Torn, creased and spotted photos, mended

The photo that lived in a wallet, a drawer or a damp loft. Photograph it and in about a minute you'll see the creases, tears, spots and scratches gone, and every face compared with your original.

See it mended

A father, a mother and three small children posed together, on a glass plate damaged down one side (before) — Family portrait, parents with three children. J. C. Knowles Collection. State Archives of North Carolina, no known copyright restrictions.

A father, a mother and three small children posed together, on a glass plate damaged down one side (mended) — Family portrait, parents with three children. J. C. Knowles Collection. State Archives of North Carolina, no known copyright restrictions.

A woman and a boy in Victorian dress on a cabinet card badly marked by water (before) — Portrait of an unidentified woman and boy, cabinet card by William J. Gillen, Cripple Creek, Colorado, 1890 to 1900. Park County Local History Archive, public domain.

A woman and a boy in Victorian dress on a cabinet card badly marked by water (mended) — Portrait of an unidentified woman and boy, cabinet card by William J. Gillen, Cripple Creek, Colorado, 1890 to 1900. Park County Local History Archive, public domain.

Ten members of a family posed in front of a painted backdrop, the plate spotted and peeling (before) — Family group portrait, 1880s. Knowles Collection. State Archives of North Carolina, no known copyright restrictions.

Ten members of a family posed in front of a painted backdrop, the plate spotted and peeling (mended) — Family group portrait, 1880s. Knowles Collection. State Archives of North Carolina, no known copyright restrictions.

A young soldier sitting beside a young woman in a white blouse, the glass plate flaking at the edges (before) — A soldier with a girl, undated. Photograph by Alexander Galloway, New South Wales. Coalfields Local History Association, public domain.

A young soldier sitting beside a young woman in a white blouse, the glass plate flaking at the edges (mended) — A soldier with a girl, undated. Photograph by Alexander Galloway, New South Wales. Coalfields Local History Association, public domain.

what we mend.

The damage time does

Creases and folds from years in a wallet or an envelope.
Tears and cracks, including the edges of a print that has split.
Scratches, dust and spots, mould spots and the specks of an old glass negative.
Stains and water marks, where the picture underneath can still be seen.
Fading, given back its depth without changing the light.

what can't be saved.

What we won't pretend to mend

A face torn away can't be put back. That area is filled plainly from its surroundings, never with a new face.
A badly blurred photo stays soft. We won't invent detail that the camera never caught.
A missing corner is filled in plainly, so the picture is whole, but nothing new is drawn into it.

You see all of this in the free preview, before you decide to keep anything.

Repair questions

Can you fix a photo that's torn in half?

Often, yes, if both halves are there. Lay the pieces together flat on a table and photograph them as one. The tear line is mended; anything missing is filled in plainly.

Do I need to scan my photo?

No. A photo taken with your phone works well: flat on a table, away from the window, filling the frame. A scan is fine too.

Will repairing change anyone's face?

No. We compare every face with your original. If a face changes, we keep your original face, cleaned of spots and scratches.

How long does a repair take?

About a minute for the preview. When you keep it, your files are ready in about 20 seconds more.

where the photo used to be.

Found it in the loft? Mend it this week.

See it mended

Free preview. £5.99 to keep it.