Restore Old Photos with AI: Repair, Sharpen and Colorize
VdoBloom Photo Restore is an AI photo restoration tool that repairs an old photograph in one pass. It removes scratches, dust, cracks, creases, stains, fading and blur, keeps the picture black and white or sepia unless you ask for color, and leaves every face, pose and background as it was. You upload a scan or a straight-on phone photo of the print, pick two options and download a cleaned 2K image, usually in under two minutes.
Is it free? Every new account gets 10 free credits, and one restoration costs 5 credits, so you can restore two photos before paying anything. After that it stays at 5 credits a photo on either model. A one-time Lite pack of 300 credits is $19.50 and those credits never expire, which covers 60 restorations. There is no subscription requirement, and a failed job is refunded.
It is built for family photos, genealogy projects, memorial slideshows and anyone digitising an album. When the photo is clean you can upscale it for printing, or send it to Revive Photo to turn it into a short, gentle memory video.
Examples
Before: a faded, scratched black-and-white print
Restored, kept black and white
Restored and colorized
How it works
- 1
Scan or photograph the print
A flatbed scan is best. If you use a phone, shoot straight on in even daylight with no glare, and crop out the album page so only the photo is left.
- 2
Upload it to Photo Restore
One photo per run. The output keeps the shape of your upload, so a tall portrait stays tall and a wide group shot stays wide.
- 3
Choose Color and Damage
Color: keep the original tone, or colorize with natural, period-accurate colors. Damage: Light wear for fading and fine scratches, or Heavy damage to also fill small torn or missing areas from the detail around them.
- 4
Pick a model and restore
GPT Image 2.5 Precision is the default; GPT Image 2.5 is the faster option. Both cost 5 credits per image, and the price is shown on the button before you start.
- 5
Download, upscale or animate
Download the result, open it in the Upscaler for a larger print file, or use Animate. Every restoration is also saved to My Creations.
Why use this tool
Conservative repair
The restoration sharpens only detail that is already in the photo. It does not invent new features, so faces, ages, expressions, hairstyles and clothing stay as they were.
Black and white stays black and white
Unless you pick Colorize, a monochrome or sepia print keeps its original tone. Color is an option you switch on, never a default.
Period-accurate colorizing
Colorize aims for realistic skin tones and muted fabric colors without oversaturation, so a 1940s portrait does not come back looking like a modern phone photo.
Fills small tears
The Heavy damage option fills small torn or missing patches from the surrounding detail. Large missing areas are a limit worth knowing about (see below).
Keeps the original framing
Composition, pose and background are kept. Fine film grain is allowed, so the result does not get the plastic, over-smoothed look of a beauty filter.
One price, two models
Both models run at 2K and cost 5 credits per photo. A failed generation refunds its credits automatically.
What AI photo restoration can fix
The restore prompt behind this tool targets the damage old prints actually have. Pick the Damage option that matches your photo; the Color option is independent of it.
| Problem in the photo | What Photo Restore does | Option to pick |
|---|---|---|
| Scratches, dust and specks | Removes them and rebuilds the texture underneath | Light wear |
| Creases and cracks from folding | Smooths the fold lines without moving the people around them | Light wear, or Heavy damage for deep cracks |
| Stains and water marks | Cleans the stained area back to the surrounding tone | Light wear or Heavy damage |
| Fading and low contrast | Restores contrast and tone across the whole image | Light wear |
| Soft focus and blur | Sharpens detail that is already there; it will not invent detail that was never captured | Light wear |
| Small tears and missing corners | Fills the small gap from the detail around it | Heavy damage |
| Black and white you want in color | Adds natural, period-accurate color | Color: Colorize |
Which model to use for photo restoration
Photo Restore offers two GPT Image 2.5 variants. Both run at 2K and cost the same, so the choice is about speed versus edit precision, not price.
| Model | Credits per photo | Resolution | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT Image 2.5 Precision (default) | 5 | 2K | Faces and fine detail, where faithful edits matter most |
| GPT Image 2.5 | 5 | 2K | Faster runs, quick drafts, lightly worn photos |
Read more: GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (Precision) editing model · GPT Image 2.5 Flare editing model · GPT Image 2.5: Flare vs Sunburst explained
Is AI photo restoration free? What it costs
Your first two restorations are covered by the 10 free credits every new account gets. After that, each restoration is 5 credits whichever model and options you pick. Colorizing does not cost extra. Credits from the one-time Lite pack ($19.50 for 300) never expire; the Lite subscription is $15 a month for 300 credits that reset each cycle.
| Job | Credits |
|---|---|
| Restore one photo, kept black and white | 5 |
| Restore and colorize one photo | 5 |
| Both versions of the same photo (black and white + colorized) | 10 |
| A 20-photo album, one pass each | 100 |
| Restore, then upscale with Topaz Wonder 3.5 (output up to 8 MP) | 5 + 4 = 9 |
| Restore, then turn it into a memory video in Revive Photo | Restore 5 + the video price shown before you generate |
Restore first, then upscale for printing
Restorations come out at 2K, which is plenty for screens, social posts and family chats. For a large print or a frame, open the result in the Upscaler from the Upscale button under the image. Topaz Wonder 3.5 there is built for restore-and-enhance work and is priced by output size: 4 credits up to 8 MP, 7 up to 16 MP and 11 up to 24 MP, with the exact tier shown before you run it.
Restore before you upscale, not after. Upscaling a scratched photo just gives you bigger scratches.
Read more: Topaz Wonder 3.5 image upscaler: price and limits · How to upscale an image to 4K
Bring a restored photo to life with Revive Photo
A restored portrait is often the first step of a bigger project. Revive Photo, in the video tools, takes an old family photo, runs its own restore step and then animates it with slow, natural movement such as a soft smile or a blink, so the person feels present again. It is made for anniversaries, remembrance posts and family groups.
Revive Photo is also the route for childhood pictures. Photo Restore asks you to confirm everyone in the upload is an adult, while Revive Photo uses a family-photo consent: you confirm you are the person pictured or their parent or guardian, and the result stays private to your account.
If you only want motion without the restore step, the Animate button on any result opens Image to Video with the photo already loaded.
Read more: Revive Photo: restore and animate old family photos · Image to Video AI
Who uses AI photo restoration
Most restorations start with a box of prints or an inherited album. These are the common jobs:
- Families repairing a grandparent's portrait or a wedding photo before reprinting it or sharing it in a group chat.
- Genealogy and family-history projects that need clear faces for a family tree or a printed book.
- Memorial slideshows and order-of-service cards, where one clean portrait matters more than anything else.
- Digitising a whole album so faded prints can be kept safely as files.
- Small local history groups and societies cleaning up scans of old street scenes, shopfronts and events.
Tips for the best restoration
The input decides most of the result. These steps make the biggest difference:
- Scan at a decent resolution rather than photographing the print at an angle. Perspective distortion makes faces harder to read.
- Shoot phone photos in soft daylight, with the print flat and the phone parallel to it, to avoid glare and reflections.
- Remove the photo from a plastic sleeve or glass frame if you can. Reflections look like damage to the model.
- Crop away the album page, mount and borders so the model spends its effort on the picture.
- Start with Light wear. Switch to Heavy damage only when there are actual tears or missing pieces.
- Run Keep original colors first. If you want color as well, colorize in a second run so you have both versions to compare.
- Keep your original scan. The restoration is a new file; nothing is overwritten.
What AI restoration cannot do
Restoration works from what is in the photo. Being clear about the limits saves credits:
- It cannot recover a face that is completely missing or burned out. It fills small gaps, not whole heads.
- Colorizing is an informed guess. The model picks plausible colors for the era, but it cannot know the real color of a dress or a car. If the true colors matter, keep the black-and-white version as the record.
- Very small faces in large group photos have little detail to work from. Crop to the person you care about and restore the crop.
- Each run handles one photo. There is no batch upload for a whole album yet.
- Uploads must be photos you have the right to use, and the upload box asks you to confirm the people pictured are adults. Use Revive Photo for a childhood photo of yourself or your own child.
Frequently asked questions
How do I restore an old photo with AI?
Scan the print or photograph it straight on, upload it to VdoBloom Photo Restore, choose whether to keep the original colors or colorize, choose Light wear or Heavy damage, and press Restore. The repaired 2K image is ready in about two minutes and is saved to My Creations.
Is there a free AI photo restoration tool?
VdoBloom gives every new account 10 free credits, and a restoration costs 5, so your first two photos are free. After that it is 5 credits per photo. The one-time Lite pack of 300 credits costs $19.50 and the credits never expire.
Will restoring a photo change how the person looks?
It is designed not to. The restoration sharpens only detail already in the photo and keeps each person's face, age, expression, hairstyle and clothing, along with the original framing and background. On badly blurred faces any AI tool has to guess some detail, so compare the result with the original.
Can AI colorize a black and white photo?
Yes. Choose Colorize and the tool adds natural, period-accurate colors with realistic skin tones and muted fabrics. Choose Keep original colors and black and white or sepia photos keep their tone. Colorizing costs the same 5 credits.
Can it fix torn photos or missing pieces?
Small tears, cracks and missing corners, yes: pick Heavy damage and the tool fills them from the surrounding detail. It cannot rebuild large missing areas, such as half a face, because there is nothing left in the photo to work from.
Can I make a blurry old photo clear?
It sharpens soft focus and blur where real detail is still there, and restores contrast lost to fading. It will not invent detail that was never captured, which keeps faces true to the original. For a bigger file afterwards, use the Upscale button.
What resolution is the restored photo?
Restorations are generated at 2K and keep the shape of your upload. For a large print, open the result in the VdoBloom Upscaler; Topaz Wonder 3.5 there starts at 4 credits for output up to 8 MP.
Can I turn a restored photo into a video?
Yes. Revive Photo in the video tools restores an old family photo and animates it with gentle motion, like a soft smile or a blink. Or press Animate under any restored image to open Image to Video with it loaded.
Can I restore old photos of children?
Photo Restore asks you to confirm everyone in the upload is an adult. For a childhood photo of yourself or your own child, use Revive Photo, which uses a family-photo consent and keeps the result private to your account.
Does it work on phone photos of prints?
Yes, as long as the shot is straight on, in focus and free of glare. A flatbed scan usually restores better, because an angled phone shot distorts faces and adds reflections the model may treat as damage.