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Old Photo Restoration Complete Guide

Restore damaged, faded, and torn photographs to their original quality. Digital photo restoration starting at $15/image at Oval Infotech India.

Oval Infotech
starting at $15/imageStarting Price
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Oval Infotech Editorial Team

2024  ·  6 min read  ·  Photo Editing

Old photograph restoration is one of the most emotionally meaningful services in professional photo editing. Damaged, faded, torn, or water-stained photographs — often irreplaceable family heirlooms — can be restored to their original quality through skilled digital restoration. At Oval Infotech, we approach every restoration with the care and sensitivity these precious images deserve.

Types of Damage We Restore

✓ Types of Damage We Restore

  • Physical tears and creases — Paper-level damage that has created visible lines, tears, or missing areas
  • Age-related fading — Loss of contrast and color depth due to chemical deterioration of the photographic paper
  • Water and moisture damage — Blotching, blooming, and color shift from water exposure
  • Foxing and mould spots — Organic growth patterns on old paper prints
  • Scratches and surface abrasion — Physical damage to the emulsion layer of film photographs
  • Missing sections — Areas where the physical photograph has been completely lost

Our Restoration Process

📸 Light Restoration

  • Minor scratches, dust, and small spots
  • Faded tone restoration and contrast enhancement
  • Basic colour cast correction for aged prints
  • From $5–10 per image — 48 hours
  • Scans under 100DPI may limit quality possible

🔧 Complex Restoration

  • Tears, water damage, missing sections
  • Mould, foxing, and chemical degradation
  • Reconstruction of missing face or background areas
  • From $15–50 per image — 3–5 days
  • 600 DPI scan essential for best results
1

Digital Scanning Preparation

We recommend scanning at minimum 600 DPI, ideally 1200 DPI for severely damaged images, to capture the maximum detail before restoration begins.

2

Damage Assessment

Our restoration specialists assess every photograph individually, noting all damage types and planning the restoration approach before beginning work.

3

Base Restoration

Tears, creases, and missing sections are reconstructed using clone, heal, and content-aware techniques — drawing from undamaged areas of the photograph.

4

Tonal and Color Restoration

Age-related fading, color shifts, and contrast loss are corrected to restore the original tonal quality of the photograph.

5

Final Enhancement

Optional sharpening, noise reduction, and colorisation are applied according to client preferences before final delivery.

Old photo restoration at Oval Infotech starts from $15 per image for basic restoration. Heavily damaged images requiring reconstruction are quoted individually after assessment.

How to Get the Best Results From Antique Photo Restoration

Restoration quality is directly proportional to scan quality. A print scanned at 300 DPI produces a final restoration file at screen resolution; a 600 DPI scan enables print-quality output. For small originals — cartes de visite, cabinet cards, small portraits — 1200 DPI scanning preserves sufficient detail for substantial enlargement. Oval Infotech advises on scanning settings for each specific image type before work begins.

The most important thing clients can do to improve restoration quality is not to attempt cleaning, flattening, or handling fragile antique prints before scanning. Moisture from hands, pressure from flattening, and attempts to remove surface dust can cause irreversible damage. Scan the image in its current state — our restorers work best with unmodified originals however damaged they appear.

Why Professional Editing Matters for Your Business

Professional photo editing is not simply about making images look better — it is about giving your clients the confidence that their marketing materials represent their business at its best. In competitive real estate and commercial photography markets, the quality gap between professionally edited images and smartphone-level processing is immediately visible to the buyers and clients who matter most.

Oval Infotech has delivered professional editing to 500+ photographers and agencies across 50+ countries since 2014. Every image passes a documented three-stage quality control process before delivery. Our free trial allows every new client to verify our standard with their own most challenging images — no payment required, no obligation to continue. Contact us at venkatesh@ovalinfotech.com to get started.

Working With Oval Infotech — How to Get Started

Starting with Oval Infotech takes less than 10 minutes. Contact us at venkatesh@ovalinfotech.com with a brief description of your editing requirements — the type of photography you shoot, your approximate monthly image volume, and any specific style preferences. We will respond within 4 hours with a quote, free trial setup, and a secure file transfer link for your first submission.

After submitting your free trial images, edited results are returned within 24 hours. Your style guide is created from the trial images before your first paid batch, so the second order requires no briefing at all — simply submit and receive. For photographers working across multiple service types — real estate, portrait, and product — a combined account covers all editing under one relationship, one invoice, and one style guide system.

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What Our Portrait Retouching Includes

1

Skin Retouching

Temporary blemishes, redness, and uneven skin tone are corrected using Healing Brush work at 200% zoom, preserving natural skin texture and character.

2

Frequency Separation

Advanced frequency separation technique separates skin texture from colour, allowing smooth, natural-looking tonal correction without destroying real skin detail.

3

Eye & Feature Enhancement

Eyes are sharpened and brightened, teeth whitened, and facial features refined — all while maintaining the subject's genuine, authentic appearance.

4

Background & Lighting

Background distractions are cleaned, vignettes refined, and overall lighting balance adjusted for a polished, professional studio-quality result.

5

Colour Grade & Export

Final colour grading is applied to ensure a consistent, brand-matched look across the full session before delivery at your specified format and resolution.

Portrait Retouching starting at $0.80/image

Natural professional retouching in 24 hours. Free trial available.

Frequently Asked Questions

What can be restored in old photographs? +
Professional restoration can repair tears, scratches, folds, water damage, mould spots, missing sections, faded areas, foxing (brown age spots), and chemical degradation — returning a damaged print to an archival-quality digital image.
What resolution should old photos be scanned at for restoration? +
Scan at 600 DPI minimum for standard restoration work. For very small original prints, or where significant enlargement is needed for reprinting, 1200 DPI produces better restoration quality.
How much does old photo restoration cost at Oval Infotech? +
Restoration starts at $5–$15 for lightly damaged images. Severely damaged prints with large missing areas, heavy water damage, or mould staining are quoted individually after reviewing the scan.
Can restoration add colour to black and white old photographs? +
Yes — colourisation can be applied during or after restoration to convert black and white historical photographs to full natural colour. Colourisation is a separate service starting at $15–$25/image.
Before After

Old photo restoration USA damaged photo repair

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