Repair Scratches, Tears, and Stains in Photos

Almost always one of three things. The file is over the 20 MB free upload limit — Premium takes 50 MB and Pro 120 MB. The format is not one this tool accepts, so check the list shown on the upload panel. Or the file is not really the format its name says: renaming a file does not change what is inside it, and that is the reason a valid-looking image gets refused.

Start with a sharp original and select the intended preset. Use Custom instructions to name the change and the details to preserve. If necessary, open Refine area manually and adjust the editable area. Regenerate, then compare the subject, labels, edges and surrounding detail against the source before using the result.

Repair Photo Damage supports free standard use within the published processing allowances. Free downloads are clean — no watermark. No signup is required for standard tool use. Photo effects and AI edits have a web-size limit on Free, with the original-resolution result available through Premium or one credit. Crop, resize, rotate, compress and convert stay full size. Published processing allowances and file limits still apply.

No — Repair Photo Damage runs in the browser on desktop and phone. There is nothing to install, no trial to start, and no license to buy before you can see whether it does what you need. Try it on the file you are actually stuck with rather than a sample.

Scan or photograph the print flat, choose Scratches and paint along the crease with a narrow brush, including its pale edges. Generate the repair, then compare it with your original. A deep fold that has lost the surface may need the Torn area preset instead.

Repair works only on painted pixels, so Generate stays disabled until you paint at least one stroke on the photo. Paint the damage and the button turns on. Torn area and Stain also need the selection before they can run.

Only the painted pixels are repaired. The area outside your strokes is kept as it was prepared, which is why a narrow brush that follows the damage gives the cleanest result.

Repair Photo Damage fixes the specific spots you paint. Restore Old Photo treats the whole picture: it can colorize a black-and-white print or repair a faded one. Many scans need both, restoring first and then repairing leftover marks.

Torn area reconstructs a small missing section from the detail around it. A large missing piece, or one that crosses a face, is estimated rather than recovered, so the result may not match the real picture. Compare the likeness carefully.

It fills painted areas from the surrounding texture, so the filled detail is invented to match rather than recovered. That is fine for a scratch across a wall and riskier across an eye or a line of writing, so check those areas against what you know of the original.