Black and white photo restoration with AI
Many family photos taken before the 1960s are black and white or sepia, and their faded grays, scratches and dust are what make them look old. Photos Repair restores them while keeping them in black and white by default; colorization is a separate, optional choice.
Select my photos20 photos every month, from €4.17/month (€49.99 billed yearly) or €9.99 month to month. Extra photos require an active subscription.
How it works
Scan the print in color even if it is black and white: the file keeps the paper tone and the color of stains, which gives more information than a grayscale scan. Avoid glare on glossy prints and crop the frame. JPEG, PNG, WebP and HEIC files up to 20 MB are accepted.
- Select your photo and choose Restoration in the editor. Leave Colorize off to keep the result in black and white.
- Choose HD or Ultra HD, sign in and check how many photos it uses from your plan. Payment comes before processing.
- Compare the result with the original using the slider, then download it. Run it again with Colorize on if you also want a color version.
What to expect
Restoration evens out faded grays, reduces scratches and dust, and can sharpen soft edges. It can also smooth film grain or skin texture more than you would like, and invent details where the print is damaged. A sepia or yellowed print may come out more neutral: compare the tones with the original.
Black and white restoration and colorization cost the same: 1 photo from your plan in HD, 2 in Ultra HD. Keeping both versions means two generations. More pixels do not prove that lost detail has been recovered.
See also: Colorize black and white photos with AI · Restore old photos with AI
Keep it black and white, or colorize it?
Keeping the photo black and white respects the original and avoids inventing colors. It is usually the right choice for genealogy, archives and photos where the period look matters.
Colorization makes a portrait feel closer, which can be moving for a family album. It is an interpretation: label colorized copies as such and keep the black and white restoration alongside.
Sepia, toned and hand-colored prints
Sepia and toned prints are black and white images with a warm tint. Restoration may reduce that tint along with the yellowing; if you want to keep the warm look, compare carefully before replacing your copy.
For hand-colored photos, where color was painted onto a black and white print, restoration may weaken the painted colors. Try an HD version first and keep the original scan.
A documented test on an archive photo
We used a public-domain Library of Congress scan with the same image preparation and AI engine as this tool. The source was not artificially damaged. The app removes metadata and prepares a JPEG, then generates a 2K image with Nano Banana 2. The web example is encoded as JPEG.
- Source dimensions
- 735 × 1024 px
- Generated dimensions
- 1792 × 2400 px
- Setting
- Restoration · 2K
- Test date
- 2026-10-05
For Edwin Rosskam’s 1941 photograph of a mother and child, we kept colorization off. The result stays black and white and retains the scan’s film border. The faces remain soft despite the larger output: more pixels do not establish that fine facial detail has been recovered.
What to check before keeping the result
- Compare eyes, mouths and expressions with the original at the same display size.
- Check text, hands and clothing patterns for invented details.
- Keep the scan and label the edited copy, particularly in a family archive.
This is one example for this setting, not a success-rate study or a comparison with another service. Your source and each generation can produce different results. Archive subjects are not customers or endorsers.
Source and generation recordClear prices, before processing
An HD photo counts as 1 photo from your plan, an Ultra HD photo as 2. Both qualities are included with every plan.
20 photos every month, from €4.17/month (€49.99 billed yearly) or €9.99 month to month. Extra photos require an active subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Will my black and white photo stay black and white?
Yes. Colorize is off by default, so Restoration keeps the photo in black and white. Turn it on only if you want a color version.
Can I get both a black and white and a color version?
Yes, by running the photo twice: once with Colorize off and once with it on. Each run costs 5 credits in 2K or 10 in 4K.
How much does it cost to restore a photo?
The subscription costs €9.99/month or €49.99/year and includes 100 credits each month. A 2K photo uses 5 credits and a 4K photo 10, so a month covers 20 photos in 2K (about €0.50 each on the monthly plan) or 10 in 4K. Payment comes before processing.
