Improve the quality of old photos: scan and restore with AI.
Put Rodrigo Pereira
Photographing a printed photo with a regular camera can create reflections, crooked corners, and shadows on the scene. A lamp reflected on a face becomes an area lacking detail in the file. Restoration begins with the capture: a stable surface, well-positioned light, and correct framing help more than trying to correct everything afterward with artificial intelligence.
Google's free PhotoScan app solves this in a simple way: you frame the photo, tap the button, and move your phone to four points, one in each corner. It takes a screenshot at each point and assembles a single image, capturing the area without glare from each shot. The photo comes out straight, cropped at the correct edge, and without reflection.
This is the first step in a four-step workflow. I'll show you the other three and, at the end, how to save the file without losing your work.
The four-step flow
Restoring an old photo on your phone isn't just about one app. It's a sequence, and the order matters:
- Scan: convert the paper to a file using PhotoScan (or a scanner app if the photo is matte).
- ClarityPass the file through Remini's AI, which reconstructs the face and texture.
- Risk, stain and fold: cover physical defects using the Snapseed Correction tool.
- ColorRemove the yellow tint and restore contrast in the Google Photos editor (or Lightroom).
Color correction is done last because Remini's AI recreates skin tone, and spot correction blends neighboring pixels. Scanning comes first because no app can fix a reflection already recorded in the file.
Step 1: Scan the paper photo with PhotoScan
The PhotoScan app on Play summarizes it as follows: glare-free scanning in stages, automatic edge cropping, perspective correction, and intelligent rotation. The step-by-step process:
- Place the photo on a matte surface (wooden table, dark cardstock) near a window, with the light coming from the side. A ceiling light directly overhead is the worst-case scenario.
- Open PhotoScan, frame the entire photo on the screen, and tap the round button.
- Four circles will appear, one in each corner. Slowly move your phone until the center point enters each circle and wait for it to fill. Do not tilt the device; slide it parallel to the table.
- Tap the thumbnail. If the border has eaten away a piece, use "Adjust corners" and drag the points to the edge.
- Save. The file will go to the gallery and, if Google Photos backup is enabled, it will automatically upload to the cloud.
If the photo is matte, the app allows you to turn off glare removal and take only one shot, which speeds up a large batch. A glossy photo, or one still glued to the album inside its plastic wrapping, requires four shots: that's where the light shows up. Don't peel it off; prop the open album up and frame only the photo.
Alternative: document scanner app
Anyone with a box of 200 matte photos might prefer a regular scanner app, which captures each photo individually, crops them, and batch organizes them. It leaves the reflection wherever it is, so it's only suitable for matte paper and good lighting. The options are in the guide... best scanner apps to scan documents, ...and the same framing works for photos.
Digitize a paper photo with your cell phone camera, without glare, with cropped edges and corrected perspective.
Step 2: What Remini's AI does with the face, and what it invents.
Remini's main button takes a blurry, pixelated, or small photo and returns a sharp face. If the original face was 30 pixels wide, the information about eyelashes, teeth, and the mole on the cheek is missing. The model has been trained on millions of faces and draws a new, plausible face that matches the blur it received. It doesn't recover detail; it reconstructs.
On large faces this works because the blur already captures the shape, and the AI simply fills it in. On small faces, in the background of a group photo, the filling becomes artificial: the eyes open wider, the smile gains teeth the person didn't have before. That's why the app has a before-and-after comparison tool: use it.
How to check if the face still belongs to the person.
- Expand your vision: AI tends to widen and symmetrize the gaze.
- Check out the mouth and teeth, which are the most reconstructed part.
- Look for signs, scars, and the hairline; if they've disappeared or shifted, the result is out of control.
- In group photos, look at each face in the background separately and discard the file if one of them has turned out to be someone else.
Remini allows free installation and offers in-app purchases and subscriptions. The number of treatments unlocked, advertisements, and availability of free exports may vary depending on the account, version, and offer shown. Take a screenshot up to the save stage before organizing a batch. If you decide to subscribe, check the period, renewal, and cancellation policies with the store you used to sign up.
Reconstructs facial sharpness and texture in blurry or small photos using AI; limited use without a subscription.
Step 3: Scratch, stain, and crease repair with Snapseed Correction.
Snapseed is Google's editor, and its listing on the Play Store is straightforward: over 30 tools with no subscription, no purchase, no ads, and no watermark. For older photos, the tool of interest is called Correction. It works like a smart stamp: you paint over the flaw, and the app fills the area with the texture of the surrounding pixels.
Open the photo, tap Tools, then Repair. Zoom in with two fingers until the scratch occupies a good portion of the screen and run your finger in short strokes, one section at a time. Each stroke is a separate operation; if one of them is smudged, tap undo and redo only that one. The editing is non-destructive: the original remains intact until you export it.
The correction works well where the background is uniform: fine scratches on walls, sky, smooth clothing or skin; dust; small damp stains. It picks up on folds that cross a face and on torn corners, because there is no neighboring texture to copy. In these cases, correct only the edges and leave the center to Remini's AI.
Google's full-featured editor; the Healing Brush tool covers scratches, dust, and small blemishes by copying the surrounding texture.
Step 4: Restore the color to yellowed or faded photos.
Color photos from the 70s and 80s appear reddish because the dyes fade at different rates: the blue fades first, leaving a warm tone. Black and white photos yellow due to the paper itself. In both cases, the black turns gray. The fix can be achieved in three adjustments.
In Google Photos, open the photo, tap Edit, then Adjust. Push the Temperature towards the cool side until the white of the shirt or wall looks white again; this single movement removes most of the yellowing. Then, lower the Black Point (or raise the Contrast) until the darkest shadow in the photo is black. Finally, a touch of Saturation, just a little: restoring photos with cartoonish colors is the most common mistake. Save as a copy to keep the original scan.
For those seeking greater precision, Adobe Lightroom is available for free installation and includes a white balance eyedropper tool: you tap on something that should be neutral (white shirt, gray wall) and it automatically calculates the correction. Some tools are available in the Premium plan, which the Play Store listings as in-app purchases ranging from R$2.59 to R$2,599.99 per item. To go beyond these basic adjustments, the guide... How to create professional photo effects with apps. It displays curves and selective adjustments.
It stores the scan with a backup in the 15 GB of storage in your Google account and has an editor with Temperature, Contrast, and Saturation settings to correct the color.
Colorizing black and white photos: what AI gets right and what it gets wrong.
AI-powered colorization is the most eye-catching feature in the category and the most misunderstood. The model has learned, from millions of color photos, which color usually appears in each texture: skin becomes beige or brown, the sky becomes blue, grass becomes green. In these areas, it is convincing. In everything that could have any color, it guesses the most likely: a dress comes out bluish-gray, a car comes out gray. Your mother's red wedding dress will come out as a different color, because nothing in the black and white indicates that it was red.
Treat the colored version as an illustration, not as a record. Keep the black and white version as the official one and show the colored one as a curiosity. The feature appears in restaurant apps and web services, almost always in the paid section.
Save without losing: copy, resolution and backup.
The most damaging mistake is overwriting existing files. Each app in the chain should generate a new file: PhotoScan creates the original, Remini saves another, Snapseed exports a copy, and Google Photos offers "Save a copy." In the end, you have four versions and can revert to any of them.
JPEG loses quality with each save, and four steps equals four compressions: make the edits for each app in a single session and export at maximum quality. Google Photos states that every Google account has 15 GB shared with Gmail and Drive; since each scan weighs only a few megabytes, hundreds of photos can fit without paying for extra space. Create an album by decade to find them later.
With the file cleaned, the photo becomes raw material for a new print, a frame, a gift, and even an illustrated version, as I show in the guide of... How to turn photos into drawings using apps.
If the photo disappeared from your phone
This article deals with photos that exist on paper and need to be converted into a good archive. If the problem is the opposite, a digital photo that was in the gallery and disappeared, the process is different (recycle bin, backup, only then a scanning app) and is described in the guide for... Recover deleted photos from the gallery on Android and iPhone..
Mistakes that ruin the restoration.
- Scan using overhead lighting or a flash. The reflection becomes part of the file and no subsequent step removes it.
- Leave the reflection to the AI. Remini treats the white spot as if it were skin or clothing and fills it with an invented texture.
- Run Remini twice. The second pass smooths the skin until it looks like plastic and erases the grain that made the photo look older.
- Saturation at maximum. The photo from 1978 didn't have the color of a soda commercial; the yellowish tint is resolved with temperature.
- Send the completed photo as an image via WhatsApp. The app compresses the image; send it as a document or share the Google Photos link.
Step by step: which app, what's free, and what's paid.
| Step | App | What do you do without paying? | What is paid? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scan | PhotoScan | Everything: glare-free capture, cropping, perspective. | Nothing listed on the form. |
| AI-powered sharpness | Remini | Installation; subscription-free use as per available offer. | Weekly or annual subscription; purchases from R$ 1.09 to R$ 969.99 per item. |
| Scratch, stain, fold | Snapseed | All the tools, no ads. | Nothing listed on the form. |
| Color (basic) | Google Photos | Full editor and 15 GB of cloud storage. | Extra space beyond the 15 GB |
| Color (advanced) | Lightroom | Install, white balance, main settings | Premium: purchases from R$ 2.59 to R$ 2,599.99 per item |
How do these apps make money?
PhotoScan and Snapseed are Google tools with free installation. Google Photos combines library and editing with shared account storage, which may require additional space as you use it. Remini and Lightroom offer paid features. The decision should be based on what your file lacks: an image that only needs cropping and color correction may not require the AI step and its eventual subscription.
Common questions
Does Remini restore a person's original face?
No. He draws a sharp face that matches the blur, using what he's learned from millions of other faces. On a large face, it usually matches the person; on a small face, in the background, the chance of drawing someone similar but different is high. Compare the before and after with someone who has known the person.
Is it possible to complete the entire process without paying anything?
You can scan, correct minor blemishes, and adjust colors with PhotoScan, Snapseed, and the editor available in your gallery. The Remini AI step is optional and may require payment; check the offer before processing. Backup also depends on available account space. Subscription is not required to preserve the original scan.
Does it work on iPhone?
All four apps are available on the App Store. The workflow is identical. If you prefer not to install an editor, the iPhone's own Photos app has Warmth and Hue adjustments, which address yellowing in the same way as Temperature in Google Photos.
Can scanning be used to print again?
To reprint at the same size or display on screen, the PhotoScan capture is sufficient. To enlarge a 10x15 poster, the cell phone camera limits the result; in this case, the photo deserves a desktop scanner, like those used in photo developing shops, and the rest of the workflow remains the same.
Can I restore a photo that's torn in two?
Scan the two halves together, framing them as if they were one. If the tear line passes through a plain background, Snapseed Correction disguises it. If it goes through a face, Remini reconstructs the section, and you can check in the comparator if the face is still the person.
Start with the most damaged photo in the box: place it on the table near the window, open PhotoScan, and take four screenshots. Once the file is saved, assess whether AI, spot correction, and color adjustment are needed; the difficulty and time will vary depending on the damage.
Read also
- Professional photo effects: Lightroom, Snapseed, and what to adjust.
- Scanner apps: scan documents and create searchable PDFs.
- Recovering deleted photos from the gallery: the process changes depending on when the photo is gone.
- Turn photos into drawings: cartoons, sketches, and paintings on your phone.
