How to Restore Old Family Photos in Batch

April 2026 • ContentaSoft Team • 7 min read

Old family photos are irreplaceable. They capture moments from decades past — grandparents weddings, childhood birthdays, family gatherings that can never be recreated. But time takes its toll: scratches, tears, water damage, and fading gradually erase these memories.

AI photo restoration can now repair these types of damage automatically. And with batch processing, you can restore an entire album of scanned photos in minutes instead of spending hours on manual retouching.

What Damage Can AI Repair?

Modern AI restoration handles a wide range of physical damage to printed photographs:

Step-by-Step: Batch Restore with Contenta Converter

Step 1: Scan Your Photos

Start by scanning your physical photos at high resolution. The better the scan quality, the better the AI restoration results.

• Scan at 600 DPI or higher for best results
• Use a flatbed scanner — phone cameras introduce distortion
• Save as TIFF or PNG to avoid compression artifacts

Step 2: Load Photos into Contenta Converter

Open Contenta Converter and drag your scanned photos into the file selection area. You can add hundreds of files at once — the app handles large batches efficiently.

Step 3: Select the Restore Photo AI Preset

In the operations step, enable AI Edit and select the Restore Photo preset from the dropdown. The AI will automatically analyze each photo and repair detected damage — scratches, tears, stains, and fading.

Step 4: Start Conversion

Choose your output folder and click Start. Contenta processes each photo through the AI restoration pipeline. Restored versions are saved alongside your originals — nothing is overwritten.

Tips for Best Restoration Results

1. Clean the scanner glass before scanning — dust spots become part of the image.
2. Scan at the highest resolution your scanner supports. More pixels means more detail for AI to work with.
3. For severely damaged photos, try running restoration twice — the second pass can catch details the first missed.
4. Combine restoration with AI upscaling (2x or 4x) to bring small, old prints up to modern resolution.
5. After restoration, use the colorize preset to add realistic color to B&W photos.

The Full Restoration Pipeline

For the best results, combine multiple AI features in sequence:

1. Restore — repair scratches, tears, and damage
2. Colorize — add realistic color to B&W photos
3. Upscale — enlarge to modern resolution (2x or 4x)

Frequently Asked Questions