Low-Resolution Baptism Photos

When low resolution reaches a baptism photo, the result is blocky pixels, mushy skin and faces the size of a fingernail that fall apart when enlarged. The cause is nearly always a tiny contact print, a wallet photo, a heavy crop or a scan made at 72 dpi years ago, and baptism photos kept in albums, frames and boxes were all exposed to it.

The restoration reads the low-resolution baptism photo as a repair job: it removes the low resolution and rebuilds what was underneath from the surrounding grain, keeping the gown, the font and the faces of the godparents as photographed. Faces of an infant in a long white gown held by the godparents at the font that were lost to the low resolution are plausible reconstructions, so compare them with other pictures.

For low-resolution baptism photos the order is low resolution first, faces second, upscale last, each step taking the previous result. Standard suits a baptism photo for a screen; Pro or Max gives a low-resolution print more detail for reprinting.