Old Photos Restored: Discover 5 Ways to Retrieve Past Treasures

Photos hold one of our dearest and most precious memories. Having old photos restored allows you to peek into the past and relive your favorite moments. Whether it's an entire wedding album or a faded group photo from your high school, restoring old photos unlocks a time capsule that transports you back in time. Let's dive into the art of restoring old photos and learn about 5 easy ways to master this art.

Types of old photographs that can be restored

There are multiple types of damaged photos that could need restoration, such as environmentally damaged photos or simply torn photos. Some further instances when you may need to restore an old photo include:

• Environmental degradation
• Exposing your photos to heat or direct sunlight for a longer time can cause them to deteriorate. If you have a photo hanging on your kitchen wall, there is a high chance it got damaged from the constant heat exposure. Hence, it could need restoration.
• Color loss
• Photos can lose color due to multiple reasons. Either it's the fading process over time that leads to color loss or more extreme incidents such as a photograph getting washed. In this case, it becomes high contrast as it loses its colors. Restoring such photos can give them their original vibrance back.
• Digital photo damage
• Besides physical photos, digital ones can also cause deterioration. This usually happens while editing, exporting, or sharing your photos between different platforms.

The internet is filled with free tools that allow you to restore these or any other type of damaged photos from your collection. Let's dive into the top 5 ways to restore your old photos in seconds.

Way 1. Try an online old photo restoration service

CapCut old photo restoration is a powerful online tool powered by AI. It can restore your old, grainy photos into vibrant and high-quality versions in a few clicks. Its AI engines reduce the image grain, noise, and blur to breathe new life into your old photos.

Key features:

• Auto-colorize: It comes with an AI-powered auto colorizer that intelligently adds colors to your photos. No more living around with faded photos that have lost their color over time.
• Denoise: Its powerful AI engine denoises your noisy photos, hence making them appealing to the eye.
• Deblur: The CapCut old photo restoration tool automatically removes blur from your deteriorated photos. Therefore, increasing the detail levels in your old photos and making them usable.
• Image flaws removal: Besides, it removes any irregularities in your photos, such as scratches, tears, and other imperfections, including wrinkles. Hence making it easier to dance with the past.

Steps to use CapCut old photo restoration

Due to its high-precision AI engine, the CapCut old photo restoration tool is fast and easy to use. You can restore any old photo following a simple 3-step process. Here's how:

Step
1. Upload
2. Upload your old faded photo into the CapCut interface. You can upload from your local storage, CapCut cloud space, Google Drive, or Dropbox.
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Step
4. Generate
5. Once you upload the faded photo, the AI engine will automatically kick in and start generating the restored photo. Wait for the process to finish.
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7. Change between the "Original" or "Colored" enhancing options as per your preference.
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9. Besides, you can replace the existing photo with a new one and again use CapCut's diverse uploading options.
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11. To further edit the restored image, tap on the "Edit more" button. This will take you to CapCut's web editor.
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13. From the CapCut web editor, access rich editing features to polish your photo, such as filters, background remover, resizer, etc.
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Step
15. Download

Finally, press the "Export" button to download the restored photo to your local storage.



Way 2. Go with PhotoShop

Adobe PhotoShop is a pioneer in the world of photo editing. Its newly introduced photo restoration filters allow you to bring your old photos back to life with a single click. The neural filters can also colorize the photos, reducing grain, dust, and noise.

Step
1. Import
2. From the "Files" tab, tap "Open" and choose the photo you want to restore.
3. 

   

Step
4. Edit
5. Next, go to Filter-Neural Filters-Photo Restoration. This will instantly enhance your image and allow you to improve the photo's clarity. Additionally, adjust the sliders for image enhancement, enhance face, and scratch reduction to fine-tune the filter intensity.
Step
6. Export

From the "File" tab, press "Save As..." and choose the download location on your local storage.



Moreover, from the "File" menu, tap on "Export" to quickly export your image as PNG or change the export preferences such as file size.



Way 3. Do it Manually

Besides the modern digital ways to restore photos, you can also use conventional manual methods to restore old photos. Especially if the photographs have minimal damage and have only caught some dust and minor scratches. Here's how:

Step
1. Separate the photographs that are stuck together
2. Have multiple photos stuck together? The first thing you want to do is detach them. Don't physically pull them apart as you might tear them in the process. Rather, gently submerge them into a bowl of distilled water and leave them there for 30 minutes. Then gently slide each photo out and leave them out to dry.
Step
3. Remove dust and residue
4. Most of the cleansing will be done by distilled water. However, some stiffer dust particles would still need to be removed. Use a soft brush to clean any residual sand particles from the surface gently. If some permanent stains still exist, try to rub them off using warm water. Make sure you don't use extremely hot water or rub the surface too much.
Step
5. Use tape to repair any tears
6. Next, if you spot any tears in the photos, transparent tapes are the best way to cover them up. Make sure you have acid-free tape that doesn't damage the film of the photographs.
Step
7. Fix wrinkled or curled photographs

This is a technical procedure. First, create an impromptu humidification chamber. This can be done by pouring water into a plastic bin. Next, put a wire rack inside it and place the curled photo inside the bin such that it doesn't come in contact with the water. Close the lid and let the photograph in it for a couple of hours. Finally, dry your photo by putting it on a flat surface under a weight.

Way 4. Hire a pro

The easiest way to restore your old photos is by delegating them to an expert. Especially when your photos are extremely distorted, restoring them yourself can take a lot of time and skill. This is where hiring a freelancer to restore your photos is necessary. If you don't mind spending a few bucks on photo restoration, there are plenty of online platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork that provide you with thousands of professionals who can bring your old faded memories to life.

Way 5. Try a mobile app

Using a mobile app for photo restoration allows you to recover old photos with minor damage. It's time-efficient and enables you to restore your favorite photos on the go. There are plenty of apps in Playstore and Appstore that use AI engines to restore distorted and damaged photos in a few clicks. One such app is FixMyPix - Restore Old Photos.

Step
1. Import the old faded photo from your phone's gallery. Choose the Colorize feature from the app menu.
Step
2. Adjust the slider to the optimum level as per preference.
Step
3. Export your photo to local storage or share it on your social media in a single click!
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Conclusion

Photos are our lens of the past. They are home to precious memories, sentiments, and achievements from back in time. The ability to restore photos using modern-day AI engines is nothing short of magic. It allows us to relive the moments we cherish and bring back the memories buried under the depths of time. This is where modern-day restoration tools such as the CapCut old photo restoration come in extremely handy. With powerful algorithms, these tools can reduce grain, distortion, noise, and blur to give your faded photos their originality back. All of this without spending a dime!

FAQs

1. Can very old photos be restored?
2. Yes. First, digitize your photos using a scanner app. Next, transfer them to your laptop and restore them using one of the available tools, such as PhotoShop (if you are a design professional). Or, for faster and more efficient photo restoration, use the CapCut old photo restoration tool. It's a fast and efficient tool that regenerates and restores any photo in a single click. Besides, it's totally free and web-based.
3. Can I increase the sharpness of old photos restored?
4. Absolutely. CapCut's old photo restoration tool naturally increases the sharpness of your images by removing grains and noise reduction. However, if you still need more image sharpness, use CapCut's image upscaler to sharpen your image further. It also further denoises your image and supports up to 4K image export.