Will the people in my communion photo still look like themselves?

The prompts instruct the restoration to keep every face, age and expression in a communion photo as photographed. Where a face in first communion photos was tiny or badly blurred the result is a plausible reconstruction, so check it against other photos and family memory before printing.

Can I colorize first communion photos?

Yes. Run the Photo Colorizer after the repair. Colors on a communion photo are inferred from the era and the materials, so if anyone remembers a dress or a car color, type it into the known-colors field.

What does restoring a communion photo cost?

One Standard run of any tool on first communion photos is covered by the 4 free credits a new account starts with. Pro and Max use more credits and return more detail on a communion photo; the pricing page has the current numbers.

Subjects

Restore old first communion photos

Q: Which tool should I start with for first communion photos?

Exposure Fixer is the usual first step for a communion photo; it addresses hand-tinted cheeks gone hot pink, the white dress or suit blown out and a studio stamp fading away. Chain a second tool in the Studio if the print needs more.

First communion photos are usually the photographs a family would run back into the house for: a child in white holding a candle, a rosary or a prayer book, printed anywhere from the 1920s to 1990s. The first communion photos that survive tend to show hand-tinted cheeks gone hot pink, the white dress or suit blown out and a studio stamp fading away.

Upload the communion photo as a scan or a phone photo, and the restoration comes back in seconds with the veil, the candle and the folded hands kept as they were in the original. Faces in first communion photos that were badly blurred are plausible reconstructions, so compare them against other pictures of the same people.

Standard is enough for a communion photo headed for a screen; Pro and Max recover more detail for a print that will hang on a wall. Whichever tier you choose, run first communion photos through the upscaler last so the reprint stays sharp.

Open with these settings Exposure Fixer

Restore old first communion 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

The veil, the candle and the folded hands, which must stay as photographed while the damage is repaired
One surviving communion photo that every relative wants a clean copy of
First communion photos scanned years ago at low resolution and never reprinted
Hand-tinted cheeks gone hot pink, the white dress or suit blown out and a studio stamp fading away

Suggested order of passes

01
Run Exposure Fixer on the communion photo
The first pass for first communion photos: it takes on hand-tinted cheeks gone hot pink, the white dress or suit blown out and a studio stamp fading away while keeping the veil, the candle and the folded hands as photographed.
Exposure Fixer
02
Repair what the first pass left on the communion photo
Photo Restoration picks up the remaining marks on first communion photos without touching the tone or grain elsewhere.
Photo Restoration
03
Sharpen the faces of a child in white holding a candle, a rosary or a prayer book
Recovers eye and skin detail in first communion photos; keep it at natural strength unless the faces are tiny.
Face Restoration
04
Upscale the communion photo for reprinting
Adds the pixels a framed print or enlargement of first communion photos needs, with the shape of the upload unchanged.
Image Upscaler