Restore Old Photos
How to scan old photos for the best restoration
Scan ordinary prints at 300 dpi, and at 400 to 600 dpi if you will enlarge or restore them; small prints need more. Save as TIFF or PNG, not low-quality JPEG. Clean the glass, handle prints by the edges, and keep the untouched scan. A sharp, evenly lit scan matters more for restoration than any software setting.
What resolution should you scan at?
The Library of Congress recommends 300 dpi for ordinary 4x6 and 5x7 prints, and 400 or 600 dpi if you want to enlarge them to 8x10 or bigger. Restoration is a form of enlargement, because the AI needs pixels to work with, so we suggest the higher end. A useful target from the National Archives is at least 3,000 pixels on the long side of the image.
| Print size | Library of Congress minimum | For restoring and enlarging | Long side at that setting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wallet, 2.5 x 3.5 in | Not specified | 900 to 1200 dpi | 3,150 to 4,200 px |
| 4 x 6 in | 300 dpi | 600 dpi | 3,600 px |
| 5 x 7 in | 300 dpi | 600 dpi | 4,200 px |
| 8 x 10 in | 300 dpi | 400 dpi | 4,000 px |
Higher is not always better. For most paper prints, going past 600 dpi adds file size much faster than it adds detail. Negatives and slides are different: they are small and need much higher resolution.
Scanner settings
- File format: TIFF or PNG, which are lossless. The National Archives prefers TIFF for master copies. If you must use JPEG, use the highest quality.
- Color mode: the Library of Congress suggests grayscale for black and white photos. We scan sepia or hand-tinted prints in color, so the tone is kept and you can decide later whether to keep it.
- Turn off automatic "enhancements" such as sharpening, dust removal and color restore if your scanner software allows it. Restoration software does a better job when it starts from the raw scan.
- Scan the whole print, borders included, and crop afterwards. You can always crop; you cannot add back what was cut off.
Before you scan: handle the originals safely
- Clean the scanner glass with a soft cloth, and remove paper clips, tape and sticky notes from the photos.
- Hold prints by the edges with clean, dry hands or nitrile gloves, and support fragile prints from underneath.
- Do not force a curled or stuck print flat, and do not peel off old tape. The National Archives recommends asking a conservator.
- Take photos out of "magnetic" self-adhesive albums only if they come away easily. The Library of Congress advises against these albums for storage.
Using a phone instead of a scanner
A phone photo can work well for AI restoration if you take care with light and angle:
- Take the print out of its frame or plastic sleeve. Glass and plastic cause glare.
- Lay it flat on a dark, matte surface near a window with soft daylight, not direct sun. Turn the room light off to avoid a color cast.
- Hold the phone parallel to the print, directly above it, so the edges are straight and not a trapezoid.
- Fill the frame with the photo, tap to focus on a face, and keep your shadow off the print.
- Use the main camera, not the digital zoom.
Google's free PhotoScan app takes several shots and removes glare automatically, though it has not been updated since 2022. On a Mac, you can also take the photo with your iPhone directly into a folder through Continuity Camera.
After scanning
- Name files so you can find them: for example
1962-wedding-anna-and-tom.tif, and write who is in the photo while someone still remembers. - Keep the untouched scan as your master. Save restored, colorized and upscaled versions as new files next to it.
- Back up to at least two places, such as an external drive and a cloud service.
- Keep the prints. The National Archives notes that a digital copy does not replace the original. Store them cool and dry in sleeves made of polyester, polypropylene or polyethylene, not PVC.
Then restore
With a good scan, Restore Old Photos can repair cracks and scratches, remove grain, colorize and upscale on your own computer. Follow the steps for Mac or Windows, or see every restoration method compared.
Restore your scans without uploading them
Free to download for Mac and Windows. Clean up and Upscale 2x are free forever.
Sources
- Library of Congress, Personal Digital Archiving: scanning your photos and documents
- Library of Congress, How many dpi/ppi is too much?
- Library of Congress, Care, handling and storage of photographs
- National Archives, Family Archives: General Guidance and digital photographic records guidance
- Google, PhotoScan on the App Store