steps.
