Will a marching band, a garage band or the school orchestra holding their instruments still look like themselves after the scratching is removed?

The prompts keep every face, age and expression in the scratched band photo as photographed. Where the scratched area covered a face, compare the result with other band photos and with family memory before you print.

Do I need to scan scratched band photos?

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

How many credits does a scratched band photo take?

The 4 free credits on a new account cover one Standard restoration of scratched band photos. Pro and Max return more detail on the instruments, the uniforms and the lettering on the drum head where the scratching was heavy; see pricing for the current amounts.

Can I colorize the band photo after fixing the scratching?

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

Band Photos

Scratched Band Photos

Band photos showing fine white or dark lines across the emulsion, often clustered in one direction have almost always met loose storage in a shoebox, a drawer shared with keys and coins, or a print dragged across scanner glass. The scratching sits on top of the image of a marching band, a garage band or the school orchestra holding their instruments, which is still there underneath.

Nothing in the band photo is redrawn for effect; the scratching is treated as a layer to remove and the image of a marching band, a garage band or the school orchestra holding their instruments as the thing to keep. If the scratched area covered the instruments, the uniforms and the lettering on the drum head, the fill is inferred from what survives around it.

Start with Scratch & Tear Repair on the scratched band photo, then chain Face Restoration or the upscaler in the Studio if the band photos need it. The 4 free credits on a new account cover one Standard run on scratched band photos.

Open with these settings Scratch & Tear Repair

Scratched Band 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

Fine white or dark lines across the emulsion, often clustered in one direction, spread over a band photo
A scratched band photo that is the only copy anyone has
The instruments, the uniforms and the lettering on the drum head, hidden under the scratching
Scratching from loose storage in a shoebox, a drawer shared with keys and coins, or a print dragged across scanner glass, on band photos from the 1930s to 1990s

Suggested order of passes

01
Remove the scratching
Scratch & Tear Repair targets fine white or dark lines across the emulsion, often clustered in one direction while keeping the instruments, the uniforms and the lettering on the drum head in the band photo untouched.
Scratch & Tear Repair
02
Repair the rest of the band photo
Exposure Fixer addresses the usual wear on band photos, flash bounce off the brass, a stage that went black and a photocopy standing in for the lost print, once the scratching is gone.
Exposure Fixer
03
Sharpen the faces of a marching band, a garage band or the school orchestra holding their instruments
Recovers the eye and skin detail the scratching softened; keep it at natural strength on band photos unless the faces are tiny.
Face Restoration
04
Upscale the band photo for reprinting
Adds the pixels a wall print needs after the scratching repair, with the shape of the scratched band photos unchanged.
Image Upscaler