01/07/2026
How to Colorize & Restore Old Photos With AI (Without Turning Grandpa Into a Pixar Character)
You found an old family photo. It’s faded, scratched, and looks like it survived a minor flood. But is it toast? Not anymore.
The good news: ChatGPT and Google Gemini can now colorize and Gently restore old photos in seconds. No Photoshop, plugins, or PhD required.
Bad news: if you’re sloppy, the model will happily “improve” your relatives into people you don’t recognize. The key is careful restraint.
Here’s how to do it right.
Step 1: Give the AI something worth working with. Visit your parents and find that musty shoebox full of mid-20th century photos. It’s important to start with the best input possible.
If you have access, scan them at 300-600 DPI. If you don’t have a scanner (and who does anymore, amirite?), a clear, straight-on, glare-free photo will do just fine.
You don’t need perfection. But clarity matters. Garbage in still gets you… slightly better garbage out.
Step 2: Add a few minor constraints. You’re asking the model to restore, not reinvent. Use a constraint-first prompt like this (copy / paste):
"Colorize this photo realistically and gently enhance clarity.
Preserve faces, expressions, proportions, and composition exactly as they are.
Do not reconstruct or alter facial features.
Reduce haze, improve contrast slightly, and clean minor noise or specks while keeping natural film grain.
Do not add or invent background details."
Skip this, and the model will confidently ship you an alternate-universe family.
Step 3: Iterate. Subtlety Always Wins Here. First pass too intense? Say so.
“Reduce saturation by ~10% and soften sharpening.”
“Restore texture and grain, especially on faces.”
“Avoid smooth or plasticky skin.”
The goal is to tweak your image gently, without it reworking the content of the photo.
A Quick Gemini-Specific Tip. Gemini behaves best with extra guardrails:
Explicitly say do not change faces, framing, or background.
Call out hallucinations directly—it usually corrects itself.
This process works surprisingly well. It can do it with less prompt than the one above, but having some minor constraints seemed to increase quality a bit more. With ChatGPT Image (OpenAI’s latest image model), I didn’t spot any awkward artifacting or bizarre color choices.
Once you’ve done a few of these, share them with your family and blow their minds. They’ll think you’re a wizard.
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