Will the family home with someone standing on the porch or out in the yard still look like themselves after the staining is removed?

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

Do I need to scan stained house photos?

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

How many credits does a stained house photo take?

The 4 free credits on a new account cover one Standard restoration of stained house photos. Pro and Max return more detail on the porch details, the windows and the house number where the staining was heavy; see pricing for the current amounts.

Can I colorize the house photo after fixing the staining?

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

House Photos

Stained House Photos

House photos showing brown or grey blotches with hard edges, sometimes a ring, sometimes a smear across the sky have almost always met coffee, ink, adhesive, fingerprints and whatever else was on the kitchen table that day. The staining sits on top of the image of the family home with someone standing on the porch or out in the yard, which is still there underneath.

Nothing in the house photo is redrawn for effect; the staining is treated as a layer to remove and the image of the family home with someone standing on the porch or out in the yard as the thing to keep. If the stained area covered the porch details, the windows and the house number, the fill is inferred from what survives around it.

Start with Stain & Spot Remover on the stained house photo, then chain Face Restoration or the upscaler in the Studio if the house photos need it. The 4 free credits on a new account cover one Standard run on stained house photos.

Open with these settings Stain & Spot Remover

Stained House 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

Brown or grey blotches with hard edges, sometimes a ring, sometimes a smear across the sky, spread over a house photo
A stained house photo that is the only copy anyone has
The porch details, the windows and the house number, hidden under the staining
Staining from coffee, ink, adhesive, fingerprints and whatever else was on the kitchen table that day, on house photos from the 1900s to 1980s

Suggested order of passes

01
Remove the staining
Stain & Spot Remover targets brown or grey blotches with hard edges, sometimes a ring, sometimes a smear across the sky while keeping the porch details, the windows and the house number in the house photo untouched.
Stain & Spot Remover
02
Run a full pass on the house photo
Picks up the remaining scratches, fading and softness on stained house photos after the staining is removed.
Photo Restoration
03
Sharpen the faces of the family home with someone standing on the porch or out in the yard
Recovers the eye and skin detail the staining softened; keep it at natural strength on house photos unless the faces are tiny.
Face Restoration
04
Upscale the house photo for reprinting
Adds the pixels a wall print needs after the staining repair, with the shape of the stained house photos unchanged.
Image Upscaler