Fix old photos, bring everyone together, make memories — with ChatGPT
There is a box in most people's homes — or a folder somewhere on a phone — full of photographs that deserve better. A wedding picture from fifty years ago, faded to a soft brown. A family portrait with a scratch right across it. A photo of someone dearly loved, taken on a camera that was not quite up to the job. For decades, restoring these images meant expensive trips to a specialist or hours of complicated software. Not any more. ChatGPT can do it in minutes, and the results are often extraordinary.
But that is just the beginning. This post covers three of the most joyful things you can do with photos and AI — and all of them are free to try.
Bringing old photographs back to life
Restoring a faded or damaged photograph is one of those things that feels almost miraculous the first time you see it. You upload the old photo to ChatGPT, describe what you would like done, and within a few seconds a restored version appears — colours refreshed, scratches removed, detail brought back that you had forgotten was there.
To try it, go to chatgpt.com and start a new conversation. Click the small image icon next to the text box and upload your photo — you can take a picture of a printed photo with your phone, or upload a digital one directly. Then type something like: "This is an old family photograph that has faded and has a scratch across the top left. Can you restore it — bring the colours back and repair the damage as best you can?" ChatGPT will do the rest.
It works beautifully on black and white photos too. You can ask it to add colour: "This is a black and white photograph from the 1950s. Can you add natural, realistic colour to it?" Seeing a black and white picture of a grandparent or parent suddenly appear in full colour for the first time is something people find genuinely moving.
Putting everyone in the same picture
Families are spread out. Someone lives in Australia. A parent has passed away but their photo sits on the mantelpiece. The grandchildren are scattered across three different cities and have never actually all been in the same room at the same time. AI cannot change any of that in real life — but it can, with a little care, bring everyone together in a picture.
The way this works is by uploading individual photos of each person and asking ChatGPT to place them together in a scene. Upload the photos using the image button next to the text box, then ask something like: "Can you put these people together in a warm, realistic family portrait in a living room setting?"
This is also a wonderful thing to do to mark a birthday or anniversary. Imagine giving someone a framed picture that shows the whole family — children, grandchildren, people who live far away, perhaps even someone who is no longer with us — gathered together for a celebration. It takes a little patience to get right, but the result can be something very special indeed.
A gentle note: when combining real photos of real people, it is worth keeping these images personal and private — for family use, not for sharing widely on social media. Used thoughtfully, this is a genuinely beautiful thing to do.
Fun pictures for gatherings, birthdays and celebrations
Not everything has to be sentimental. Some of the most popular things people make with AI images are simply for a laugh — and there is nothing wrong with that at all.
A birthday card illustration showing the birthday person doing something they would never do in real life. A family portrait where everyone is dressed as their favourite fictional characters. A picture of the whole office or book club reimagined as characters from a period drama. A reunion invitation with a fun illustrated scene of the group. These things take about two minutes and they make people smile every time.
Try something like: "Create a fun, cartoon-style illustration of a group of friends celebrating a 70th birthday party in a garden. Make it colourful and joyful — bunting, a cake, summer sunshine." You do not need to use real photos for these — just describe the scene and let the AI paint it. The results are often brilliant.
These make wonderful additions to party invitations, birthday messages, group WhatsApp chats, or simply as something to print out and put on the wall for the occasion.
A few things worth knowing
ChatGPT's image tools are available on the free version, though the paid version (currently around £20 a month) gives you more uses and higher quality results. For occasional personal use, the free version is perfectly good to start with.
When it comes to photos of real people — especially combining multiple people into one image — always use these creations for private, personal, family purposes. They are not suitable for sharing publicly without the consent of everyone in them, and they should never be used to mislead anyone about what really happened.
Within those simple guidelines, the creative possibilities are genuinely wonderful. People have used AI to restore entire family albums, create gifts that made grandparents cry with joy, and produce reunion keepsakes that everyone treasures. It is one of the warmest, most human things this remarkable technology can do.
See it happen live at a free library talk
Kevin demonstrates photo restoration and AI image creation at his library presentations — including restoring a real old photograph on screen. Come along for free, no booking needed, and see what is possible.
See upcoming library events