Users are using advanced AI tools like Google Gemini and ChatGPT to restore and improve old photos, sparking a viral trend on social media.
These AI platforms use smart technology to revive faded colors, eliminate scratches, and enhance clarity, turning vintage prints into images that look like they were taken with modern cameras, such as the Canon EOS R5.
The results are impressive. Many users say their restored photos look “as if they were taken yesterday,” not decades ago.
The official Gemini AI account on X shared that one of the most touching uses for this technology is photo restoration, allowing people to revive their cherished family memories by refining, unblurring, and colorizing old pictures.
ChatGPT vs Gemini: Which AI performs better?
While both Gemini and ChatGPT produce great results in restoring photos, early comparisons show that Gemini captures texture and color more realistically.
On the other hand, ChatGPT excels in maintaining sharp details, giving photos a polished, ultra-high-resolution look that rivals professional editing software.
Both platforms use deep learning models trained on huge image datasets to smartly analyze and enhance photos. Choosing between them often comes down to personal preference and the specific look users want for their restored memories.
How to Restore and Enhance Old Photos With AI Using Gemini or ChatGPT?
Users can easily upload their old, damaged photos to Google Gemini or ChatGPT, and with the right prompt, those photos can be restored to professional quality.
Thanks to many detailed restoration prompts shared on social media, anyone can use these AI tools to turn vintage images into stunning portraits.
On Saturday, AI expert @ShreyaYadav_ posted a guide that quickly went viral
Here step-by-step tips have been shared thousands of times, making AI photo restoration available to everyone.
Prompt:
“Restore and enhance old photos with AI. Transform this vintage photograph into a professional portrait of very high quality and color, comparable to the results of a Canon EOS R5 or professional DSLR camera. Create like a recent photo taken today, with exceptional clarity, zero noise, and perfect color balance. Produce razor-sharp images with natural skin tones. Output: Full HD 32k resolution with professional dynamic range.”
The key to getting professional results from AI tools lies in crafting detailed, specific prompts. Just as we explored in our guide on AI logo prompt formulas, the more precise your instructions, the better your output.
The same principle applies to photo restoration—detailed prompts produce dramatically better results than simple requests like “restore this photo.
Top Prompts to USE While Restoring and Enhancing OLD Photos
- Maintain Identity and Authenticity: Do not alter facial features or make subjects unrecognizable; instead, preserve their exact facial structure, expressions, natural skin tone, hairline, and distinguishing characteristics that make them unique.
- Ultra-High Resolution: Sharpen the image to ultra-high quality (4K, 8K, or Full HD 32k), eliminating all grain, noise, blur, pixelation, and compression artifacts for crystal-clear results.
- Natural Color Restoration: Restore authentic skin tones, realistic lighting, and natural shadows using advanced color correction. Avoid oversaturated, cartoonish, or artificially enhanced colors that look unnatural.
- Damage Removal: Remove all physical damage including scratches, cracks, stains, fading, discoloration, water damage, and creases. Clean up the background gradually while maintaining the authenticity of the original setting and era.
- Detail Enhancement: Gently enhance facial features (eyes, eyebrows, hair texture, wrinkles, smile lines) and clothing textures (fabric patterns, buttons, jewelry) to create the illusion of a contemporary portrait while respecting the original time period.
- Professional Lighting: Apply soft, natural lighting that flatters the subject while preserving realism, such as golden hour daylight, studio portrait lighting, or environmental lighting that matches the original scene.
- Background Refinement: Smooth and clarify the background without changing its fundamental character (preserve vintage studio backdrops, outdoor settings, or historical locations as they were).
- Output Quality Standards: Produce a final image with exceptional definition, zero digital noise, perfectly balanced contrast, realistic depth of field, and professional dynamic range that rivals images from modern mirrorless cameras.
- Emotional Preservation: Deliver a high-resolution, beautifully restored portrait that retains the originality, historical context, and emotional essence of the vintage photograph while giving it contemporary clarity and professional polish.
AI photo restoration tools like Google Gemini and ChatGPT are becoming essential in every designer’s toolkit, joining other must-have creative software.
If you’re building your design arsenal, check out our comprehensive list of top graphic designer tools every creative needs in 2026 to discover which AI-powered and traditional tools can elevate your work.