Different eras and formats have different challenges. Here is what to expect and which tools help most for common photo types.
Sepia prints (1880s–1920s)
Typically the oldest and most damaged photos in a collection. Expect foxing (brown spots), fading, creases, and sometimes silver mirroring — a metallic sheen on dark areas.
Recommended workflowRestore → Face Enhance → Colorize
Sepia prints often have fine detail in faces despite their age. Face Enhance after Restore can recover surprising clarity in portraits from this era.
Black-and-white prints (1920s–1960s)
Generally in better condition than sepia-era prints. Common issues are fading, minor scratches, and soft focus from consumer cameras of the time.
Recommended workflowColorize (skip Restore if in good shape) → Enhance if soft
If the print is in good shape, you can skip Restore and go straight to Colorize. This saves a credit and avoids unnecessary processing.
Color prints (1960s–1990s)
Color dyes fade at different rates, so these often have a strong color cast — usually magenta or yellow. The image itself may be in good structural condition.
Recommended workflowRestore (fixes fading + color shift) → Enhance if soft
Colorize is not needed since the original was in color. Restore handles the color shift correction automatically.
Polaroids
Unique challenges: the white border often yellows, colors shift toward blue-green, and the image area is small with inherently lower resolution.
Recommended workflowCrop border → Restore → Enhance
Crop the white border before uploading for best results. The AI performs better when the entire image is photo content, not frame.
Slides and negatives
Require proper scanning first — a flatbed with a transparency adapter at 2400+ DPI. Once digitized, slides are often in excellent condition since they were handled less than prints.
Recommended workflowScan at 2400+ DPI → Restore → Enhance
Negatives need inversion during scanning (most scanner software handles this automatically). After scanning, the standard workflow applies.
