Photo Restoration
Hi, I'm Rob — and photo restoration is some of the most rewarding work I do. Every cracked, faded, or damaged photo holds a story worth preserving. With 30+ years of professional Photoshop expertise, I restore old and damaged photographs with meticulous care — using only the best tools available, always guided by an experienced human eye that knows the difference between a shortcut and a solution.
AI restoration tools have become popular, and some have genuine merit for certain tasks. But used alone, they routinely invent detail that wasn't there — changing faces, altering clothing, smoothing away the character that makes old photos irreplaceable. My approach keeps the expert in charge: where AI tools genuinely help, I use them. Where they can't be trusted, I work by hand. Either way, the judgement, the craft, and the final result are always mine — and I only deliver work I'm proud to put my name to.
Rob's expert touch:
- Crack & tear repair — hairline cracks to major tears, repaired seamlessly without softening surrounding detail
- Fading & colour restoration — bringing back true tones from yellowed, washed-out, or heavily faded prints
- Water & mould damage — careful reconstruction of affected areas using context from undamaged parts of the image
- Missing sections — where parts of a photo are physically gone, Rob reconstructs them using period-appropriate reference and the image itself as a guide
- Scratch & foxing removal — fine scratches and age spots removed without disturbing the underlying image
- Sharpening & clarity — recovering detail from soft or out-of-focus originals, applied with restraint so it looks natural
- Converting to colour — hand-coloured black and white photos, researched for period-accurate tones rather than AI-guessed colours
Why not just use an AI restoration tool?
AI photo restoration is fast — and some tools are genuinely impressive for certain tasks. But used without expert oversight, AI guesses. It fills in missing areas based on patterns from millions of other photos, not your photo. The result can look polished at a glance, but on closer inspection faces are subtly wrong, textures are invented, and the unique character of the original is lost.
Rob knows which AI tools are worth using and where to trust them — and equally, where to set them aside and work by hand. For a photo you'll frame, print large, or pass down to grandchildren, that distinction matters enormously. Whatever the approach, Rob's expert eye makes every call — so the result is authentically yours.
Ready to restore a treasured photo?
Send Rob a scan and get a free, no-obligation assessment.
How it works
- Send your photo — email a scan or phone photo of the original. Rob will assess it at no charge.
- Free low-res proof — before any payment, you'll receive a low-resolution preview of the restored image so you can approve the direction.
- Full restoration — once approved, Rob completes the high-resolution file by hand, to your satisfaction.
- Delivered digitally — you receive a print-ready high-res file, ready to frame, print, or share.
Restore your treasured heirloom photos for the generations to come!