Our story
About PhotoScanRestore
PhotoScanRestore exists to help families, genealogists, and community archivists transform boxes of prints, slides, and negatives into a living digital story. We combine simple digitizing guidance, careful AI restoration, and private sharing tools so you can relive, narrate, and preserve every moment without surrendering control to a lab.
PhotoScanRestore is built by a solo founder and shaped by real conversations with people digitizing family archives. The goal is simple: make it easy to start with one photo, see a before/after you can trust, and then scale up only when you’re happy.
Who we help
From shoeboxes to multi-generation archives
Whether you're starting with a single album or inheriting decades of memories, we meet you where you are.
- Family historians coordinating reunions, memorials, or milestone celebrations who need fast, collaborative workflows.
- Community archivists and heritage centers preserving local history with limited staff and budget.
- Anyone inheriting albums, slides, or film who wants museum-grade results without expensive equipment.
How it works
Three steps to preserved memories
Capture, restore, and share—all from your phone or desktop.
Digitize
Photograph prints with your phone camera (or upload flatbed scans) and follow our lighting tips to avoid glare and distortion.
Restore
AI-powered enhancements for color, dust, scratches, and faces with controls to dial in subtle, archival-friendly results.
Share
Organize photos into private timelines, add captions or oral histories, and invite family to contribute their perspectives.
Milestones
Our journey so far
- 2023
- Prototype inspired by restoring our founder's grandparents' wedding album—proof that AI could remove scratches without erasing history.
- 2024
- Private beta with 100 families validating our glare-free digitizing workflow, color repair, and private sharing timeline.
- 2025
- Launched the public restore demo, face enhancer preview, and tooling that connects restorations to living family narratives.
Our values
What guides us
These principles shape every feature, partnership, and support interaction.
Respect the original
Every enhancement must feel faithful. We design guardrails so your restored photos preserve the emotion, texture, and history of the original print.
Privacy by default
Family archives are personal. Timelines are invite-only, media stays encrypted at rest, and you control every share.
Access for every storyteller
Clear guidance, accessible UI, and responsive support mean grandparents, grandkids, and community archivists can collaborate with confidence.
FAQs
Common questions
Need more detail? Visit the Contact page and we'll tailor a response.
Is PhotoScanRestore a replacement for professional labs?
We complement professional labs by giving you control over rapid digitization, automatic restoration, and private sharing. Some users still outsource extremely fragile originals for capture, then bring the files back into PhotoScanRestore for organization and storytelling.
How do you protect uploaded photos?
Uploads use HTTPS, assets are encrypted at rest, and only invited collaborators can view a timeline. You can delete originals, outputs, and account data at any time from your dashboard.
Do I need specialized hardware to get good results?
No. Use the phone camera you already own (or a flatbed scanner when you have one), then upload to PhotoScanRestore for restoration and organization.
Can organizations or archives use PhotoScanRestore?
Yes. Community archives, museums, and schools use team workspaces to coordinate digitization projects. Reach out through the contact form so we can tailor access controls and storage to your needs.
What's next on the roadmap?
We're investing in collaborative storytelling, richer metadata export, and bulk import tools. Follow the press room for release dates.
Ready to connect? Visit the Contact page for support and partnership details, or subscribe to updates through the Press room.