Simple Steps to Spectacular Scans
A Guide to Scanning & Restoring Photos of Friends & Family

Scan Correct Color Smooth Texture Reduce Noise Remove Dust Repair Crop
If you want to learn how to scan photos, you've come to the right place.
Learn the basics of photo restoration, too. See some of our restored photos below. These are just a few of my old family photos that I've restored recently. If you would like to see what the original photo looked like, simply move your mouse pointer over any of the following photos. All of the photos were scanned and restored using the steps on this website.
This website is a beginner's guide to scanning and restoring photos.
By following the simple step-by-step instructions in this guide, you can easily scan and restore your own precious collection of photos. All kinds of photos can be restored, from new 35mm prints to treasured family polaroids to old black & white snapshots.

Even photos that have faded as badly as the print on the bottom left of this page can be restored and renewed. See how well it turned out on the bottom right! Of course, newer prints can turn out even better. This restored scan of a 35mm print of a baby sea lion looks like it was taken by a modern digital camera.

There is a veritable cornucopia of knowledge to be found here at your fingertips. Just click the links at the top of the page for terminology and information on digitizing photos, results of extensive scan software tests, and helpful tips for photo scanning and restoration.

Once you are ready to begin scanning, you'll find it easy to follow the seven steps in this scan guide. Each step is represented by a button in the row of blue buttons and arrows above. If you only want to scan photos without restoring them, you can just do the step called "Scan" and ignore the rest. You can still do color correction during the scan at no extra time.

Scanning a photo takes about 2 or 3 minutes. If you want to do a full restoration of a photo that doesn't need major repair, it would take about 10 to 15 minutes. Repairing ripped, stained, and other damaged photos can take much longer.

You can get back to this page at any time by clicking our logo.
You can also display a quick reference by clicking on the star icon.
Restore photos like this badly faded picture of a backyard by following this guide.

The original looked like this.

Scanned and restored in 14 minutes.