Great-grandma's not looking so good anymore, with brown spots on her face and a tear across her dress. Grandpa's become rather pale and sickly. And for years, you've been watching your mom and dad slowly turn purple.

Time and wear can take a toll on family photos in the form of fading, spots and creases. Don't wait until your ancestors are unrecognizable—and don't go broke restoring their images, either. We'll show you the tools you need to digitally refurbish your photos, and techniques for four common photo fixes.

Make a resolution

Photo retouching starts with a good scan of the damaged photo. You don't need an expensive scanner—the flatbed scanner you got for less than $100 or your all-in-one printer/scanner/copier will work fine for most jobs. For help selecting a scanner, see the buyer's guide to all-in-ones in the March 2010 Family Tree Magazine.

You'll need to adjust the resolution setting before you scan the photo. Most consumer scanners have at least 1,200 dpi (dots per inch) optical resolution—plenty for your purposes. Scan your photo at a resolution of at least 300 dpi, which is optimal if you plan to print the photo at its actual size. If you want to enlarge the photo, go for a higher resolution. For example, say you have a 2x3-inch headshot you want to reproduce as a 4x6-inch print, and you need the final image to be 300 dpi. You plan to enlarge the photo to two times its original size, so you'll scan the original at two times standard print resolution—or 600 dpi. Err on the side of high resolution: You can downgrade—but not upgrade—the resolution of a digital image.