Photo Types

Guide by Photo Type

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. Note: daguerreotypes, tintypes, and ambrotypes from this era cannot be processed by AI restore models — seek professional conservation.

Recommended workflowRestore → Face Enhance (if needed) → Colorize → Enhance

Sepia prints often have fine detail in faces despite their age. Face Enhance after Restore can help, though improvements are often subtle. Colorize before Enhance — the upscaler requires a color image.

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 the print is in good shape, you can skip Restore and go straight to Colorize. Enhance (2× upscale) requires a color image, so always Colorize before Enhance on B&W prints.

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.

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Whether it's a portrait, group photo, landscape, or document — Nostalgia adapts to the photo type automatically.

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