Family Portraits
Sticky-Album Family Portraits
Family portraits showing yellow stripes of adhesive on the front and back, torn emulsion where the print was peeled off, and a tacky film have almost always met the self-adhesive magnetic albums sold from the 1970s onward, whose glue yellows and bonds to the print. The album-page residue sits on top of the image of three or four generations posed in a studio or on the front steps, which is still there underneath.
Nothing in the family portrait is redrawn for effect; the album-page residue is treated as a layer to remove and the image of three or four generations posed in a studio or on the front steps as the thing to keep. If the sticky-album area covered every face, the seating order and the clothing, the fill is inferred from what survives around it.
Start with Scratch & Tear Repair on the sticky-album family portrait, then chain Face Restoration or the upscaler in the Studio if the family portraits need it. The 4 free credits on a new account cover one Standard run on sticky-album family portraits.


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
- Yellow stripes of adhesive on the front and back, torn emulsion where the print was peeled off, and a tacky film, spread over a family portrait
- A sticky-album family portrait that is the only copy anyone has
- Every face, the seating order and the clothing, hidden under the album-page residue
- Album-page residue from the self-adhesive magnetic albums sold from the 1970s onward, whose glue yellows and bonds to the print, on family portraits from the 1880s to 1990s
Suggested order of passes
- 01
Remove the album-page residue
Scratch & Tear Repair targets yellow stripes of adhesive on the front and back, torn emulsion where the print was peeled off, and a tacky film while keeping every face, the seating order and the clothing in the family portrait untouched.
Scratch & Tear Repair - 02
Repair the rest of the family portrait
Photo Restoration addresses the usual wear on family portraits, a crack through the middle from a broken frame, silver mirroring in the shadows and a lost corner, once the album-page residue is gone.
Photo Restoration - 03
Sharpen the faces of three or four generations posed in a studio or on the front steps
Recovers the eye and skin detail the album-page residue softened; keep it at natural strength on family portraits unless the faces are tiny.
Face Restoration - 04
Upscale the family portrait for reprinting
Adds the pixels a wall print needs after the album-page residue repair, with the shape of the sticky-album family portraits unchanged.
Image Upscaler
This subject, by damage type
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