An Overview of PhotoShop Picture Restoration and its Alternatives

Want to restore an old, damaged, or nearly destroyed photograph? With Photoshop picture restoration, you can fix almost any type of damage to an old photo. Read this guide and learn how to repair minor, moderate, and heavily damaged photographs to look like new ones. Let's dive in.

Tips and tricks for PhotoShop picture restorations

Although Photoshop photo restoration is an interesting topic, it can be difficult to learn how. But worry not; these top tips and tricks will make it easier.

1. Fix dust, dirt, and scratches

You can repair dust, dirt, and scratches to tidy up a messy, old, damaged photograph by navigating to Filter>Noise>Dust and Scratches on the Photoshop app. Adjust the Amount and Threshold to apply the filter to specific photo areas, targeting the dust without tampering with the fine details.



2. Fill missing parts

If your old photograph has damaged corners, replace the details using the Content-Aware Fill dialog tool. Select the missing corner in your photo, click Edit, and go to Content-Aware Fill. This has add and subtract tools to adjust the selected area, targeting similar sections and filling in missing parts.

3. Rebuild ripped prints

First, use the Object Selection tool to individually select pieces of the ripped old photograph and press Cmd/Ctrl+J to duplicate them into new layers. Transform and position these pieces with Cmd/Ctrl+T, and then create a new layer where you can fix the cracks with the Spot Healing Brush.



4. Dodge and burn

The Dodge and Burn tools come in handy to add extra depth to flat old photographs or tease out the details in a section of the image, respectively. Use the Dodge tool to paint over brighter face areas and the Burn tool to deepen shadows.

5. Sharpening

Use the Photoshop Sharpen tool to not only sharpen an entire vintage photograph but also focus on the most important areas. This helps to improve soft details on the image sections that need it most.

6. Hand-colored treatment

For black-and-white or sepia photographs that need some color, create a new layer with all previously created layers, then go to Filter>Neural Filters>Colorise. Adjust the blending mode to color and make your non-destructive edits on the new layer.



7. Give the illusion of sharpness

For different objects in your old photograph's frame, use Lightroom to increase the contrast around their edges to give your vintage photo an illusion of sharpness.

In the wondrous world of photo restoration, Photoshop reigns supreme, but its processes can be quite complicated, especially for beginners. And if you aren't good at PhotoShop, don't panic! You can try some AI-powered photo restoration tools from the list below.

5 Al-powered alternatives for PhotoShop picture restorations

The internet offers various AI-powered Photoshop picture restoration alternatives, and these are the top expert-recommended tools:

1. CapCut old photo restoration

CapCut old photo restoration is a versatile tool that can help you restore old photographs and make them appear new with just a single click. It is online, free of charge, and the following are its key features:

• Auto-colorize: from color palette prediction to pixel-by-pixel precision, the tool can automatically add realistic, vibrant colors to breathe life into sepia or black-and-white pictures.
• Denoise: reveal the true beauty of a vintage photo by eliminating annoying specks and graininess plaguing your photographs while preserving key details.
• Deblur: bring to focus those fogged old images by adding new details to ensure important photo aspects are clear and visible.
• Repair image flaws: for imperfect photographs, it can remove scratches, tears, and other distractions to enhance the image's overall quality and visual appeal.

Using the CapCut old photo restoration tool is straightforward, as shown below:

Step
1. Upload
2. Follow the above link to open the CapCut old photo restoration tool and upload the photo you intend to restore from your device storage, drag and drop it to the editor's interface, or even import the photo from your CapCut cloud space, Google Drive, or Dropbox.
3. 

   

Step
4. Generate
5. Once done, your photo will appear on your screen, and on the right side, you have the CapCut old photo restoration tool.
6. 

   

7. In the CapCut old photo restoration tool, click the See changes icon to transform the grained or faded photograph into a more refined image.
8. 

   

9. If you want to improve the photo highlights further, click Edit more to launch the CapCut online photo editor. This offers all basic and advanced photo editing features for free, including crop, mirror, and a huge library of filters, text, and effects. You can even change the image's background color or use smart tools to retouch and enhance beauty.
10. 

    

Step
11. Download

Once your image is restored, hover your mouse pointer over the image and click the download icon at the bottom of the picture, or simply click the Export button, and the photo will be saved to your device.



2. VanceAI

VanceAI is another Photoshop picture restoration alternative offering AI enhancing, sharpening, denoising, upscaling, and background removal. It is completely online and free to use, so you can boost creativity and productivity in your workflows.



3. Inpaint

Inpaint is a renowned graphics editing software designed to retouch photos and remove unwanted items like watermarks. It is web-based and doesn't charge users for its faded picture restoration services. It is easy to use and works quickly.



4. Instasize

Instasize is popularly known for its ability to edit and resize images and has the potential to serve as a Photoshop picture restoration tool. It comes with a powerful AI image upscaler that quickly transforms an old photo into better quality with one click.



5. Fotor

Fotor is a multimedia editor with features to edit, resize, crop, create collages, and add text and effects. It provides a straightforward AI image restoration tool to help you instantly repair scratched, faded, or damaged images.



Conclusion

To this point, you've traversed a whirlwind journey through the art and science of picture restoration, marveling at Photoshop's prowess and exploring the hidden gems of alternative software. You can try any app from the list, but for a better experience, use tried and tested AI tools like CapCut old photo restoration. It is free online and can transform an old photo with a single click.

FAQs

1. How do I reduce noise during Photoshop photo restoration?
2. You can reduce noise in Photoshop photo restoration using the Reduce Noise filter. Go to the Filter menu > Noise > Reduce Noise, and then use the sliders to adjust different types of noise. But the same can't be said for the CapCut old photo restoration tool. It uses AI to simplify the work for you — upload your old image and, in one click, transform it to look new.
3. How do I remove the image background during Photoshop photo restoration?
4. To remove an image background with Photoshop, open the picture in the Layers panel, head to the Properties panel, and click Remove Background under Quick Actions. Use the brush tool to tidy up all the small bits of the background and then replace it with a new image. Should you want a more straightforward method, try CapCut's one-click image background remover. It leverages artificial intelligence to detect objects and identify image backgrounds to remove them automatically.