12 Best Gemini AI Prompts for Old Photo Restoration [Detailed]

Old photos are windows into our most treasured memories, capturing moments, faces, and scenes that time has slowly faded. Restoring them the traditional way is often expensive, complicated, and slow, making it hard to bring back the life and brilliance they deserve.

Today, with Gemini, restoring old photos is much simpler and more accessible. You just need the right old photo restoration prompt to naturally recover details and color - bringing clarity and vibrancy back to any image, whether it's a yellowed family snapshot or an old black-and-white portrait.

In this article, you'll learn how to use Gemini to bring your photos back to life, and you'll discover 12 high-quality prompts to help restore old images. Join us on this heartwarming journey and let your most precious memories shine again.

How to Restore Old Photos with Gemini

Gemini is a multimodal AI platform powered by the Nano Banana model, enabling powerful image edits. After you upload a photo, you can use a natural-language prompt to restore it - removing scratches, noise, and fading, correcting colors, enhancing details, and even adjusting the background or redrawing parts of the image -so your old photos regain clarity and life.

The process of restoring old photos with Gemini is very simple:

1️⃣ Upload the photo: Choose the old photo you want to restore - ideally one that's clear and intact.

2️⃣ Enter your Gemini old photo restoration prompts: Based on the type of photo and the restoration you need, write an old photo restoration prompt describing the details or effects you want to recover.

3️⃣ Generate the result: Click Generate so the AI can analyze the damage and rebuild the missing details. In just a few seconds, you'll get a restored photo.

💡 Tips:

• Very low resolution can affect the result, so it's best to use higher-quality images.
• Scratches, creases, fading, or other specific damage may need to be described in the prompt for a more accurate restoration.
• Over-boosting details or color can change the image; make adjustments gradually, step by step.
• Always keep a copy of the original photo before restoring, in case you're not happy with the result or want to compare versions.

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12 Top Gemini AI Prompts for Old Photo Restoration

Now that you understand how restoration works in Gemini, let's put it into practice. Below you'll find 12 prompts designed for different types of old and damaged photos. You can copy them exactly as written or use them as inspiration to get more accurate, natural results that stay true to your images' original look.

1. Faded family photo

My goal is to fully restore this old portrait of a man. It's crucial to remove all visible cracks, tears, stains, and edge deterioration. Please enhance clarity and contrast to bring out his facial features. The result should be flawless - sharp, naturally colored, and true to his original expression - so it looks as vivid as a modern photo.

2. Blurry 1990s couple photo

I'd like to fully restore this old photo of a couple. It's crucial to completely remove all fold and crack marks running through the image, leaving it perfectly smooth. Please also repair the damaged Polaroid frame and edges. We want to recover the original clarity, contrast, and vibrant colors so the photo looks like new - sharp and without any signs of age.

3. Yellowed old black-and-white photo

I'd like to fully restore this old portrait of a man. It's essential to remove all cracks, tears, and stains from the surface, as well as the irregular edges. Please restore the original clarity, contrast, and tones of the black-and-white image. The goal is for the photo to be perfectly restored - sharp and flawless, as if it had just been taken, with no trace of age.

4. Deteriorated wedding photo

I want to fully restore and naturally colorize this old wedding photo. It's essential to remove all deep cracks, tears, stains, and the fingerprint mark. Please repair the damaged paper and edges, and enhance the overall clarity. The goal is a flawless, sharp image with vibrant, realistic colors, as if it were taken and developed today - full of life.

5. Old film frame with heavy grain

Please completely restore this old photo in film-strip format featuring a couple. I want to remove all cracks, the many specks, and the obvious damage along the edges. Also, it's important to improve clarity and apply natural colorization so the image comes to life. The final result should be a sharp, vibrant, restored photo with true-to-life colors, as if time had never passed.

6. Faded studio portrait

I want to fully revive this old female portrait. Please remove all deep cracks, mold, and wear marks covering the image. Also, restore the damaged edges and improve overall sharpness. It's essential to apply natural, realistic colorization, turning this photo into a clear, vibrant image as if it were captured today - full of color and life.

7. Yellowed baby photo

I want to restore and bring this lovely old baby portrait to life with natural colors. Please remove all deep cracks, mold, and severe paper damage along the edges. It's essential to improve clarity and sharpness. The goal is a flawless, bright final image with realistic colors that captures the baby's innocence as if the photo were taken today - full of joy.

8. Blurry childhood graduation photo

I want to restore and authentically colorize this old photo of a group of children wearing graduation caps. Please remove all deep cracks, folds, and stains, restoring the paper's integrity. It's vital to improve clarity for each face. The goal is a sharp, vibrant final image with realistic colors that captures the joy of that special moment as if it were today.

9. Faded portrait from a friends' gathering

I want to restore and bring this old photo of a friends' gathering to life with natural colors. It's essential to remove all tears, folds, and torn paper fragments that ruin it. Please restore the clarity of each person and enhance the details. The goal is a sharp, vibrant final image with true-to-life colors, reviving the joy of this shared moment with clarity.

10. Old photo with a pet

I'd like to fully restore and add vibrant colors to this lovely family photo with their pet. It's essential to remove all tears, folds, stains, and edge damage. Please restore the clarity of each family member and the dog, enhancing their details. The goal is a sharp final image with natural colors, capturing this cherished moment with full vitality.

11. Aged image of a historic building

My goal is to naturally restore and colorize this impressive old photo of a church. Please remove all deep cracks, tears, and surface damage, including the irregular edges. It’s crucial to improve clarity and architectural detail. The desired result is a sharp, vibrant image with realistic colors that shows the church's majesty as if it were current.

12. Worn photograph of a cultural or historical piece

I want to restore and bring this old photograph of a carved figure to life with true-to-life colors. It's crucial to remove the pronounced cracks, folds, and advanced paper deterioration, including the edges. Please recover the clarity of the carving details and improve sharpness. The ideal result is a sharp, vibrant image with natural colors, showing the figure's authenticity with great precision.

Practical tips for writing prompts to restore old photos

To get the best results, it's essential to write a clear and detailed old photo restoration prompt of Gemini. Below are practical tips for creating effective prompts.

• Describe the damage and restoration needs: Clearly point out the photo's issues, such as scratches, creases, stains, or fading, and specify the areas you want to recover - for example, the face, clothing, or background.
• Specify color and sharpness: If the photo is black and white, you can request colorization; if it's in color, define the tones you want restored and the desired level of clarity for a natural result.
• Control the style: Include directions such as "natural, realistic, not exaggerated" to avoid artistic effects or overprocessing.
• Gradual generation: For heavily damaged photos, do several iterations rather than a single generation to optimize details and avoid distortions.
• Preserve the original features: Clarify that facial features and people's appearance must be maintained, avoiding drastic changes or face swapping.

With these techniques, you'll be able to write prompts to restore old photos accurately, preserving both the original details and the emotional value of your memories.

👉 If you want to optimize your prompts to be more precise, or quickly turn a simple image description into a creative prompt, try the Gemini prompt generator.

An alternative to Gemini: restoring old photos with SeaArt AI without prompts

If you don't have experience or simply don't want to write prompts, SeaArt AI offers a quick and easy solution to restore old images with AI for free. With a single click, the AI automatically repairs image damage while preserving people's real features and natural colors, bringing life and clarity back to your memories.

Advantages of SeaArt AI:

• Free one-click restoration, no need to use prompts
• Automatic detection of scratches, creases, fading, noise, and moisture stains
• Preserves people's original appearance without altering facial features
• Natural colorization to revitalize old photos
• High-resolution downloads with no watermarks

Steps to restore old photos with SeaArt AI

Step 1: Sign up and log in to SeaArt AI, then access the old photo restoration feature.

Step 2: Upload the photo you want to restore. You can upload it from your device or paste a direct link.

Step 3: Click Generate. The AI will automatically analyze scratches, creases, color loss, and other damage.

Step 4: In a few seconds, you'll get the restored image. Afterward, you can download it in high quality with no watermark or make additional edits if you'd like.

Creative idea: Animate your old photos with AI

In addition to static restoration, SeaArt AI offers a creative feature that adds motion to old photos. With the help of AI, you can also animate old photos online or transform them into short videos where people smile, blink, or make slight head movements.

This effect works especially well with wedding photos, family portraits, or old images of parents and grandparents, adding a new emotional dimension to memories. In addition, these animated videos are ideal for sharing on TikTok, Instagram, or other social networks, where they often generate strong engagement and have high viral potential.

Conclusion

Artificial intelligence has made restoring old photos easier and more efficient than ever.

For more precise and personalized results, try using these Gemini AI prompts for old photo restoration and tailor each image to your needs. If you prefer something simpler, SeaArt AI offers one-click automatic restoration, preserving natural features and colors and bringing your photos back to life.

Don't wait any longer - recover your memories and relive every moment now!