Polaroid photo: bring back contrast and detail
Instant photos have a small picture area, and their colours often fade over the years. The tool restores contrast, doubles the resolution and rebuilds faces. If the Polaroid has almost no colour left, it offers colourisation; and the Studio can give it back its white border on a print.
Drop your photos
Up to 20 at once. A scan or a phone picture is enough, 25 MB max.
Free watermarked preview. Photos are deleted automatically after 7 days.
free preview, HD from €1.99
Scanning a Polaroid well
- Watch out for glare
The surface is glossy: avoid flash and direct light. On a scanner, lay it flat; with a phone, shoot it in the shade near a window, straight on.
- Scan at high resolution
The picture itself is small. 600 dpi, common practice for small formats, gives enough pixels to enlarge it.
- Do not take it apart
Never try to open or peel a Polaroid out of its white frame: scan it as it is and crop to the picture later.
How it works
- 1. Digitise Scan the whole Polaroid, border included, or photograph it flat with no glare.
- 2. Upload "Auto colour" keeps the colours still there; a Polaroid faded to almost a single tint gets colourised. Upload the file.
- 3. Compare Drag the before/after slider on the free preview. Don't want imagined colours? Rerun it with "Keep B&W", free.
- 4. Print In the Studio, crop to the picture and pick the "Polaroid" border, with a handwritten caption of up to 60 characters if you like.
What the tool does well, and what it misses
- Good: contrast and dull colours Depth returns on brightness only, without changing the colours that remain.
- Good: faces On a small instant picture, every detected face is rebuilt and blended back in.
- Worth knowing: a badly faded Polaroid If almost only one tint is left, the photo is colourised: the colours are then imagined, not recovered.
- Not yet: cracks and chemical marks A crack in the picture layer, a stain or a bubble will still show.
Frequently asked questions
Will the white Polaroid frame be kept?
The tool restores the file as you send it, frame included. For a print, crop to the picture in the Studio and add the "Polaroid" border: it is redrawn cleanly.
My Polaroid has turned orange or blue. What can I do?
Leave "Auto colour" on: if it has faded to one tint, it is treated as colourless and colourised. Otherwise, try the Studio's black and white look. See also yellowed or faded photos.
Can I print it bigger than the original?
Yes, the picture is enlarged twice (3,200 px at most on the long side). The Studio warns you if it is still too small for the size you pick.
How much does it cost?
The preview is free. HD without watermark is €1.99, or €9.99 for 10, no subscription. A 10×15 cm print is €1.90, HD included.