Often old family albums and boxes with pictures are passed through generations like relics and treasures.
They keep the family photo history, and it’s always interesting to flip through them and see what your ancestors looked like.
And this interest only grows if you have kids. It’s important to show your children their roots, to look for resemblance in the faces of their next of kin.
Photo equipment was not perfect in the good old days.
Pictures are fragile by themselves and unfortunately, they deteriorate as time goes by.
They get torn, scratched, and the colors fade away.
So, is there a way to keep your family pictures intact or even turn the clock back?
Keep on reading and learn 3 ways of how to restore old photos – manually, using a specialized service, and using photo restoration software.
Manual Photo Restoration
First, let’s see how to repair old photos manually.
Not all people like to turn regular images into digital copies and restore them using specific software.
Many of us love to go through boxes with pictures and old albums and feel the flow of time.
So, what steps should you take if you want to restore old pictures manually and put them back in a box or an album? Here are some tips:
- If your photos are stuck together, don’t separate them by ripping one from another with your hands. Instead, put the pictures in distilled water and let them soak in it for half an hour. The coating will soften and you can easily tear the photos apart by hand or using a spatula.
- If a picture was in the frame and got glued to the glass, the easiest way to separate it is to use a hairdryer. Just turn on the dryer to warm and hold it several inches away from the back of the photo for several minutes. After that remove the picture.
- If the photo is curled, make a DIY humidifying chamber. Take a plastic box with a lid, put a wire rack in it, and pour lukewarm water so that it will not cover the rack. Then place your picture on the rack and close the lid. After a few hours take the picture out and put it to dry under something heavy.
- If your pictures have dust or tears on them, you can remove dust with a brush and use an acid-free tape to mend the tears.
If you are not that much into DIY, then the next 2 methods are just for you.
But first, you will have to digitize your picture.
You can use a scan for it or simply take a photo of your old picture with a camera and upload it to your computer.
Photo Restoration Service
Don’t have time to repair old pictures?
Then turn to professionals and submit your pictures to an online photo restoration service.
All you have to do is to upload your pictures and get a quote.
If the offer meets your expectations, then you approve it and make the payment.
After that, the pictures will be sent to one of the technicians who’ll work their magic on them within a week.
When the job is done you’ll get a secure link and can download your restored pictures.
Photo Restoration Software
If you are keen on restoring old photos all by yourself, then take a look at a photo restoration program – PhotoGlory.
It’s an intuitive and easy-to-use software that is equipped with AI.
With this program, you can restore your pictures in a click – apply auto restoration or automatic colorization.
And if auto enhancement is not enough for you, bring your pictures to perfection.
You can crop away torn edges, restore large defects with the Patch or Clone Stamp tool, use the Healing Brush tool to fix minor scratches, colorize your picture manually or apply various filters.
Now you know how to restore old pictures in 3 ways.
If you still can’t decide on what method to use, here is a cheat note for you.
When you are not new to hand work and would love to spend time with your kids doing something meaningful – go with method number one.
And, If you’re not into DIY and discovering new software, and are also short on time – choose method number two.
And if you’re into photo editing and love trying something new – go with method number three.
And regardless of the method that you’ll choose you should be proud of yourself for taking the time and keeping your family photo history!
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