Short answer: different damage needs different repair approaches. This guide covers the 12 most common damage types we see in customer scans, what each looks like, and which Photo Repair Lab tool to use for each.
Use this guide as a decision tree
Open the damaged scan in your phone or browser, read through the descriptions, and find the one that matches what you see. Each section ends with a recommended tool. If your photo has multiple problems (fading + scratches + creasing, which is common), use the recommendation for the most severe damage — the tool will fix the others as a side-effect.
1. Fading (sun damage, age-related dye loss)
What it looks like: the image is pale, low contrast, washed out. Colour photos shift toward magenta or yellow as the cyan dye fades first. B&W photos lose midtones and look "flat."
Cause: UV exposure (photos displayed in frames near windows) or natural dye degradation over 40+ years.
Fix: Standard restoration (10 credits). The AI rebuilds contrast and corrects colour shift in a single pass. For severe fading where most detail is gone, escalate to Comprehensive Restoration.
2. Yellowing
What it looks like: the entire photo has a uniform yellow or amber cast. Often combined with fading.
Cause: acid migration from cheap album backing, exposure to tobacco smoke, or natural paper aging. The yellow is in the paper, not the image.
Fix: Standard restoration. AI removes the colour cast and rebalances the underlying image. Works on 90%+ of yellowed prints.
3. Tears
What it looks like: a clean or jagged break across the print, often from being folded then unfolded, or pulled out of a stuck album.
Cause: mechanical damage, usually decades after the photo was taken.
Fix: Comprehensive restoration (20 credits). AI reconstructs the missing strip if it's narrow (under 5% of image area). For larger tears with significant content loss, results vary — show us the scan in the dashboard preview before paying.
Tip: if the print is in two pieces, scan it as two pieces (lay both flat on the scanner) rather than trying to tape them together. Tape introduces a shadow line the AI then thinks is part of the image.
4. Creases and folds
What it looks like: a sharp white line across the image where the print was folded. Often the emulsion has cracked along the fold.
Cause: bent in a wallet, folded for storage, or stress damage from album removal.
Fix: Comprehensive restoration. AI infills the cracked emulsion line. Works well on prints where the fold is straight; less reliable on multiple intersecting creases.
5. Scratches
What it looks like: thin white lines on the image surface, often running in one direction (the direction the print was wiped or pulled out of a sleeve).
Cause: abrasion from album sleeves, fingernails, or cleaning attempts.
Fix: Standard restoration. The AI infills scratches by sampling the surrounding pixels. Very effective on uniform backgrounds (sky, skin), less so on detailed patterns (lace, brickwork) where it can't infer what should be under the scratch.
6. Water damage and water stains
What it looks like: blotchy, ring-shaped stains. Often the emulsion has lifted or wrinkled along the wet edge. Colour photos may show separated dye layers.
Cause: flooding, condensation, basement storage, leaky envelopes.
Fix: Comprehensive restoration. AI corrects the colour separation and infills the wrinkled emulsion. Critical: scan at 1200 DPI minimum so the AI can see the boundary between wet and dry areas.
First aid for currently-wet photos: do NOT try to dry them by sticking to glass or wiping. Lay flat on a clean cotton sheet, image-side up, in a dust-free room. Scan within 48 hours of complete drying.
7. Mould and foxing
What it looks like: small brown, orange, or black spots scattered across the print. "Foxing" is the small reddish-brown spots specifically; mould is fuzzier and often greenish.
Cause: humidity above 60% for extended periods. Photos in basements, attics, or sealed plastic bins are prime targets.
Fix: Comprehensive restoration. AI removes the spotting while preserving the underlying image.
Physical first aid: isolate mouldy prints from healthy ones immediately — spores spread. Wear a mask, scan in a well-ventilated room, then store the originals in a separate archival box. Do not attempt to wipe mould off the surface; you'll smear it into the emulsion.
8. Silver mirroring
What it looks like: a metallic-silver sheen visible at certain angles, usually starting at the edges and migrating inward. Looks like the photo has a mirror finish in patches.
Cause: silver in black-and-white emulsion oxidising and migrating to the surface. Specific to silver-gelatin prints from roughly 1880 to 1970.
Fix: Comprehensive restoration. The mirroring scans as a colour cast or sheen depending on lighting; AI corrects it as part of general restoration.
Scanning tip: use diffuse lighting (a flatbed's standard CCD is fine; avoid handheld lights that create directional reflection). Two passes at slightly different angles can give the AI more to work with.
9. Sticking (photo stuck to glass or another print)
What it looks like: the photo cannot be physically separated from glass, an album page, or another photo. Trying to peel it tears the emulsion.
Cause: humidity activating the gelatin layer, or old self-adhesive ("magnetic") albums whose adhesive has converted to glue.
Fix: if stuck to glass — scan through the glass (the scanner sees through) and then run Comprehensive restoration to remove the glass reflection and any framing shadow. If stuck to another print — take to a conservator for separation; do not attempt with home methods.
10. Blur (out of focus or motion blur)
What it looks like: the original photo was never sharp. Either the photographer missed focus, the subject moved, or camera shake.
Cause: capture problem, not preservation problem. The detail was never recorded.
Fix: Standard restoration for mild blur, Studio Upscale for severe blur. Upscale doubles or quadruples the resolution AND sharpens — sometimes recovers detail that the original print loses to compression. Realistic expectation: AI can sharpen but not invent. A heavily blurred face will become a sharper guess at a face, not a perfect portrait.
11. Cracking and emulsion lift
What it looks like: the image layer is breaking up into small islands; the white paper backing shows through in cracks.
Cause: extreme age (typically 80+ years), repeated heat/cold cycles, or the print was stuck to something and the emulsion pulled away.
Fix: Comprehensive restoration. AI infills the cracks. Works well on small cracks (under 1mm) and uniform regions; struggles on fine detail in heavily cracked areas. The more cracks, the more the AI is guessing.
12. Multiple compounding damage
What it looks like: most real family photos. Faded + scratched + slightly torn + yellowed all at once.
Fix: always start with Comprehensive restoration for compound damage. It runs the heaviest model pass and corrects all categories in one go. Trying to chain individual restorations through Standard mode tends to compound artefacts.
What we genuinely can't fix
- Missing pieces larger than 10% of the image — AI infills plausible content but it's invention, not recovery. A photo with someone's head torn off will get a guess at the head.
- Completely faded prints — if the print is white paper with a ghost of an image, the data isn't there. We can boost what's left but cannot recreate detail that's been bleached away.
- Severely out-of-focus originals — see point 10 above. We sharpen what's there.
- Photos stuck to another photo where both are damaged in separation — physical conservation is needed first.
If you're not sure which category your photo fits, scan it and upload it via the dashboard — the preview will show you the result before any credits are spent. Or read our complete walkthrough for the full restoration workflow.