Retouch Pilot

Everyone will eventually stumble upon an old photograph of a relative, but time hasn't been too kind on it in most cases. If the photo has cracks, scratches or other blemishes, you can use Retouch Pilot to repair it. This piece of software is quite simple, but it provides you with the tools you need to remove anything, from scratches to object in the photo. Its controls are easy to handle, even for inexperienced users, which makes it an excellent alternative to other editing programs.

Retouch Pilot is free to try but without the possibility of exporting photos. It comes in a small package, and you can install it in just a few seconds, on any modern Windows platform. You don't have to meet any special requirements, and you won't notice a significant performance hit when you run the software.

The user interface has the same layout as other image editors, but it's not overloaded with options. The software only provides the tools you need to repair photos. You can load single images normally, through a browsing option or by dragging and dropping, after which you can pick one of the tools from the panel on the right side of the interface and use them directly on the image.

Retouch Pilot provides you with a scratch eraser, which, as the name suggests, can be used to remove scratches of any size from a scanned photo. Just click and drag over a scratch to erase it. However, you should take it slowly, because the tool is essentially a clone brush, so you don't want to make the repaired area look awkward. Of course, the software lets you change the brush size, but it also lets you increase or decrease the level of background noise, which is quite useful when it comes to old photos.

Besides erasing scratches, you can use other tools to conceal color issues and patch other problems that stand out in the photo. If you have the patience, you can even remove unwanted elements from the photo, like objects that ruin the shot or people in the background.

It doesn't take much to bring an old tattered photo back to pristine condition, thanks to Retouch Pilot's straightforward functionality.