Technological Innovations in AI Photo Restoration + Top 5 AI Tools Recommendations

8 January 2024 by
Apryl Zhang

In the past, many photos had suboptimal quality due to limitations in photography techniques and equipment. Over time, these photos became blurry or damaged. Now, with advancements in artificial intelligence, the emergence of AI Photo Restoration technology can help repair and preserve these precious photos, enhancing their quality and preserving important memories. This article will introduce the principles, applications, recommended tools, and future trends of AI Photo Restoration.

The Significance of AI Photo Restoration

The limitations of past photography techniques and damage over time have resulted in many photos becoming blurry or damaged. AI Photo Restoration technology can help repair and preserve these precious photos. Many people keep old family photos at home, which carry precious memories and family history. However, due to the passage of time and limitations in storage conditions, these old photos often suffer damage and decay. AI Photo Restoration technology can restore these photos to their original state, allowing people to reminisce about the good times of the past.

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Why is AI Photo Restoration so Amazing?

AI photo editing technology is so amazing because it can restore images more accurately and efficiently, avoiding the impact on the quality and authenticity of the image caused by unnatural transitions between restored and original areas. It also saves time and effort compared to manual restoration.

The key difference between AI photo editing technology and other photo editing software lies in the restoration principles. Traditional photo editing software typically uses methods such as copying or filling, copying pixels from adjacent areas and filling in the gaps or blurriness to achieve photo restoration effects. However, since this method is a mechanical and repetitive process, the transitions between the restored and original areas often appear rigid, and errors frequently occur, requiring repeated manual modifications that are time-consuming and labor-intensive.

In contrast, AI photo editing technology has the ability to learn through self-supervised deep learning. It can analyse and learn from a large number of images to predict missing content in photos and then restore them. AI photo editing technology can automatically identify the areas in a photo that need restoration, avoiding unnatural transitions between the restored and original areas. For example, when there is a partial loss of the yellow bud of a pink flower in an image, using conventional photo editing software may result in a restored bud that is also pink, failing to restore the true colour of the bud. However, using AI photo editing technology for restoration can better restore the true colour of the bud, achieving a more natural effect.

Applications of AI Photo Restoration

AI Photo Restoration has a wide range of applications, including restoration of personal and family photos, restoration of old and damaged photos, enhancement of photo quality and style, as well as preservation and restoration of cultural and historical assets.

Restoration of Personal and Family Photos

Over time, personal and family photos may lose some details or colours due to damage, fading, or other reasons. AI Photo Restoration technology can restore these details and colours, making the photos appear clearer and more realistic. These photos hold precious memories for people, but without restoration, these memories may be lost forever. AI Photo Restoration can help people quickly and accurately restore these photos, allowing them to relive precious memories.

Restoration of Old Photos

Some photos may have existed for a long time, and these photos are extremely important for family or cultural history. Old photos can also be restored using AI technology to restore their original colours and details, allowing people to better understand their history and background.

Enhancement of Photo Quality and Style

AI Photo Restoration technology can adjust aspects such as the tone, contrast, and clarity of photos, improving the overall quality and creating a more unique style. For example, AI technology can convert black and white photos into colour photos or transform low-resolution photos into high-resolution ones.

Preservation and Restoration of Cultural and Historical Assets

AI Photo Restoration technology can also be applied to the preservation and restoration of cultural and historical assets. For instance, using AI restoration techniques, pictures of documents, manuscripts, and other artifacts can be restored to their original details and quality, allowing people to better understand the historical and cultural value they represent.

Top 5 AI Photo Restoration Online Tool Recommendations

1. CodeFormer

CodeFormer

Photo Source: CodeFormer

CodeFormer is a tool that can effectively improve the quality of old photos. However, in some cases, it may be necessary to combine other tools or methods to achieve the best restoration results.

After using the CodeFormer tool to restore an old photo, there will be a noticeable improvement in the results. The originally scanned old photo had blurry edges and unclear facial features, but after restoration, the facial features become much clearer. The final result doesn't have an overly retouched or distorted appearance, and the clarity of hair strands is also enhanced. Additionally, the file size of the photo increases by 2.5 times, which means the restored photo can be used for a variety of purposes.

However, if the photo is already too blurry and unclear, the restoration capabilities of the CodeFormer tool may be limited. In such cases, it may be necessary to use other photo editing software in combination to achieve better restoration results.

2. RestorePhoto.io

RestorePhoto.io

Photo Source: RestorePhoto.io

Using RestorePhotos, you can restore photos with blurry or low resolution, and the tool is simple to use without the need for registration or account login.

Firstly, RestorePhotos can restore photos of faces, making them clearer even if they were originally blurry or low-resolution. Users can restore photos that are blurry due to poor capturing devices or other reasons, enhancing the details and making facial features more visible.

Secondly, the tool is user-friendly, requiring only the upload of the image, which is then processed automatically without additional options. This allows users to easily restore photos without any prior editing experience or skills.

Thirdly, RestorePhotos provides different comparison modes that allow users to easily compare the before and after restoration results. Users can also download the new photos without the need for registration or account login. This enables quick and effortless photo restoration, with the option to download the restored photos to their local computer for further use or sharing.

3.  jpgHD

jpgHD

Photo Source: jpgHD

jpgHD is easy to use, simply open the jpghd.com website in a browser, drag and drop the image, and click start. Within a few minutes, the results will be generated, making it very convenient. jpgHD utilises advanced AI technology to restore old photos in high definition. It mainly supports old photo restoration, colourisation, and dynamic photo enhancements.

4. Remini Photo Enhancer

Remini Photo Enhancer

Photo Source: Remini Photo Enhancer

Remini is an AI-powered photo quality restoration tool that detects faces, colours, and other elements in photos, and makes adjustments to make them look sharper and clearer. After restoration, basic editing such as cropping, resizing, adjusting brightness and contrast can be performed. It can also be used to remove facial imperfections, red-eye, and apply filters to the photos.

Remini restores photos quickly, allowing for the restoration of multiple photos within a short period. It supports basic editing functions such as rotation, cropping, brightness, contrast adjustment, etc., enabling users to further improve the quality of their photos. It has both a web and app version, supporting iOS and Android, making it easy for users to restore photos on different devices.

However, Remini currently does not support batch restoration of multiple photos. Users need to restore photos one by one, which may take some time. It also requires account login for the free trial, which may inconvenience some users.

5. PicWish

PicWish

Photo Source: PicWish

PicWish is a free photo restoration tool that allows you to quickly repair photos by reducing blurriness and increasing clarity with just an upload. Additionally, the app version of PicWish offers other online tools such as background removal, spot removal, and ID photo features.

PicWish restores photos quickly, allowing users to repair multiple photos in a short time. It supports 13 languages, enabling users to use the tool in their preferred language for photo restoration. It also has both a web and app version, supporting iOS and Android, making it easy for users to restore photos on different devices. However, the app version requires payment to download the restored photos, which may be inconvenient for some users.

Other advanced tools: Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop

Photo Source: Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop allows AI to quickly repair photos, for example, with automatic hole filling and restoration features. AI technology can automatically detect defects in images such as blemishes, scratches, and stains, and then use predefined models for automatic hole filling and restoration, making the images more perfect and flawless. It can also assist you in photo restoration.

AI Photo Restoration Before and After Comparison

Using the five methods mentioned above, let's compare the before and after effects of restoring five photos.

The Future Development and Trends of AI Photo Restoration

AI photo restoration is a revolutionary technology that effectively repairs and preserves photos.

More efficient and accurate restoration: AI technology can automatically detect and repair defects in photos. In the future, AI photo restoration techniques will become more efficient and accurate. AI photo restoration will be able to handle more complex restoration tasks, allowing for faster and more precise restoration of a larger number of photos.

Diverse applications: AI photo technology can be applied not only to everyday photo restoration but also to other fields such as medical imaging. It can also play a role in emerging applications such as creating virtual reality and augmented reality experiences, assisting AI in generating photos.

AI photo restoration is a revolutionary technology that offers new possibilities and methods for photo restoration and preservation. With the continuous development of artificial intelligence technology, AI photo restoration will be applied in more fields. Capture HK continues to innovate its technology to provide a better experience for consumers. Capture HK's patented technology allows for batch processing of photos, eliminating the need to physically remove photos from albums for digitisation. The unique technology restores colours and preserves the original appearance of the photos, greatly simplifying the process of digitising photos and improving accuracy.


*This article is brought to you by Capture HK.

Capture HK is the premier analogue media digitisation company in Hong Kong.

Capture HK's business covers photographs, photo album digitisation, videotapes digitisation, including VHS, S-VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS-C Hi-8, Video8, Digital8, DV, DVCAM, MiniDV, DVC and digital media digitisation, including Secure Digital (SD), Smart Media (SM), MultiMediaCard (MMC) Compact Flash (CF), xD-Picture Card, Memory Stick, USB Drive, CDROM, DVD.

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