How To Restore Old Photos – Best Software and Apps

We all have precious memories with lots of pictures that have experienced the evolution of time. But how to keep saving these images from falling off? We would also like to look at them as they were captured today.

Yes! All this can be possible while restoring them. But the question is, how to restore old photos?

Restoring past pictures is as easy as taking new pictures. There are hundreds of photo editing tools and apps to scan and restore old photos within a few minutes.

This article is also going to speak about the best online software of 2022. Here we have enlisted 9 competitive photo restoration software to save your precious family memories for years.

9 Best Online Software to Restore Old Photos in 2022 [Free & Paid]

1. Adobe Photoshop CC

Price: $9.99 - $52.99

Compatibility: Windows & macOS

This is the widely used software by restoration experts. Adobe Photoshop CC comes with a user-friendly interface and sleek structure. Using it will offer you a wide selection of the best tools to modernize your images and refresh them like the new ones. Its clone stamp will support you to copy pixels from the adjacent areas and remove all damaged parts of an image to renew it.

Features

• It supports all raster formats.
• You can use it on macOS and Windows operating systems.
• However, it is also compatible with iOS, Windows, and Android mobile devices.

Pros

• It is a professional image restoration software.
• If you are a beginner, you can get help from tutorials and video lessons to become an expert.
• The tool supports all file formats.
• It comes with numerous plug-ins.

Cons

• It is best for expert users.
• The software is a bit costly, and that is not a good choice for budget-saving users.

2. Luminar 4

Price: Free Trial & $89

Compatibility: Windows operating system

If you are looking for excellent software to remove spots and stains from your images, you should not skip Luminar 4. It means that by using it, you can quickly recover your fully damaged photos. So having it will clarify you tension-free from the dirty images.

You have to draw over the important surroundings. The tools will automatically recognize the surrounding pixels and make a matching texture. You can also zoom in to see the smallest elements and choose a perfect brush size.

Features

• You can use this tool to improve the old shots.
• There is an amazing addition of clarity, exposure, enhancer, tone, HSL, denoise, and dehaze filters.
• The color temperature filter will help you tone down the temperature of the old shot to give a colder result.

Pros

• You will enjoy its use to remove spots and stains.
• It is the best choice to recover faded images.
• The users can also use it as a plug-in for the Adobe program.

Cons

• There is no descriptive guideline for beginners.

3. PhotoWorks - Restore Old Photos Software Free

Price: Freemium & $19.25

Compatibility: Windows operating system

Its standard correction healing tool will support you to erase scratches, lint, and dust to extract the exact new shots of your past. It will amazingly remove all the wrinkles and crumples from years of saving images. You will enjoy its use to blend textures, colors, and values.

Features

• This is the best choice to restore your old photos to original quality.
• It is so simple to use. You have to upload your picture, and the software will deal with it accordingly.
• Its healing and replicating functions will neutralize scratches, dust, and useless parts of the image.
• You can also add a filter and export the output.

Pros

• You can use this software for raw files.
• It is a fast-working tool having noise reduction ability.

Cons

• It is only suitable for damaged photo color improvement.

4. SoftOrbits Photo Retoucher - Best App For Old Photos to Restore

Price: Freemium & $24.99

Compatibility: Windows operating system

This photo retoucher will help you improve scanned images while removing imperfections, restoring ruined areas, and retouching basic aspects. The users have to upload a picture and use easy features. The software will directly identify the defective areas that should be improved.

Features

• You can use this software to remove scratches and dust elements.
• It will remove all time affecting particles from your images.
• The program will make your images like the real ones.
• It will finish all photo restoration processes within a few minutes.

Pros

• It is lightweight and can easily adjust with little space.
• It will quickly restore images.
• The naïve-users will find it easy to understand.

Cons

• The software lacks advanced features.
• It is best for beginners.

5. Retouch Pilot - Scan And Restore Old Photos

Price: $34.04 - $136.34

Compatibility: Windows operating system

Are you a digital camera user and want to retouch your past images? If yes, you must welcome "Retouch Pilot." It will help you to eradicate minor technical flaws of a picture. It is also best to remove faults from scanned, scratches, or stained images.

Features

• The program has a user-friendly interface.
• There is a comprehensive guideline and tutorial to help you understand its functions.
• You will enjoy its scratch removal, stamp, and patch functionality.

Pros

• It is a fast and easy software to restore your images.
• There is full training support.
• Being a new user, you will enjoy its basic features to freshen your old photos.
• If you don't want to buy it, you can enjoy its trial version.

Cons

• The free version does not have all features' accessibility.
• It does not have advanced features for expert users.

6. AKVIS Retoucher - Restore Old Photos Online

Price: $87 - $154

Compatibility: Windows & MacOS

Its smart cloning techniques are unbeatable to cover the nominated parts and provide first-rate results. This tool will eliminate date stamps and sidetracking elements. Moreover, it will also enlarge the image's canvas with photo outlines to fill in the empty surrounding.

Features

• This is excellent and easy-to-understand software.
• You will enjoy its performance to make your old photos look like the original ones.
• It has a sleek yet attractive design.
• It will help you to remove dust, scratches, and other extras from your pictures.

Pros

• AKVIS retoucher is a fast and simple image freshening program.
• At first registration, you will get a 10-days free trial version.

Cons

• It is not cost-effective software.

7. Photoscape - Restore Old Photos App

Price: Freemium & $39.99

Compatibility: Windows & macOS

This is an entire image recovery software launched by Korean company MOOII Tech. It is extremely easy to learn and use. Its basic tools will support you in repairing damaged photos.

Features

• This software is best for all color correction perspectives.
• Its image viewer, an in-built screen capture tool and batch editing feature will amaze you.
• There is an extensive collection of filters and effects to apply to your image.

Pros

• It is a freemium photo editing software.
• You will get high-quality optimization and an intuitive user interface.

Cons

• It does not have an efficient retouching functionality.
• After editing, you will not get an original quality image.

8. SketchWay - Restore Old Photos For Free

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows & macOS

SketchWay is a free damaged photo repairing software. It uses content filling algorithms to renew the images. These algorithms detect the picture and recreate the real background across the picked object. It is the basic choice for naïve users.

Features

• You will enjoy its uses to enhance brightness and contrast.
• It is best to maintain the sharpness, remove different useless areas, and many more.
• The tool can quickly remove scratches, bends, and other faults of old pictures.

Pros

• It is a freemium photo restoration online tool.
• The software has a simple and attractive interface.

Cons

• It has limited tools and functions.
• It is only good for beginners.

9. Inpaint - Restore Old Photos Oonline Free

Price: $19.99

Compatibility: macOS, Windows, iOS

This is another professional choice to remove all redundant elements. Its guidelines will let you draw green lines to highlight the edges of the outlines and background. Hence the software will analyze which part you want to remove from your images.

Features

• It is unbeatable to remove skin or eye stains.
• Moreover, it will also offer you to get rid of time signs, logos, and watermarks.
• There are informative tutorials to learn its uses.

Pros

• It is user-friendly free online software.
• It is the best choice for all beginners to restore their images.

Cons

• There are limited tool sections.

Conclusion

There is something special about each of the old family photographs of the past. So, for now, you can choose the best simple but expert old photo restoration tool to renew your past images. We have also narrowed down their important features, pros, and cons. Now it's up to you to select the desired one according to your requirements.