Retouching History: Unveil the 8 Best Old Restoration Photo Apps

How meaningful is the old photo restoration technique to you? Does it revive cherished memories with your beloved grandparents? Or simply help you gain a comprehensive glimpse into past stories and cultural heritage of your family? Time traveling seems impossible in the present day, but the following AI-powered tools could make it real. Using them, you stand a good chance of entering the world of old photos and enjoying vivid historical moments. Sounds interesting, but how do they work? Let's begin an adventure in unveiling those magical tools!

How does photo restoration work

Sometimes, coming across visual documentaries evokes your reminiscence of the old times. You want to relive those lovely memories; however, this urge could be hindered by somber-looking photos. Thankfully, the invention of old restoration photo solutions has faded this worry away.

1. Complicated editing techniques

These techniques are functional for removing time-ruined signs or unwanted features that downgrade your image's quality, doing especially well with the photo's resolution.

2. The support of artificial intelligence

Old photo restoration apps are usually marked with advanced algorithms and smart data-analyzing programs, which easily identify the problem of your old pictures and manage the editing process.

Now, keep scrolling down to explore all-in-one solutions to restoring your old photo!



Online solutions for old picture restoration

1. CapCut old photo restoration

CapCut old photo restoration is highly functional for recovering your old images and visual documentaries. Suppose you miss your grandparents but only have a blurred image full of time-rendered scars. In that case, it could bring vivid memories back through artifact removal, adjusting contrasts, color correction, etc

Its plus is 100% free and online; hence, you don’t have to spend a cent and gain limitless access to it whenever you are online. Other key features include:

• Auto-colorize

Commonly, old pictures suffer from discoloration due to stains. CapCut will automatically detect discolored regions and add lively colors to your photo, which follows a suitable ratio analyzed by AI.

• Denoise

It can minimize the visual input's grainy spots by clarifying intricate details yet ensuring maximum resolution. For that reason, denoising uplifts your image's quality while retaining originality.

• Deblur

It is good at decreasing the background blur and removing blurred artifacts from images. Besides, it also assists in discarding scratches and blemishes to better your photo’s resolution by reconstructing pixels.

• Repair image flaws

The CapCut old photo restoration easily removes your picture's imperfections, scratches, stains, and distortions. However, given badly torn photos, they cannot be fully restored, as AI only analyzes the existing contexts and presents the suggested missing part for your picture.

Steps to restore your old photos with CapCut old photo restoration

Before using CapCut for old restoration photos, it would be best to log into your account. This step is compulsory. If you don’t have one, register for free by clicking the link below.

Step
1. Upload media
2. After successfully logging into your CapCut account, you will be delivered to the platform’s interface. You might see an image-uploading space in the center of the CapCut old photo restoration interface.
3. 

   

4. Click on the blue icon highlighted Upload Image. Start importing your old photo from different sources, including local storage, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Cloud. Another method is dragging and dropping the file into the box.
Step
5. Restore and edit
6. You may wait a couple of minutes for the uploading process to complete. Then, you will notice the color preset box on the top right corner and choose the colored version to get a newly restored picture.
7. 

   

8. If you are unsatisfied with the output, press the Edit More button on the toolbar. Then, you will navigate to the CapCut web editor, where you can unleash your creativity by turning it into a short video, changing the image’s size, removing the background, or adding more filters and effects, etc.
Step
9. Export to download

When the restoration procedure is complete, please click the Export button to download the output into your laptop’s storage. Hope you will nail it!



2. VanceAI

VanceAI comes with modern ML algorithms and smart AI that convert your black-and-white pictures into HD-quality ones. Like CapCut, VanceAI provides several features: removing background blur, discarding scratches, and colorizing. It has a free version. But your output would carry watermarks if you didn’t pay a sum to use premium VanceAI.



Desktop apps for old picture restoration

Are you looking for a free offline app to accompany your old photo restoration journey? Desire to find a powerful AI partner that doesn't take much storage space on your devices? If the answer is yes, here are some viable options for you to consider.

1. PhotoShop

PhotoShop is a highly versatile platform with multimedia features to craft captivating visual content. It empowers you to recover and customize your vintage photos based on your artistic needs. For instance, the left toolbar facilitates fundamental editing endeavors, such as adding text, painting, or changing the image's scale. At the same time, the pop-up window on the right focuses on elements, text types, and image effects.



2. Luminar NEO

Luminar NEO is another powerful photo editing software with state-of-the-art AI applications, simplifying your art creation process and taking old photos to unprecedented heights. This app is free to download and pretty user-friendly, with multiple features, from adding layers and cropping the picture to adjusting light. Yet, they are just basic techniques. Luminar NEO also has other professional tools, like color harmony, dodge & burn, and supercontrast functionalities to satisfy the taste of expert designers.



3. AKVIS Retoucher

AKVIS Retoucher is a specialized program for photo retouching and restoration, helping you remove the photo’s imperfections in a few clicks. After uploading your image, choose the Selection Brush icon and click on the defective regions. Press the right-pointed icon, and the software will analyze and restore your picture while ensuring its originality.



Mobile apps for old picture restoration

Do you want to use your phone for old restoration photo but don't know where to look for free and intuitive editors? Enjoy these magical editors below to make high-quality images on the go:

1. FixMyPics

Instead of uploading your pictures from local storage or Google Drive like desktop apps, you only have to scan the old photo and wait a few minutes for AI to process before getting vibrant products. It seems simple to use yet only provides a few tools, including colorization or blur removal, as expected.



2. Face Restore

Supported by advanced algorithms and cutting-edge data analysis programs, Face Restore is a professional app that discards scratches, customizes the background, and recolors faded color hues. Thanks to these tools, your image looks like it was taken yesterday rather than in the old times.



3. PhotoFix

PhotoFix is the final app on this list that offers a multitude of AI-powered photo restoration modules: image colorization, scratch removal, or detail highlighting. Like CapCut, PhotoFix doesn’t restrict users’ usage and image types. All kinds of old photos can be restored, from landscapes and group pictures to portraits, and are free to edit. However, you could only input one photo for restoration at once.



Conclusion

old photo restoration apps help bring your old pictures to modern life. With these tools, you can improve your picture’s overall quality and resolution by fixing its imperfections. Among them, CapCut old photo restoration stands out with more convenient utilities, such as deblurring, denoising, auto-colorizing features, etc., which promise to bring out superior-quality products that exceed expectations. What are you waiting for? Try CapCut to revive cherished memories through captivatingly recovered images.

FAQs

1. Can I restore old photos myself at home?
2. Yes, all you need to do is log into your CapCut account, access the CapCut old photo restoration via any browser, upload your media, and start to recover it with the support of CapCut's AI-powered restoration features.
3. Can black and white photos be colorized during the old picture restoration process?
4. Yes, it is possible to colorize black-and-white images using the CapCut photo colorizer. Simply upload your image, colorize it and click Export. You will be able to add color to your black-and-white photos in no time.
5. Is it possible to restore photos damaged by water or fire?
6. The answer is yes, but it depends on the extent of damage. In case of mild damage, you can simply recover your photos with the CapCut old photo restoration tool. But if your old photo is heavily damaged, making it impossible to detect the subjects within, it can be highly challenging to restore it. However, you can still give CapCut a try for old photos for restoration.