Capture the dried print
Photograph the print in soft daylight, or scan it. Capture it exactly as it is, stains and all, because this copy is also your safety net.
Restore water damaged photos
in seconds.
Water leaves tide marks, staining, silt, and mold spots on prints that survive it. PicFix cleans all of that from a capture of the dried print in one tap, and this page also covers the physical rescue that comes first.
After
BeforeSave the print first: the 48-hour salvage protocol
Wet prints grow mold within about two days, so the physical rescue comes before any software. This protocol is condensed from the Northeast Document Conservation Center's emergency salvage guidance and the National Park Service's disaster leaflet.
- Get the photos out of the water and somewhere cool and dry.
- If they are muddy, rinse them gently in clean, cool water without scrubbing the image side.
- Air dry them flat, in a single layer, image side up, on paper towels or clean cloth. Keep them out of direct sun and away from heat.
- More photos than you can dry in 48 hours? Freeze the rest, interleaved with wax or freezer paper in bags, and thaw small batches later.
- Daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, and glass negatives are the exception. Skip the soaking and freezing and hand them to a conservator.
Stacks that dried stuck together deserve extra caution. The gelatin layer welds prints to each other, and the Smithsonian Archives advises against separating them with water, since different photographic processes react unpredictably and writing on the back can run. Separate only what parts willingly, and let a conservator handle the rest.
Once the prints are dry, photograph each one in soft window light, square-on. From there the repair is digital, and the picture side of water damage cleans up remarkably well. Our damage-by-damage guide covers every other kind of damage the same way.
How to restore a water damaged photo
Three steps from a stained print to a clean picture. Same on iPhone, Mac, and the web.
Frame and tap Fix Photo
Pinch and rotate inside the preview to frame just the print, then tap Fix Photo. Tide marks, staining, silt, and mold spots are cleared while sharpness and lighting come back.
Compare and save
Drag the slider across the result to check it against the original, the same review we use on every example we publish. Your original file stays untouched.
What Fix Photo cleans up after water
One tap handles what the flood left behind on the picture.
Tide marks and staining
The brown edges and watermarks that dried water leaves across a print lift out while the underlying image is preserved.
Mold spots and silt
Dark mold speckle and fine silt residue clear the way scratches do, and the pass sharpens softened detail at the same time.
Colors and lighting
Water-dulled contrast and shifted color come back to life. The original colors are kept; add color to monochrome prints with Fix & Colorize.
Honest limits
Where water dissolved the image completely, the repair becomes a reconstruction rather than a recovery. Our methodology page shows both outcomes on real flood-damaged photos.
Frequently asked questions
Can water damaged photos be restored?
Usually, yes, when you act inside the first 48 hours. Dry or freeze the prints before mold starts, then photograph each one and run Fix Photo. Tide marks, staining, and mold spots clean up well; where water dissolved the image completely, the repair becomes a reconstruction.
My photos are stuck together. Should I soak them apart?
Be careful with soaking. The Smithsonian Archives advises against separating stuck photos with water, because different photographic processes react unpredictably and inks on the back can run. Separate only what parts willingly, capture what you can see, and take irreplaceable pieces to a conservator.
Can PicFix remove mold spots and tide marks?
Yes. In the digital copy, mold spots, tide marks, silt speckle, and staining lift out the way scratches do, while sharpness and lighting are restored in the same pass. The physical print still needs to be dried and stored properly, as covered in the salvage steps.
Does PicFix repair the physical print?
No. PicFix produces a repaired digital copy from a photo or scan of your print, and your original file is never altered. The physical rescue, meaning drying, freezing, and safe handling, is described in the salvage protocol on this page.
Rescue the picture today
The example above is a 1930s glass plate from the Costica Acsinte Archive, restored with one tap. Yours takes about a minute.