How to Restore Old Photos
Photo restoration is repairing a damaged or aged photo without changing what it shows. The reliable order is: scan the print at high resolution, remove physical damage first, correct fading and color, restore faces carefully, then colorize or upscale last. Every step should keep the grain and character of the original.
What photo restoration is
Restoration is repairing a photograph so it reads clearly again without changing what it records. A restored photo should still look like the picture someone took: the same faces, the same light, the same grain, minus the scratch, the stain, or the fade.
That last point matters. Restoration is not the same as an AI-art pass that redraws a scene. If a tool invents a new background or a different face, the result may look good, but it is no longer your photograph.
Start with a good scan
Everything downstream depends on the scan. Scan prints at 600 dpi or higher, in color even when the photo is black and white, because the color channels hold detail that helps later steps. Save that scan as an untouched master and only ever work on copies. For more on this, see what DPI to scan old photos. If you do not have a scanner, a careful phone photo of the print works too.
Work in the right order
Damage first, color second, faces third, colorize and upscale last. Each step assumes the one before it is done, so repairing a crease after you have colorized means redoing the color. Remove scratches, creases, and torn areas; then fix contrast and remove any yellow or orange cast; then sharpen soft faces; then, if you want, add color or enlarge for print.
Know the limits
A restoration rebuilds from surviving detail. A small scratch across a cheek fills in cleanly. Half a missing face does not, and no honest tool will pretend otherwise. Set your expectations by the worst-damaged part of the photo.
Doing it on iPhone with Aion
Aion runs each of these steps as a separate treatment, each with its own model: repair damage, restore faces, add color, and improve quality. You scan the print with the camera or import it, pick a treatment, and compare the before and after before saving. The master scan stays untouched in your library.
