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Scanning old or damaged photos? Get the exact resolution (DPI) to use — for archiving, reprinting, enlarging, or AI restoration — with instant pixel dimensions and file size.
Recommended scan resolution
600 DPI
→ produces a 2,400 × 3,600 px scan (~8.6 MP, ~25 MB uncompressed TIFF)
Before AI restoration, scan high (600–1200 DPI). The more real detail the scan captures, the more the AI has to work with on faces, texture, and damage — a low-DPI scan caps how good the restored result can be.
Scanned your old photos? Repair scratches, fading, tears, and blur — or colorize black-and-white — with our AI photo restoration tool →
| Purpose | Recommended DPI | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Reprint at same size | 300 DPI | Print-quality standard; 600 DPI for small originals |
| AI restoration / enhancement | 600–1200 DPI | Give the AI maximum real detail to rebuild from |
| Archival / preservation master | 600 DPI (1200 for small) | Scan once, keep forever — capture generously |
| Enlarge to bigger print | 300 × enlargement factor | e.g. 4→12 in = 900 DPI |
| Web / social sharing only | 300 DPI is plenty | Downscale from a higher archival scan when possible |
DPI (dots per inch) is how much real detail your scanner captures from a print. It sets a hard ceiling on everything you do afterward: you can always throw pixels away by downscaling, but you can never add detail that the original scan did not record.
That ceiling matters most for two jobs. Archiving — because you scan a fragile original once and want a master that outlives the print. And AI restoration — because tools that rebuild faces, sharpen blur, and repair damage can only work with the detail that is actually in the file. Feed AI a soft 200 DPI scan and even the best model has little to reconstruct; feed it a crisp 600–1200 DPI scan and the recovered result is dramatically better.
The one caveat: there is a point of diminishing returns. A standard photographic print holds roughly 1200 DPI of genuine detail; scanning far beyond that just magnifies grain and balloons file size without adding information. For nearly all old-photo work, somewhere in the 600–1200 DPI band is the sweet spot.
Repair scratches, tears, fading, and blur — or colorize black-and-white photographs — with AI in about a minute.
Try AI Photo Restoration →600 DPI as a baseline, and 1200 DPI for small (under 4 inches) or precious originals. 300 DPI is only enough for reprinting at the exact original size. Higher DPI captures more real detail, which matters most before AI restoration and for archival masters.
600–1200 DPI. The AI can only rebuild detail that exists in the scan — a low-DPI scan caps how good the restored result can be. Capture generously, then restore.
Only up to a point. Scanning past the detail actually present in the print (about 1200 DPI for a standard photograph) just enlarges grain and file size without adding real information.