Do I need to scan faded school photos?

A flat scan is best, but a phone photo of the faded school portrait works too; run Photo-of-a-Photo Fixer first to crop and remove glare, then repair the fading.

How many credits does a faded school portrait take?

The 4 free credits on a new account cover one Standard restoration of faded school photos. Pro and Max return more detail on the backdrop color, the collar and the gap-toothed smile where the fading was heavy; see pricing for the current amounts.

Can I colorize the school portrait after fixing the fading?

Yes. Repair the faded school portrait first, then run the Photo Colorizer on the result. Colors are inferred from the era and the materials in the repaired faded school photos, so type any remembered colors into the hints field.

What if the fading took part of the school portrait away entirely?

Run Missing Parts Filler after Faded Photo Fixer and describe the gap the fading left in the school portrait. It continues the scene, clothing and background of the school portrait from what survives; a face fully gone from faded school photos cannot be recovered, only inferred.

School Photos

Faded School Photos

School photos showing milky shadows, grey whites and a cast that drifts toward orange, magenta or cyan depending on the paper have almost always met dye layers breaking down over decades, faster in warmth and daylight. The fading sits on top of the image of one child in front of a painted studio backdrop, taken each autumn, which is still there underneath.

Nothing in the school portrait is redrawn for effect; the fading is treated as a layer to remove and the image of one child in front of a painted studio backdrop, taken each autumn as the thing to keep. If the faded area covered the backdrop color, the collar and the gap-toothed smile, the fill is inferred from what survives around it.

Start with Faded Photo Fixer on the faded school portrait, then chain Face Restoration or the upscaler in the Studio if the school photos need it. The 4 free credits on a new account cover one Standard run on faded school photos.

Open with these settings Faded Photo Fixer

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

A faded school portrait that is the only copy anyone has
The backdrop color, the collar and the gap-toothed smile, hidden under the fading
Fading from dye layers breaking down over decades, faster in warmth and daylight, on school photos from the 1940s to 1990s
Small faces of one child in front of a painted studio backdrop, taken each autumn that the fading has taken the detail from

Suggested order of passes

01
Remove the fading
Faded Photo Fixer targets milky shadows, grey whites and a cast that drifts toward orange, magenta or cyan depending on the paper while keeping the backdrop color, the collar and the gap-toothed smile in the school portrait untouched.
Faded Photo Fixer
02
Run a full pass on the school portrait
Picks up the remaining scratches, fading and softness on faded school photos after the fading is removed.
Photo Restoration
03
Sharpen the faces of one child in front of a painted studio backdrop, taken each autumn
Recovers the eye and skin detail the fading softened; keep it at natural strength on school photos unless the faces are tiny.
Face Restoration
04
Upscale the school portrait for reprinting
Adds the pixels a wall print needs after the fading repair, with the shape of the faded school photos unchanged.
Image Upscaler