Trying to share an old photo without the ceiling light in it?
You want to send someone an old family photo, but every picture you take of the print has a bright reflection across somebody's face. Before trying an AI restoration tool, Google's existing PhotoScan app is worth a look. Its help page describes a simple capture: hold the phone above the print, take the first picture, then move the phone so the circle passes over each of four dots. Leave Glare removal on. Google's technical explanation says it aligns several views and combines them, using the fact that the reflection moves as the camera moves. It isn't asking a chatbot to imagine the face behind the glare. I'd start with the one picture you actually want to send, rather than turn the evening into an album-scanning project. Put it on a flat surface with a contrasting background, keep the phone level, then check the faces and crop in the saved result. You can adjust the corners afterward. If you later try AI colour or restoration effects, I'd keep this scan separately. A cleaned-up version can be fun to share without becoming your only digital copy of the print. This is an existing scanning option, not a new release or a comparison I've tested.
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If a bright patch survives the scan, I'd change the lighting and scan again before asking an AI restoration tool to fill it. Google's 2017 technical explanation relies on each part of the print being visible without glare in at least one view; it says that happened in most cases, not all. It also illustrates how imperfect alignment can create duplicated details. So I'd zoom in on eyes and any small lettering in the saved picture, comparing them with the print. That's a check suggested by the documented method, not a fault I've found in today's app. A face that looks cleaner at message size still deserves a closer look before that scan becomes the family's reference copy.
Before putting a loose print away, I'd turn it over and check for handwriting. A pencilled name or ‘our first flat’ might be the only clue to where the picture belongs. I'd photograph that separately and keep the two files together, without asking AI to fill in an uncertain name. If the photo is stuck in an album, leave it attached; the nearby caption or page may be worth capturing instead. It's easy to spend the effort getting a face clear and leave the family's own explanation in the drawer.
Keep “our first flat” in the caption, too. If an AI helps write the message, ask it to preserve the handwritten words as a quote rather than polish them into “a cherished chapter of their journey.” The short, ordinary phrase belongs to somebody; the grander version could go under anyone’s photograph. Add a separate note if you learn who wrote it or which flat they meant. The family’s wording is worth passing on even when it isn’t enough to identify the picture.