Restore Old Photos Free Online: What 'Free' Actually Covers
Most 'free photo restoration' tools mean free to look at and paid to download. Shotari's split is different, and the honest version is worth knowing before you scan a shoebox of family photos.
August 7, 2026 ยท 6 min read
Contents
Quick answer
Yes, and more literally than most tools mean it. Restoring an old photo on Shotari's restoration editor runs on Shotari Basic, which costs 0 credits per image โ signed in, there is no per-image charge and no daily cap. Without an account you still get two free restorations a day, and you can download the result immediately. The one thing free does not include is the watermark-free file.
| What you want to do | What it actually costs |
|---|---|
| Restore a photo as a guest, no account | Free โ 2 per day per network |
| Restore a photo signed in (Shotari Basic) | 0 credits, no daily cap |
| Download the result with a watermark | Free, no account needed |
| Download the original-resolution file, no watermark | Requires paid credits |
| Run the premium models (Nano Banana Pro, GPT Image 2โฆ) | 5โ10 paid credits per image |
Where free stops โ and why the 20 signup credits confuse people
Shotari hands out credits from two different kinds of bucket, and they are not interchangeable. This is the single thing that trips people up on the free tier, so it is worth 30 seconds:
Free-source credits
20 when you create an account (these never expire) plus 10 from each daily check-in (these expire in 24 hours). They run Shotari's own models โ Basic and Pro โ and nothing else.
Paid-source credits
Bought in a pack or granted by a subscription. These run everything, including the third-party models, and they are what unlocks the watermark-free download.
Why restoration is effectively unlimited
Shotari Basic is priced at 0 credits. Restoring a photo signed in therefore does not touch either bucket โ your 20 credits are still 20 after ten restorations.
The error that looks like a bug
'Insufficient credits' with a visible balance of 20 is not a bug. You picked a premium model; free-source credits are refused there by design.
Restoring a photo, step by step
1. Scan flat, not at an angle
A phone photo of a photo carries glare and keystone distortion, and the model will faithfully restore both. Lay the print flat, shoot straight down in even indirect light, or use a flatbed at 600 DPI.
2. Upload the scan as a reference image
Drop it into the editor. You can attach up to 3 reference images โ useful when you have the same face in a sharper photo and want the model to have something to anchor to.
3. Leave the model on Shotari Basic
It is selected by default and costs nothing. Only switch to a premium model when Basic has already given you a result you like and you want to re-run it at higher fidelity.
4. Describe the damage, not the mood
'Remove the scratches and the water stain in the top-left corner, keep the facial features unchanged' beats 'make it beautiful'. Specific damage terms are what the model acts on.
5. Give it up to two minutes
The image itself usually appears in about 12โ13 seconds. Preparing the full-resolution file takes roughly another 28 seconds on top. End to end, a typical restore lands around 70 seconds and can reach two minutes under load โ the progress state is not stuck.
Those timings are measured on our own production pipeline, not estimates. If a run does fail, hit retry once before changing anything โ a first-attempt failure is usually transient.
Prompts that work on old scans
Restoration prompts are instructions, not wishes. Name the defect and name what must not change. For the wider theory of what AI restoration can and cannot reconstruct, see our full restoration guide:
General repair
Restore this old photograph: remove scratches, dust and creases, repair the faded areas, and sharpen the details. Keep the original facial features and composition exactly as they are.
Colorize a black and white photo
Colorize this black and white portrait with natural, period-accurate tones. Realistic skin tones, muted 1950s clothing colors. Do not change the facial structure or the background layout.
Fix a torn or missing corner
Repair the torn bottom-right corner of this photograph by continuing the surrounding background and border. Leave every part of the subject untouched.
Rescue a blurry, low-resolution scan
Sharpen this low-resolution scan: recover edge detail in the face and clothing, reduce film grain, correct the yellow color cast from aging. Keep it photographic, not illustrated.
What restoration cannot fix โ read this before a heirloom
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It reconstructs plausibly, it does not remember
Where a face is genuinely destroyed, the model invents a face that fits. It will look convincing and it will not be your relative. Treat heavily damaged faces as a creative reconstruction, not a recovery.
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Every free-tier output carries a watermark
The watermarked PNG is a real download, not a preview โ you can keep it. But if the plan is to print or archive the result, the clean file is a paid step, and there is no way around that.
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The guest limit counts per network, not per browser
Two free runs a day are counted against your IP address on a UTC day boundary. Incognito does not reset it; an account does, and it also removes the cap entirely on Basic.
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Some uploads get refused, and the message is unhelpful
Content moderation runs on the uploaded image. Medical records, ID documents and similar scans get rejected by the model, which surfaces as a generic failure rather than 'this image was refused'. If one specific photo fails twice while others succeed, that is usually why.
When you outgrow the free tier
Two reasons to spend anything: you want the clean high-resolution file, or you want a premium model on a photo Basic could not carry. Prices are per output image at standard resolution โ the same bucket rules apply to every model, which is why GPT Image 2 is not free even with credits in your balance:
| Model | Credits per image | Runs on free credits? |
|---|---|---|
| Shotari Basic | 0 | Yes โ the default for restoration |
| Shotari Pro | 2 | Yes |
| Seedream 5 Lite | 3 | No โ paid credits only |
| GPT Image 2 | 5 | No โ paid credits only |
| Nano Banana Pro | 10 | No โ paid credits only |
Resolution multiplies the base cost: 2K is ร1.5 and 4K is ร2.0, and a 16:9 or 9:16 frame adds another ร1.1. Restore at standard resolution first, then re-run only the keeper at 4K.
FAQ
Can I restore old photos free online without signing up?
Yes โ two per day, and the watermarked download works without an account. The account is worth creating anyway because it removes the daily cap on Shotari Basic.
Is there a limit on how many photos I can restore?
Signed in, no. Shotari Basic costs 0 credits, so a shoebox of 200 scans costs nothing but time. The 2-per-day limit only applies to guests.
Will restoring change my relative's face?
On a photo with intact facial detail, no โ ask it to keep facial features unchanged and it will. On a face that is torn away or completely blurred, it reconstructs, and reconstruction is invention.
How do I get the photo without a watermark?
Choose 'No watermark' in the download menu. It needs an account with paid credits โ a credit pack or a subscription โ and it downloads the original-resolution file rather than the preview.
Does it work on black and white photos?
Yes, both to repair damage and to colorize. Do them in one prompt rather than two passes; each pass re-generates the whole image, so a second pass can drift away from the first result.
Restore a photo now
Upload a scan and describe the damage. Basic costs 0 credits, and the first two runs do not even need an account.
Open the restoration editor