Guides
Old photo restoration guides
Start with the best digital copy, make careful adjustments, and keep the original. These guides explain what helps, where enhancement reaches its limits, and when another tool is the better choice.
Capture and workflow
Capture
How to Photograph Old Prints with Your iPhone
Capture a clearer copy of an old photo: control reflections, keep the phone parallel, check focus, and preserve the original before enhancing.
Read capture →Workflow
How to digitize a family photo album with your iPhone
A weekend workflow for scanning an album or shoebox of prints with an iPhone: setup, capture, naming, restoring faded copies, and backing everything up.
Read workflow →
Fixing common problems
Color
Reduce Yellow Tint and Faded Color in Old Photos
A practical iPhone workflow for yellowed and faded family photos, with checks for skin tones, neutral areas, and faithful color.
Read color →Black & white
Black-and-white photos: enhance or colorize?
Enhancing a black-and-white photo improves clarity and contrast using what's there. Colorizing guesses colors. How they differ and which tools do each.
Read black & white →Damaged prints
Scratched or torn old photos: your real options
Local Photo Restore doesn't repair scratches or tears. The tools that do, from healing brushes to AI repair and professional restorers, with trade-offs.
Read damaged prints →
Understanding and choosing tools
Limits
What AI photo restoration can’t do
AI restoration makes old photos clearer but predicts detail rather than recovering it. Where it helps, where it invents, and how to keep an honest archive.
Read limits →Choosing a tool
Photo Restoration vs Upscaling: Which Tool Do You Need?
Compare old-photo color correction, AI enlargement, and face restoration. Choose a tool based on the problem in your picture and understand its limits.
Read choosing a tool →Comparison
Old photo restoration apps compared
Remini, MyHeritage, Photoshop, Picsart, Photomyne, Apple Photos, and Local Photo Restore compared on price, cloud vs on-device, scratch repair, and colorization.
Read comparison →Comparison
Remini vs Local Photo Restore for old family photos
An honest Remini alternative for old photos: Local Photo Restore runs on device for $3.99 once. Where Remini is better (faces, scratches) and where this app fits.
Read comparison →
About the app
Page
An old photo enhancer that runs on your iPhone
Enhance old, blurry, low-resolution family photos on iPhone and iPad. On-device AI enlarges up to 4x, with no upload, account, or subscription. $3.99 once.
Read page →Page
Fix yellowed, faded old photos on your iPhone
Remove the yellow cast and restore faded contrast in old color photos on iPhone and iPad. One-tap Auto Fix or two simple sliders, on device. $3.99 once.
Read page →Page
Restore old photos without uploading them
Most AI restoration apps upload your family photos. Local Photo Restore enhances them on your iPhone or iPad with no account. What that means, and the trade-offs.
Read page →
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Try it on your own family photo.
Local Photo Restore works on iPhone and iPad with iOS or iPadOS 18.2 or later. $3.99 once in the U.S. App Store; every tool is included.