Old Photo AI Guide

A complete guide to Old Photo AI — the AI-powered platform for restoring and enhancing treasured old photographs in seconds.

What is Old Photo AI?

Old Photo AI is an AI-powered old photo restoration platform that lets you restore damaged, faded, scratched, or black-and-white photos in seconds. Upload your old family portraits and let AI repair the damage, enhance details, and bring your treasured memories back to life.

Tech Stack

AI Models: State-of-the-art generative AI for image restoration
Framework: Next.js App Router with TypeScript
Auth: Better Auth (GitHub + Google OAuth, email/password)
Database: PostgreSQL with Drizzle ORM
Payments: Stripe (subscriptions, one-time purchases, credit packages)
UI: Tailwind CSS + Radix UI + Lucide icons
i18n: next-intl (English + Chinese)
Email: Resend with React Email templates
Content: Fumadocs for documentation, MDX for blog

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+
pnpm (recommended)
PostgreSQL database

Installation

git clone https://github.com/zhangst23/old-photo-ai.git
cd old-photo-ai
pnpm install

Environment Setup

Copy the example environment file and fill in your values:

cp env.example .env.local

Key environment variables:

# Database
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://user:password@localhost:5432/old-photo-ai

# Auth
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=your-secret-key
GITHUB_CLIENT_ID=your-github-client-id
GITHUB_CLIENT_SECRET=your-github-client-secret
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your-google-client-id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your-google-client-secret

# Stripe
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_...
STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=whsec_...

# Email
RESEND_API_KEY=re_...

# AI (Kie API for image generation)
KIE_API_KEY=your-kie-api-key
NEXT_PUBLIC_KIE_MODEL=gpt-image-2-image-to-image

Database Setup

Generate and run migrations:

pnpm db:generate
pnpm db:migrate

Start Development

pnpm dev

Visit http://localhost:3000 to see your app.

How to Restore Photos

Upload a Photo

Click on the upload area or drag and drop your old photo
Supported formats: PNG, JPG, WebP (max 30MB)
Your photo will be displayed as a preview

Describe Your Restoration

Enter a prompt describing how you want to restore the photo. For example:

"Restore colors and fix scratches"
"Enhance details and remove damage"
"Colorize this black and white photo"

Generate

Click "Restore Photo" and wait a few seconds for AI to process your image. The restored version will appear on the right side.

Download

Once satisfied, download the restored photo in your preferred format.

Key Features

AI Photo Restoration

Restore old photos with AI:

Fix Scratches & Damage: Remove scratches, creases, and physical damage
Enhance Details: Improve clarity and sharpness
Restore Colors: Bring faded colors back to life
Colorize B&W: Add realistic colors to black and white photos

Multi-format Export

PNG — High-quality with transparency support
JPG — Optimized for sharing and printing

Credit System

Flexible usage-based billing:

Monthly credit refresh for subscribers
Registration bonus credits
Credit packages for additional restorations
Usage tracking with transaction history

API Integration

Old Photo AI provides a REST API for programmatic photo restoration:

# Restore a photo
POST /api/v1/generate
{
  "prompt": "Restore this old photo, enhance details",
  "input_urls": ["https://storage.example.com/old-photo.jpg"]
}

API keys can be managed from your dashboard under Settings → API Keys.

Common Tasks

Adding a New Page

Create a new file in src/app/[locale]/(marketing)/
Add the route to src/routes.ts
Add navigation links in src/config/navbar-config.tsx

Deploying to Production

pnpm build

The app is ready for deployment on Vercel, Docker, or any Node.js hosting platform.

Learn More

Configuration Guide — Customize the platform for your needs
API Reference — Explore available endpoints and actions