Old printed photos fade, scratch and yellow over the years — and the scans people make of them often add dust, low resolution and washed-out color on top. The good news is that with the right scan settings and AI enhancement, you can bring old scanned photos back to life.
Here's the complete workflow, from scanning properly to restoring and upscaling the final result.
Step 1: Scan at the Right Settings
The quality of your enhancement is limited by the quality of your scan. Get it right first:
- Scan at 600 DPI or higher — 300 DPI is for text; photos need more resolution.
- Scan the negative if you have it — negatives hold more detail than prints.
- Save as TIFF or PNG, not JPEG, to avoid compression artifacts.
- Keep the photo clean and flat — remove dust, lint and creases before scanning.
- Scan in color even for black-and-white photos — it gives you more flexibility later.
Step 2: Clean Up Dust and Damage
Use AI restoration software such as ImageEnhance AI. Its restoration models automatically reduce scratches, dust spots, creases and tears, filling in the damaged areas with realistic content. This is far faster and more natural than manually cloning with a photo editor.
Step 3: Fix Color and Contrast
Old scans are usually faded or tinted. Adjust the white balance, boost contrast and restore saturation. For black-and-white photos, convert to clean grayscale and adjust the tones for a rich, balanced look.
Step 4: Reduce Noise and Sharpen
Old film scans are grainy. Run a gentle denoise pass to clean up the grain, then sharpen lightly to bring back crispness — careful not to over-process and lose the photo's character.
Step 5: Upscale for Printing
If you want to print the restored photo, upscale it with AI to the size you need (for example, 2x-4x). AI upscaling keeps it sharp at print sizes. See how to upscale without losing quality.
Restore Your Scanned Photos with ImageEnhance AI
Repair scratches and fading, then upscale for printing — free trial for Windows and Mac.
Download Free TrialFrequently Asked Questions
What DPI should I scan old photos at?
600 DPI is a good default for old photos — enough resolution for AI enhancement and printing up to reasonably large sizes. For negatives, scan at the highest DPI your scanner supports.
Can AI fix a badly faded photo?
Yes. AI color restoration can recover a surprising amount of color and detail from faded prints, and it works well combined with contrast and noise corrections.
Should I enhance the original scan or a copy?
Always work on a copy. Keep the original scan untouched so you can re-enhance it later with better tools or settings.