# Restore old photos with AI: a family archive guide Scan the print, upload it to Restore an Old Photo, pick colour or black and white. Tears, creases, stains and fading are repaired, and everyone stays as they were. 21 Oct 2026 · 5 min read · Guides · By Sloosh Web page: https://sloosh.ai/use-cases/restore-old-photos-ai ## Restore old photos with AI Torn, faded or black and white. Upload the scan, keep everyone as they were. [Try Restore an Old Photo](https://sloosh.ai/spaces/restore-an-old-photo) To restore an old photo with AI (AI photo restoration), scan or photograph the print, upload it to [Restore an Old Photo](https://sloosh.ai/spaces/restore-an-old-photo) on Sloosh and choose whether to colourise it. Tears, missing corners, creases, scratches, stains, fading and colour casts are repaired, and everyone in the picture stays as they were. ## What goes in, what comes out | Restore an Old Photo | | | --- | --- | | You upload | One scan or a clear phone photo of the print | | You choose | Colourise, or keep black and white | | It repairs | Tears, missing corners, creases, scratches, stains, fading and colour casts | | You get | A repaired photo, in colour or black and white | | Cost | Shown on the Generate button before you run it | It works on faded colour prints too: orange or magenta casts are corrected and the colours brought back. ## Picture this The steel almirah in your grandmother's room. Second shelf, under the silk saris. An album with a cracked spine. Inside, her wedding photo from 1962: a crease through the middle, one corner gone, a brown water stain over her mehendi. Nobody has looked at it properly in years. ## How do you restore an old photo with AI? ## Five steps 1. **Scan it.** The Library of Congress suggests 400 or 600 dpi for photos you plan to enlarge to 8 x 10 inches or more, and says anything above 600 may be unnecessary. No scanner? Shoot it with your phone in daylight, flat on a table, camera straight above. 2. **Open Restore an Old Photo and upload the scan.** 3. **Choose colour.** Colourise for natural, true-to-era colour, or keep it black and white. 4. **Check the cost on the Generate button, then run it.** 5. **Save both files.** Keep the untouched scan next to the restored one. ## How do you get a great result? **Start from the best copy.** If a cousin has a clearer reprint, borrow it. **Clean the glass, not the photo.** Wipe the scanner bed. Don't rub the print. Dust on the glass becomes "damage" the model tries to fix. **Scan the whole print, borders and all.** Cropping too tight cuts off the edges the repair needs. **Shoot straight on, in even light.** A phone photo taken at an angle or under a lamp adds glare the repair has to fight. **Check small faces.** In a group photo, compare each face with the original before you share it. **Want it to move?** Once it's restored, [Still Life](https://sloosh.ai/spaces/still-life) can animate an old photo into a short video portrait. See [make an old photo move with AI](https://sloosh.ai/use-cases/make-old-photo-move-ai). ## Who uses it? - **Families** digitising the almirah album before the next monsoon gets to it. - **Grandchildren** restoring one wedding photo to frame for an anniversary. - **Genealogy hobbyists** cleaning up group photos to tell cousins apart. - **Photo studios** offering restoration to customers who walk in with a torn print. Run it, check it, print it. - **Archivists and local history groups** making readable access copies of old prints, while the original scan stays the record. ## Does AI restoration change the photo? Yes, and you should know how. A restoration fills in what's missing: a torn corner, a scratch through an eye, the colour of a sari no one photographed in colour. That fill is a good guess. Treat it as one. So keep two files. The untouched scan is the archive. The restored one is for the frame, the WhatsApp group and the slideshow. For a studio or an archive, write "digitally restored" on prints and in file names. A historian in 50 years will thank you. ## When is Sloosh the wrong tool? - **When the photo is evidence.** Legal, property or identity documents need the original or a certified copy. Never a restored version. - **When there's almost nothing left.** If a face is gone, the model will invent a face. It may look right. It may not be her. - **When the print itself needs saving.** Mould, flaking emulsion or prints stuck to glass need a conservator before a scanner. Don't peel them. ## Can you run it from Claude or ChatGPT? Yes, on every Sloosh plan. Claude, Codex, Cursor and VS Code can run it; ChatGPT can too, in a Business or Enterprise/Edu workspace. Connect the [Sloosh MCP server](https://sloosh.ai/docs/mcp), set a daily limit, and send: **For Claude or ChatGPT** ```text Run the Sloosh Space Restore an Old Photo on the scan called "paati-wedding-1962" in my assets. Colourise it. Show me the quote first. ``` The agent finds the Space, gets a quote and waits for your yes. Nothing paid runs until you set a daily limit. ## The almirah can wait one more day Scan one photo tonight. The wedding one. Try it with 20 free credits at [sloosh.ai](https://sloosh.ai). Related: [Make an old photo move with AI](https://sloosh.ai/use-cases/make-old-photo-move-ai) · [Step inside an old photo](https://sloosh.ai/use-cases/step-inside-old-photo-ai) · [Generate images and video in Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor](https://sloosh.ai/blog/generate-images-in-claude) ## FAQ **What is AI photo restoration?** It is software that repairs scans of damaged prints: tears, creases, scratches, stains, fading and colour casts. On Sloosh, Restore an Old Photo does it and keeps every face as it was. Keep the untouched scan as your record. **Can AI restore a torn old photo?** Yes. Restore an Old Photo on Sloosh repairs tears, missing corners, creases, scratches, stains, fading and colour casts, and is told to keep every face, expression, hairstyle and outfit as they are. **Should I colourise or keep it black and white?** Both are fair. Colourise adds natural, true-to-era colour, which family members often love. Keep black and white cleans and sharpens the photo without adding colour, which suits archive copies. **What resolution should I scan old photos at?** The Library of Congress suggests 400 or 600 dpi for photos you plan to enlarge to 8 x 10 inches or more, and says anything above 600 may be unnecessary. **Is a restored photo still the original?** No. AI restoration fills in missing parts with good guesses. Keep the untouched scan as your record and label restored copies.