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How to restore a worn portrait on Mac

Repair worn areas of a portrait, adjust old-photo corrections, and compare the restoration with the original.

5 stepsUpdated Nov 12, 2026Get Repair Damaged Photos
What you'll achieve
A portrait processed with masked repair and whole-photo tonal cleanup, with a before-and-after comparison ready for review.
What you need
  • A digital portrait scan or photo that can be opened in Repair Damaged Photos.
  • Repair Damaged Photos 2.0 on Mac.
Before-and-after portrait comparison in Repair Damaged Photos, with the original on the left, restored preview on the right, and Restore Old Photo adjustments visible.

Repair Damaged Photos combines localized masked repair with whole-photo correction. The screenshots use an example portrait to demonstrate the controls; on your own scan, paint the actual worn or scratched area before adjusting the overall finish.

  1. 1.Load your portrait

    Open your portrait in Repair Damaged Photos and confirm the import. The source image appears on the editor canvas.

    A portrait imported into Repair Damaged Photos on Mac
    A portrait imported into Repair Damaged Photos on Mac

  2. 2.Paint over the damaged area

    Open Add Repair, choose Fill a Damaged Area, select Include, and keep Show mask overlay checked. Paint over the spot that needs reconstruction; the blue stroke indicates the repair mask.

    Blue repair mask stroke painted on the example portrait's dark jacket, with mask controls visible
    Blue repair mask stroke painted on the example portrait's dark jacket, with mask controls visible

  3. 3.Add Restore Old Photo

    Open Add Repair and choose Restore Old Photo. Keep Whole Photo selected to apply the correction across the scan, and review the preview after rendering.

    Old Photo correction added to the portrait's repair plan
    Old Photo correction added to the portrait's repair plan

  4. 4.Fine-tune the old-photo controls

    Adjust Fading Recovery (%), Tone Normalization (%), Scratch Cleanup (%), Dust Reduction (%), and Grain Retention (%) to balance cleanup and natural texture.

    Old Photo correction controls adjusted for fading, tone and scratches
    Old Photo correction controls adjusted for fading, tone and scratches

  5. 5.Compare the result with the original

    Select Compare with original to inspect the original portrait against the restored version before you finish.

    Before-and-after divider across a portrait, with Old Photo controls in the inspector
    Before-and-after divider across a portrait, with Old Photo controls in the inspector

Tips

  • Paint over the damaged area rather than covering the entire face.

  • Use the Old Photo adjustments gradually; compare the result with the original before finishing.

  • Watch outRestoration cannot reconstruct details that are absent from the source with certainty.

  • Watch outKeep a separate copy of the original portrait.

Guides for Repair Damaged Photos