I will restore old and damaged photos repairing scratches and tears

I will restore old and damaged photos, repairing scratches, tears, fading, and missing areas by hand so your treasured memories look clear, natural, and whole again.

What you get

Your photographs carry the people, places, and moments that matter most, and time is rarely kind to them. Cracked emulsion, water stains, mold spots, torn corners, sun-bleached color, and the soft blur of a hundred handlings all chip away at what you can still see. I restore those images one at a time, working pixel by pixel rather than running a single filter and calling it done. Every photo gets individual attention, and every repair is judged against how the picture should honestly look, not against a generic "enhanced" preset.

Here is exactly what I deliver when you order:

• A fully restored, high-resolution digital file of your photo, cleaned of scratches, dust, spots, and surface noise.
• Careful repair of physical damage: torn edges, missing corners, creases, fold lines, pinholes, and chunks lost to mold or water.
• Reconstruction of damaged detail where there is enough surrounding information to rebuild it honestly (a missing eye, part of a collar, a section of background).
• Contrast, brightness, and tonal correction to bring back depth that has flattened or faded over the decades.
• Fading and yellowing correction, so aged paper tones are neutralized and the image reads cleanly again.
• Optional gentle sharpening and grain management tuned to the original, never the plastic over-sharpened look.
• Delivery in the format you need (JPG and/or PNG, and TIFF on request) at a print-ready resolution.
• A side-by-side before/after preview so you can see precisely what changed.

I do not crop, restyle, or "modernize" your photo unless you ask. The goal is the original picture, repaired.

Plans

Feature	Basic	Standard	Premium
Photos restored	1	Up to 3	Up to 6
Scratch, dust & spot removal	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tear, crease & fold repair	Light	Full	Full
Missing-area reconstruction	Minor	Moderate	Extensive
Fading & contrast correction	Yes	Yes	Yes
Heavy water/mold damage repair	No	Yes	Yes
High-resolution print-ready file	Yes	Yes	Yes
TIFF master file	No	Optional	Yes
Revisions	1	2	Unlimited (within scope)

If you are unsure which plan fits, send me the photo first and I will tell you honestly what it needs.

How it works

1. Send your photo. Upload the clearest scan or phone photo you have. For best results, scan flat at 600 DPI or higher, but a sharp, well-lit phone shot works fine too. The more detail in the source, the more I can recover.
2. I assess the damage. I review the image and confirm what is realistically repairable, what will be reconstructed, and which plan matches the work. You get an honest answer before anything begins.
3. I restore it. I clean the surface, repair structural damage, rebuild missing areas, and correct tone and fading, all by hand in a layered, non-destructive workflow.
4. You review a preview. I send a before/after preview. You tell me what you love and what you want adjusted.
5. I revise to fit. I refine based on your notes within the plan's revision allowance, paying special attention to faces and the details you care about most.
6. You receive the final files. I deliver the finished high-resolution image in your chosen formats, ready to print, share, or archive.

Why choose this

Photo restoration is patient, manual work, and shortcuts always show. I rebuild damage by sampling real detail from the image itself and reconstructing the rest to match its era, lighting, and grain, so the repair stays invisible. Faces get the most care, because a restored face that looks "almost right" looks wrong to the people who love it, and getting it right is the whole point. Everything is done in a non-destructive, layered workflow, which means I can dial any correction up or down during revisions without degrading the original. You also get straight talk: if a damaged area cannot be honestly recovered, I will tell you rather than inventing a face or a detail that was never there. That honesty protects the truth of your photograph.

Who it's for / use cases

• Family historians digitizing and repairing old albums before the prints deteriorate further.
• Anyone preparing a restored portrait for a memorial, funeral, or remembrance display.
• Children and grandchildren surprising a parent or grandparent with a repaired wedding or childhood photo.
• Genealogists and ancestry researchers cleaning up archival images for printing or sharing.
• People who suffered water, fire, flood, or mold damage and want to salvage what survived.
• Anyone with a single irreplaceable photo, creased, torn, or faded, that they want printed and framed again.
• Reunions, anniversaries, and birthdays where an old image becomes a gift or a centerpiece.

FAQ

Q: My photo is badly damaged. Can it still be restored? In most cases, yes. Tears, deep creases, missing corners, water stains, and heavy fading are all repairable. Send it over and I will give you an honest assessment of what I can recover before you commit.

Q: What file should I send? A flatbed scan at 600 DPI or higher is ideal. If you do not have a scanner, a sharp, evenly lit phone photo taken straight-on with no glare works well. The clearer the source, the better the result.

Q: Can you restore the original color, or add color to a black-and-white photo? I correct faded and shifted color to bring back the original tones. Full colorization of a black-and-white image is a different service; ask me and I will let you know how to handle it.

Q: Will the restored photo still look like the original person? Yes. I rebuild damaged areas using real detail from the image, and I never invent features. If part of a face is missing beyond honest recovery, I will tell you rather than guess.

Q: How many revisions do I get? Basic includes one revision, Standard includes two, and Premium includes unlimited revisions within the agreed scope. I want you fully happy with the result, especially the faces.

Q: Do you keep my photos private? Yes. Your images are used only to complete your restoration and are not shared or published anywhere without your explicit permission.

Q: Can the final file be printed and framed? Absolutely. I deliver at a high, print-ready resolution, and Premium includes a TIFF master ideal for large prints and long-term archiving.

Q: What if part of the photo is completely gone? I reconstruct missing areas where surrounding detail makes an honest rebuild possible. Where it does not, I will explain the limit clearly so you know exactly what to expect.