AI tools for repairing old photographs

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PaulClick

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Hi everyone!

I’ve been scanning some old family albums recently and thought of possibly repairing and reprinting them. Obviously my first thought has been AI and the fact it can do the repairs faster and easier than I'd do manually, so here is the question: what would you recommend, if anything? I've came around some concerns about AI adding new details while restoring, have you noticed that?

Big thanks in advance!
 
I have no experience restoring photos by AI. But I do using Adobe photoshop elements editing suit. Using this editing suite does a pretty good job of removing rips and bend lines in the photo. Also the same with taking out spots and backgound noise.
 
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realspeed said:
I have no experience restoring photos by AI. But I do using Adobe photoshop elements editing suit. Using this editing suite does a pretty good job of removing rips and bend lines in the photo. Also the same with teking out spots and backgound noise.
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That's what I thought initially, but I'm not that experienced, so it'll take me quite some time. I'm out here looking for an easier route, I guess :D
 
Interesting question. Why not upload one to an AI program and see what results it delivers? It won't damage it all so nothing to lose.

Let us know what text you use to ask the question and can we see the results please?
 
Norkie said:
Interesting question. Why not upload one to an AI program and see what results it delivers? It won't damage it all so nothing to lose.

Let us know what text you use to ask the question and can we see the results please?
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I haven't tried anything just yet, I've been looking for examples here and there so far. I've seen plenty of restoration examples on Reddit, some OPs mentioned they used the combination of AI tools and manual tweaks in Photoshop or Lightroom. Probably that's the best method so far.
 
PaulClick said:
I've came around some concerns about AI adding new details while restoring, have you noticed that?
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Yes. It has to add new details in order to remove the details (flaws) that exist... PS has "photo restoration" and "colorize" neural filters which might do a passable job, but I've not had great luck with them. I have had better results using the "generative fill" function with command prompts for more difficult problems. Otherwise the generative remove tool/brush works well most of the time.
 
PaulClick said:
I haven't tried anything just yet, I've been looking for examples here and there so far. I've seen plenty of restoration examples on Reddit, some OPs mentioned they used the combination of AI tools and manual tweaks in Photoshop or Lightroom. Probably that's the best method so far.
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Some manual tweaks are usually required...
 
The workflow really depends on what you currently have (the good, the bad and ugly) and where you feel it needs to be.

Once we understand that, a certain pathway whether it is full ai, manual or hybrid will be easier to recommend

In fact you can ask this ai, give context, your tools, knowledge and as for breakdown of problems and something like 3 strategies to fix it
 
PaulClick said:
I've came around some concerns about AI adding new details while restoring
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AI is great for cleaning up the stains, removing scratches and restoring the backgrounds, but it seems to be notoriously bad with faces. From what I know, this is a common issue since AI doesn't know the person in the photo, it just guesses the possible features and recreates details that could have been there. Giving your grandma some fabulous moustaches seems like a pretty logical solution to AI and that must be addressed manually. Double-checking the original is key when it comes to faces, because the restoration of them will be incorrect in 99% of cased if you zoom in. So yeah, manual tweaks are needed either way.

I personally use Photoglory, it's a photo restoration software that doesn't have much of AI in it (maybe just some tools based on it, idk), so I pretty much do everything manually, but the results are quite fine imo. They also have a website with how-to guides and videos explaining restoration techniques. For faster and easier clean-ups you can use chat bots like Gemini or Chat gpt (there are limitations to a number of answers it can give you if you have a picture in the chat though), and I've heard that Nano Banana is good though I haven't tried it personally. And yep, they have the same issue with faces.
 
Annet said:
AI is great for cleaning up the stains, removing scratches and restoring the backgrounds, but it seems to be notoriously bad with faces. From what I know, this is a common issue since AI doesn't know the person in the photo, it just guesses the possible features and recreates details that could have been there. Giving your grandma some fabulous moustaches seems like a pretty logical solution to AI and that must be addressed manually. Double-checking the original is key when it comes to faces, because the restoration of them will be incorrect in 99% of cased if you zoom in. So yeah, manual tweaks are needed either way.

I personally use Photoglory, it's a photo restoration software that doesn't have much of AI in it (maybe just some tools based on it, idk), so I pretty much do everything manually, but the results are quite fine imo. They also have a website with how-to guides and videos explaining restoration techniques. For faster and easier clean-ups you can use chat bots like Gemini or Chat gpt (there are limitations to a number of answers it can give you if you have a picture in the chat though), and I've heard that Nano Banana is good though I haven't tried it personally. And yep, they have the same issue with faces.
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This isn't true and hasn't been since Jesus was a wee lad.

The commonly used A.I platforms like Chat GPT Google Gemini's Nano Banana if you are creating a fake photo from scratch still sometimes has an issue with hands but thats only rarely.
 
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f/1.2 said:
This isn't true and hasn't been since Jesus was a wee lad.

The commonly used A.I platforms like Chat GPT Google Gemini's Nano Banana if you are creating a fake photo from scratch still sometimes has an issue with hands but thats only rarely.
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Ah, I stand corrected then! It's just a perception I got from reading other threads on the matter, from what I've seen it looked like a common issue. Granted, people tend to share their negative experience way more than they would be sharing positive one, so there is definitely a bias. Thanks for clarifying it.
 
I'm very sceptical about the whole AI bubble, although not perfect I'm impressed with the results from a free Android phone app (there is a pro paid version too) that took under a minute to produce.

baw.jpg

mumanddad.jpg
 
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Amazing;)
 
Delphin said:
I'm very sceptical about the whole AI bubble, although not perfect I'm impressed with the results from a free Android phone app (there is a pro paid version too) that took under a minute to produce.

View attachment 478105

View attachment 478106
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I can still see your mobile though. :D

I've got mixed feelings about this sort of thing. Yes, it's impressive. But the photo was never seen like that. Just for that fact alone it stands out as having been doctored.
 
Plain Nev said:
I can still see your mobile though. :D

I've got mixed feelings about this sort of thing. Yes, it's impressive. But the photo was never seen like that. Just for that fact alone it stands out as having been doctored.
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I did say it wasn't perfect :ROFLMAO:

This was just a quick test to give me an idea what the results would be, more care with the original might get better results.

I agree the colour might be a bit much, so just remove it.

3375.jpg
 
Have a look at On1.com they have just released a AI tool that does restoration of old photos.

I have little need, so have not looked at it.
 
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