How to Scan Old Photos for the Best Restoration Results

Before any AI touches your photo, you have one job: capture it as cleanly as possible. A good scan is the difference between a restored photo that looks recovered and one that looks processed. This is the foundation of the complete restoration guide.

Flatbed scanner vs phone

A flatbed scanner at 300–600 DPI wins every time. Phones introduce lens distortion, glare and uneven lighting. If you must use a phone, shoot in flat, diffused daylight, perpendicular to the print, with no flash.

DPI: how much is enough?

• 300 DPI — minimum for prints you'll view on screen or print small.
• 600 DPI — recommended; gives AI upscaling (upscale guide) real detail to work with.
• 1200 DPI — overkill for most; huge files, diminishing returns.

Avoid glare, dust and color casts

Clean the glass and the print with a soft brush. Disable auto-color so you capture the original tones. For glossy prints, lift the lid slightly or use a black cloth to kill reflections. Dust matters because repair tools (see scratch repair) may read dust as damage.

Save the right format

Save scans as TIFF or maximum-quality PNG — never heavily compressed JPEG, which bakes artifacts into your source. Keep the original scan untouched; make a working copy for restoration. This pairs with the genealogy workflow and bringing photos to life.

Scan once, scan well. You can restore a good scan forever; you can't un-bake JPEG artifacts.

FAQ

Should I scan negatives instead of prints? If you have negatives, yes — they hold far more detail. Scan those at high DPI first.

My photos are stuck in albums. Don't force them out. Scan in place, or carefully remove a few at a time using the album's photo-safe corners.

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