Remove Scratches from Photo free
Old prints pick up scratches, tears and stains.
Paint over the damage and PicReviver fills it in from the surrounding detail instead of smearing the mark away. Whatever you don't paint over stays exactly as it was. Free, no account.
By Sam Ridder · Last updated: September 2026
It fills in the damage from the detail around it: it does not blur it away. And only where you paint: we measured that outside a 7-pixel edge around your brush stroke, not a single pixel changes. Full size, no watermark, no account.
Damage gone but the photo still soft or faded? Run it through the restore & sharpen tool afterwards.
How the tool handles scratches and cracks
You paint over the damage and the model fills that area with detail predicted from its surroundings, instead of smearing or blurring the mark away. On a thin scratch that prediction is close to what was there, because the detail on both sides shows what belongs in between; on a large gap it is a plausible guess. Everything you don't paint over stays untouched: we measured this on a damaged 1902 glass plate and outside a 7-pixel edge around your brush stroke, not a single pixel changed.
- Tears, creases and fold lines: painted over and rebuilt, including the detail behind them
- Stains, blotches and a missing corner: the surrounding structure is continued into the gap
- A whole web of hairline scratches: a warning. That is a lot of painting. For those, run the restore pass instead; it softens them without you marking each one
- Colour blotching from age: try the colourise pass afterwards for faded prints
Get the best starting point
Damage repair lives or dies on the quality of the copy you feed in. A clean, high-resolution scan gives the model far more real detail to rebuild from than a hurried phone snap of the print under a lamp. It's worth doing this once, properly.
- Scan the print at 600 DPI, or take a flat, evenly-lit phone photo of it, our scanning guide covers this.
- Drop the scan into the repair tool above.
- Paint over the scratches and press "Repair it"; repeat for anything you missed.
- Compare before and after, then download the cleaned-up copy.
What it can and can't do
Be realistic about what scratch removal can do. PicReviver blends fine scratches, dust and small blemishes into the surrounding detail, because the model has enough real information around them to work with. A deep gouge or a scratch that cuts straight through a face or a sharp edge is harder: there, it can soften the mark rather than fully erase it.
So: thin scratches, cracks and creases over intact detail are exactly the sweet spot and usually improve a lot. A deep gouge that has removed the emulsion, or a section physically torn away, leaves nothing for the model to rebuild from, and no tool can paint back a face that isn't there any more. For an all-round faded-and-scratched print, the combined restore old photos flow is the place to start. If the mark isn't a scratch but a skin blemish or spot on a modern photo, BGNinja's blemish remover is the more targeted tool.
A free photo scratch remover that you steer with a brush
This tool leaves the decision to you: you paint over each mark and only that area is rebuilt. To remove scratches from photos online free of charge, upload the scan, set the brush size with the slider, paint along the scratch, press “Repair it” and download the result at full size, with no watermark. Ten repairs a day are free.
The same steps work for removing scratches from a picture that came off a phone camera, and for anyone who needs to take scratches off a photo of a printed snapshot: use a small brush for hairline marks and a larger one for a tear or a stain.
Sources
- Inpainting: Inpainting fills damaged areas from surrounding detail
- Digitisation: Archives advise at least 600 PPI for photographs
Common questions
Can AI really remove scratches from a photo?
Yes, the ones you paint over. The model fills each painted scratch from the detail around it, so thin scratches, cracks and creases usually disappear rather than turning into a soft smudge. For a whole web of hairline scratches, the automatic restore pass softens them without you marking each one.
Will deep tears and missing pieces be fixed?
They get filled, but not recovered. A small tear or a missing corner of plain background usually looks convincing, because the surroundings show what belongs there. A piece that took part of a face or an object with it comes back as a plausible guess, not as it really was.
Do I need to scan the print first?
Yes, upload a digital copy. A clean 600 DPI scan gives a much better result than a quick phone snap, see our scanning guide.
Is it free and private?
Yes. Ten repairs a day are free, one photo at a time, with no account and no watermark, and your upload is deleted right after processing.
Is there a free online tool to remove scratches from photos?
Yes, this page: it runs in your phone or desktop browser with no software to install. Upload the scan or phone photo, paint over the scratches, and the result downloads free at full resolution, without a watermark or an account.
Is there a free online photo editor that removes scratches, dust and scan lines?
This isn't a full online photo editor, but it does that one job: paint over the scratches, dust spots and scan lines, and the model fills them in, with nothing else to set up. If you need a general photo editor for cropping or colour, use one afterwards.
Do scratched photos always need professional restoration?
No: most scratched photos improve a lot with this tool alone, since it rebuilds the detail around a scratch instead of just smudging it. Deep gouges or missing pieces are the exception; those need more than any AI pass can promise.
Is a small photo scratch worth fixing, or is it not noticeable?
Even a faint photo scratch tends to catch the eye once you've seen it, especially across a face or sky. It takes the same few seconds to remove as a deep one, so there's no reason to leave it.
What causes old photo scratches in the first place?
Usually handling and storage: sliding prints against each other in a box, dust trapped under glass, or a scanner bed that wasn't clean. None of that affects how well the repair works now.
Can I fix an old photo with scratches across someone's face?
Yes, but it is the hardest case. Paint over the scratch only, with a small brush: a thin line across a cheek usually disappears, while a scratch through an eye or the mouth may soften rather than fully vanish, because the model has to guess at features. Check the face afterwards against the original.
Will this work on old scratched photos from a shoebox, not just a scanner?
Yes: a phone photo of an old scratched photo works, though a proper 600 DPI scan gives the model more to work from. Either way, upload it and paint over the scratches.