Will the repaired sticky-album photo look retouched?

The prompts ask for a real photographic print of its era, with grain and natural tonality, so the album-page residue repair should read as the same photograph in better condition. Heavily rebuilt areas of a sticky-album print are inferred, so look them over before printing.

Which tool do I use for album-page residue?

Scratch & Tear Repair first. If the sticky-album print also has fading, blur or small faces, chain Faded Photo Fixer, Unblur Old Photos or Face Restoration in the Studio on the result.

How much does fixing a sticky-album photo cost?

A new account has 4 free credits, enough for one Standard run on a sticky-album print. Pro and Max use more credits and recover more texture under the album-page residue; the pricing page has the current numbers.

Can I colorize a photo after repairing the album-page residue?

Yes, and the order matters: repair the sticky-album print first, then colorize the clean result so the inferred colors are not confused by yellow stripes of adhesive on the front and back, torn emulsion where the print was peeled off, and a tacky film.

Damage

Fix sticky-album photos

Album-page residue is one of the most common reasons a print reaches this site, and the cause is usually the self-adhesive magnetic albums sold from the 1970s onward, whose glue yellows and bonds to the print. Look closely at a sticky-album print and you will see yellow stripes of adhesive on the front and back, torn emulsion where the print was peeled off, and a tacky film.

The AI-powered repair for sticky-album photographs treats yellow stripes of adhesive on the front and back, torn emulsion where the print was peeled off, and a tacky film as something to remove, not something to paint over. Faces the album-page residue destroyed come back as plausible reconstructions, so compare them with other photographs of the same people.

Below are the subjects people most often bring in sticky-album: each page describes what album-page residue does to that kind of print and the order of tools to run. The 4 free credits on a new account cover one Standard pass at album-page residue.

Open with these settings Scratch & Tear Repair

Fix sticky-album photos, the original print

OriginalRestored

Original on the left, restored on the right; hover to see more of the repair. Made in the Studio from a scan of the print.

What matters for these photos

Yellow stripes of adhesive on the front and back, torn emulsion where the print was peeled off, and a tacky film
Album-page residue caused by the self-adhesive magnetic albums sold from the 1970s onward, whose glue yellows and bonds to the print
Faces and clothing under the album-page residue that need rebuilding from what survives
Sticky-album prints that are the only copy in the family

Suggested order of passes

01
Remove the album-page residue
Scratch & Tear Repair is written for yellow stripes of adhesive on the front and back, torn emulsion where the print was peeled off, and a tacky film and rebuilds the area beneath from the surrounding image.
Scratch & Tear Repair
02
Run a full restoration on the sticky-album print
Picks up the fading, scratches and softness that usually travel with album-page residue.
Photo Restoration
03
Restore the faces
Recovers eye and skin detail where the album-page residue had softened it; use strong only for tiny faces.
Face Restoration
04
Upscale for reprinting
Adds the pixels a reprint of the sticky-album photo needs, with the shape of the upload unchanged.
Image Upscaler