How to Restore Old Photos With AI: A Complete 4-Step Workflow

My grandmother's wedding photo from 1952 had a scratch across her face and colors faded to sepia. I had two options: pay a restoration service 5-125, or try AI tools. I tried both. Here is a complete photo restoration workflow that anyone can follow.

Step 1: Get a Good Scan

Use a flatbed scanner at 600 DPI minimum. Save as TIFF or high-quality JPEG. A phone photo of a photo is not good enough — you need the detail a scanner captures in shadows and highlights. This step determines how good your final result can be. If the scan is bad, nothing downstream can fix it.

Step 2: AI Restoration

The photo restorer gives you two modes. Auto mode uses Topaz Dust & Scratch v2 for general damage — scratches, dust spots, fading, mild discoloration. This handles about 80% of restoration cases in 15-30 seconds. Face Pro mode adds GFPGAN face enhancement — it identifies facial features and reconstructs them with realistic detail. Use this for portraits and group photos where faces are the priority.

The scratch on my grandmother's photo was reduced by about 90%. Not invisible, but significantly less noticeable. Dust spots were completely gone. The faded sepia became natural-looking black and white.

Step 3: Add Color

The B&W colorizer adds realistic color using FLUX Kontext Pro. Choose a style — Natural, Vibrant, Portrait, or Classic — and optionally add a text description to guide specific colors. For my grandmother's photo, I described "navy blue dress, cream lace, warm afternoon light." The AI used these hints alongside its own context understanding.

Best practice: restore first, then colorize. Fixing damage on a colorized image produces weird artifacts where the repair and the color interact.

Step 4: Upscale for Archiving

The image upscaler takes the restored and colorized result to 2x or 4x resolution using Real-ESRGAN. Choose Photo mode. This step is optional but recommended if you want to print or archive digitally at high resolution.

Cost and Time

Total AI cost: restoration (5 credits) + colorization (2 credits) + upscaling (2 credits) = 9 credits. About .80 based on the Standard credit pack. Total time: about 3 minutes. A professional service for the same work: 5-125 and 3-7 days.

For photos with moderate damage, AI restoration is the clear winner. For severely damaged photos with deep sentimental value, go professional. Try AI first — if the result is good enough, you saved 00. If not, you have a scan ready to send to a professional.