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Agent Meister from the Geek Squad talked to Bill about Bring Old Photos of Mom to Life With Apps - Artificial intelligence can repair severely damaged images, but it has its limits. Faded baby photos. Cracked wedding pictures. Water-damaged graduation shots. AI can help revive them.
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Faded baby photos. Cracked wedding pictures. Water-damaged graduation shots. Old family photos don’t always survive the test of time. AI can help revive them.
In the past, photo restoration was complicated and costly, often requiring an artist to fix the images by hand. Adobe Photoshop and other advanced graphic design tools shifted the work to computers, but such programs can be too complicated for the average person.
The prevalence of new artificial intelligence services has made this all easier. They can fix minor flaws, animate stills, add color to black-and-white images, and repair photos with significant damage. Some are free, but most charge for more advanced features.
Color correction and retouching
Older photos kept in albums or hung on the wall typically don’t have dramatic damage, making them easier for AI services to fix.
Photo Scan by Photomyne - https://photomyne.com/ and MyHeritage.com have tools that can salvage lightly damaged, discolored, and unfocused photos with just a few taps.
The Photo Scan by Photomyne app isn’t designed to fix scratches, but it does do a great job restoring color and sharpening faces. If you want to sharpen the rest of the photo, you’ll have to use the web version. The web version requires a paid subscription that starts at $40 a year and allows you to remove glare in photos.
Photomyne’s Photo Scan can also colorize black-and-white photos.
Fixing heavily damaged photos
If you have a photo with water damage or portions ripped or missing, take a look at Adobe Firefly, their AI software currently in free beta testing at https://www.adobe.com/products/firefly.html
Using the "Generative Fill" option with a photo you can highlight the undamaged parts of the image using the Lasso or Insert tool and hit the Invert button, then Generate. The AI will then revamp the rest of the image using the highlighted selections as points of reference.
Fixing images like this isn’t a one-click move, but it isn’t hard. You get 25 free credits a month and use one per generated image. You’ll get more if you subscribe to the Firefly Premium plan, which costs $50 a year.