Do I need to scan torn wartime photos?

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

How many credits does a torn wartime photo take?

The 4 free credits on a new account cover one Standard restoration of torn wartime photos. Pro and Max return more detail on the uniform, the date on the back and the handwriting where the tearing was heavy; see pricing for the current amounts.

Can I colorize the wartime photo after fixing the tearing?

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

What if the tearing took part of the wartime photo away entirely?

Run Missing Parts Filler after Scratch & Tear Repair and describe the gap the tearing left in the wartime photo. It continues the scene, clothing and background of the wartime photo from what survives; a face fully gone from torn wartime photos cannot be recovered, only inferred.

Wartime Photos

Torn Wartime Photos

Torn wartime photos usually come out of a print pulled out of a frame or an album, an argument over who keeps it, or a small child's hands. On a wartime photo the tearing shows as a ragged white line where the paper fibers show, sometimes with a missing corner or a whole strip gone, right across a soldier at camp, a sweetheart back home or a family in a bombed street.

Upload a scan or a phone photo of the torn wartime photo and the AI-powered repair comes back in seconds with the uniform, the date on the back and the handwriting left as they were. Where the tearing covered a face in wartime photos, check the result against family memory before you print it.

If the tearing on the wartime photo is worse than it looks, run Scratch & Tear Repair twice rather than reaching for a heavier setting. Then upscale the torn wartime photos for a reprint, since the output keeps the shape of the upload.

Open with these settings Scratch & Tear Repair

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 uniform, the date on the back and the handwriting, hidden under the tearing
Tearing from a print pulled out of a frame or an album, an argument over who keeps it, or a small child's hands, on wartime photos from the 1910s to 1940s
Small faces of a soldier at camp, a sweetheart back home or a family in a bombed street that the tearing has taken the detail from
Torn wartime photos that a copy shop refused to touch

Suggested order of passes

01
Remove the tearing
Scratch & Tear Repair targets a ragged white line where the paper fibers show, sometimes with a missing corner or a whole strip gone while keeping the uniform, the date on the back and the handwriting in the wartime photo untouched.
Scratch & Tear Repair
02
Run a full pass on the wartime photo
Picks up the remaining scratches, fading and softness on torn wartime photos after the tearing is removed.
Photo Restoration
03
Sharpen the faces of a soldier at camp, a sweetheart back home or a family in a bombed street
Recovers the eye and skin detail the tearing softened; keep it at natural strength on wartime photos unless the faces are tiny.
Face Restoration
04
Upscale the wartime photo for reprinting
Adds the pixels a wall print needs after the tearing repair, with the shape of the torn wartime photos unchanged.
Image Upscaler