Guides
Guides: restore, scan, colorize & animate old photos
Everything you need to rescue and revive your family photos — from scanning a shoebox of prints to restoring, colorizing, and bringing them to life. Clear, practical, and free.
In this guide series
Whether you're just starting to digitize an old album or you're ready to animate a treasured portrait, these guides walk you through every step. Start with a topic below.
Where to start
If your photos are still physical prints, begin with how to scan old photos — a good digital copy is the foundation for everything else. Once your photos are digitized, move on to restoring the damage, colorizing black-and-white images, and finally animating them into living videos.
Along the way, preserving your photos — organizing, backing up, and storing them safely — ensures the work you do lasts for generations.
Every guide is free to read and pairs with FotoRipple’s tools — where restoration and colorization are always free, and signup includes 5 free animations.