AI photo restoration online: fix blur and grain, not missing detail
Upload the best scan you have. Faithful cleanup improves light blur, grain, and compression. AI reconstruction is stronger, and it can invent face detail, so compare every result with the original before you archive it.
Old Photo Enhancer
Clean up older photos with a mode that matches how much change you are willing to accept.
Best for light to moderate blur, compression, and grain
This is not a guarantee for severe damage, extreme out-of-focus photos, missing facial detail, or accurate face reconstruction.
Preview
Source photo
Newsletter
Join the community
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news and updates
What this pipeline does with an old photo
Two modes and one honest boundary: it works on the pixels your scan actually contains.
Improves light blur, grain and compression
Best results come from a sharp scan with visible film grain, JPEG blocking, or the mild softness of an old lens or a small print.
Does not rebuild missing areas
Torn corners, creases, stains, mould and water damage are manual retouching work, and severely out-of-focus or missing faces are not recovered reliably.
Two modes, two risk levels
Faithful cleanup stays close to the source. AI reconstruction adds sharper detail and can change how a face reads, which matters for family records and client work.
One photo or a batch of 10
JPG, PNG or WebP up to 20 MB. Select up to 10 files and they run one by one, so you can stop the queue when a result is not good enough.
Automated cleanup, manual repair, and what other tools publish
Restoration covers three different jobs. This page does the first one only. The table below quotes each vendor's own page, read on 2026-09-29, rather than our impression of their output.
Damage repair is still a retoucher's job
A restorer rebuilds a missing corner or a torn seam by hand, pixel by pixel. Nothing on this page does that, and no automated tool replaces it on a badly damaged print.
Check the identity, not just the sharpness
Reconstruction can make a blurred face look convincing without being accurate. Compare the result with the original before you label it as a record of a real person.
Browser instead of desktop software
There is nothing to install and no GPU to rent. A 20 MB scan is enough, and the result is a finished file you can download.
Online options searchers see, from each vendor's own page
| Online option | What its page states | Price published | Source, checked 2026-09-29 |
|---|---|---|---|
| PDFSimpli AI photo editor | Advertises scratch and crease removal, colorization, upscaling and batch retouching in the browser | Not published on the page | pdfsimpli.com/ai-solutions/ai-photo-editor/ |
| Picsart photo restoration | Restoration, batch processing and face sharpening in the browser, described as free | Pro $10.50/mo billed yearly (list $15/mo), Ultra $24.50/mo billed yearly | picsart.com/ai-image-enhancer/photo-restoration/ |
| Topaz for Web — Image | Includes Photo Restoration, Face Enhancer and Colorizer modules; unlimited image rendering; 32 MP export limit | $12/mo on a save-up-to-50% offer (list $19/mo); Topaz Studio $399/yr | topazlabs.com/pricing |
| This page (SeedVR2.net) | Improves light blur, grain and compression; no scratch, tear or colorization work; no face reconstruction guarantee | 90 credits (AI reconstruction) or 150 credits (faithful cleanup) per photo | this page |
Credits per photo, before you run
Enhancement is priced per photo and by mode, separately from the image upscaler. The tool shows the same number before you submit.
| Enhancement mode | Credits per photo |
|---|---|
| Faithful cleanup | 150 credits |
| AI reconstruction | 90 credits |
From the shoebox to a finished file
Restoration quality is decided before the upload, so the first step is the one that matters most.
- Step 1
Scan or photograph the source properly
Use a flatbed at 600 dpi for a print when you can. With a phone, avoid flash and glare, fill the frame, and keep the print flat.
- Step 2
Upload the file you scanned
JPG, PNG or WebP under 20 MB. Upload one photo first and judge the mode before you queue a batch.
- Step 3
Choose the mode you can defend
Faithful cleanup for a family record, AI reconstruction when legibility matters more than exactness. The credits are shown before you submit.
- Step 4
Compare the result with the original
Check faces, hands, lettering and uniform details side by side. Reconstruction can add plausible detail that was never in the print.
- Step 5
Download, then archive
Save the finished file next to the untouched scan, keep both copies, and stay at 2K until a larger output really is needed.
Before you upload an old photo
Detail that is missing from the scan cannot come back. A 600 dpi scan of a 10 x 15 cm print gives the model far more to preserve than a phone photo of a framed picture behind glass.
Scratches, creases, missing corners, stains and mould are manual retouching work. This pipeline does not paint them out; it processes the pixels that survived.
Enhancement costs 90 credits (AI reconstruction) or 150 credits (faithful cleanup) per photo. The free first image is one eligible 2K upscale on the image upscaler, for a new signed-in account.
Credits pay for the GPU run, not for a guaranteed result. The cost is shown before you submit, and a confirmed system or provider failure triggers a credit-return attempt.
Sources
Third-party prices and features checked 2026-09-29.
- PDFSimpli AI photo editor
Scratch and crease removal, colorization and batch retouching advertised for its browser photo editor.
- Picsart photo restoration
Free AI restoration and batch processing, with Pro at $10.50/mo billed yearly.
- Topaz Labs pricing
Topaz for Web — Image at $12/mo on a save-up-to-50% offer, including Photo Restoration modules.
AI photo restoration FAQ
Short answers on what is free, what actually improves, and what a human still has to do.
Is AI photo restoration here free?
Not this tool. Enhancement costs 90 credits (AI reconstruction) or 150 credits (faithful cleanup) per photo. The free first image is one eligible 2K upscale on the image upscaler for a new signed-in account, and that is an upscale job, not an enhancement.
What does AI photo restoration actually fix?
It improves light to moderate blur, film grain, JPEG compression and colour fading on a scan that still holds detail. It cannot restore what the scan no longer contains.
Can it repair a torn, creased or stained photo?
No. Torn corners, deep creases, stains and mould need a retoucher working by hand. If that is what your photo needs, keep the original safe and treat the automated pass as preparation for print or for a restorer's queue.
Does it colorize black-and-white photos?
No. Colorization changes the photo in a different way and is not part of this pipeline, so it stays a separate job.
Can I restore a whole album?
You can queue up to 10 photos per batch and the files run one by one, so you see early results before the queue finishes. Album and estate work is why a yearly plan sits next to one-time credit packs.
Do I need a subscription to restore old photos?
No. You can buy one-time credits and keep them for later photos. Choose a yearly plan when the batch is archive-sized: it delivers its credits upfront and bills at a lower effective monthly rate than monthly.
Keep the workflow together
Enhancement, enlargement, manual repair and archiving are four different jobs with four different pages.
Image upscaler online
Enlarge a cleaned photo to 2K, 4K or 8K in the browser, and claim the free first 2K image here.
Old photo enhancer
The single-photo enhancer page with the same two modes and the credit cost up front.
Photo restoration service
Run the same restoration workflow for family or client photos, one job at a time.
Restore old photos with AI: the 2K and 4K workflow
The step-by-step guide to scanning, preparing and upscaling a family archive.