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How to fix a crease in a photo

An old black and white portrait of a young man, folded down the middle and standing half open on a white shelf

A crease is a line where the image layer cracked when the print was folded. You cannot press it out, but you can photograph the print flat and fill the line on the copy.

What a fold does to a print

Paper bends, but the gelatin image layer on top of it does not. When a photo is folded, for a wallet, a letter or an envelope, the image layer cracks along the fold and the paper fibres underneath break. That is why a crease shows as a white or pale line even after the print is flattened, and why it catches the light as a ridge when you photograph it.

Before you photograph it

  • Never iron a creased photo or press it under heat; the image layer melts or blisters
  • Do not fold it back and forth to flatten it, because each bend lengthens the crack
  • Flatten it gently under a book for a day, with clean paper on both sides

Getting a good capture

  • Light the print from directly in front and slightly above, so the ridge of the crease casts no shadow
  • Avoid side light completely: it is the one thing that makes a crease look worse in the capture

What to run, and in what order

Repair fills the fold line from the image on either side, which works because a crease is long and thin, with intact picture all along it. A crease crossing a face is the exception worth checking: run Restore Faces afterwards and compare the eyes with the original.

The tool for this is Repair a damaged photo.

Before and after: a scratched black and white close-up of a man, with most of the thin scratches removed in the repaired version
Repair damaged photo: thin scratches fade away; the deepest ones can remain.

What to expect

Usually fixable. Single folds and quarter folds usually disappear. Prints folded many times, with the corners worn through, come back with some softness along the old lines.

Practical notes

  • Wallet photos are often creased and rubbed at the same time, so check for surface wear as well
  • If a crease has split the print in two, treat it as a torn photo and capture both halves together
  • Store the flattened original in a rigid sleeve so it does not fold along the same line again

Questions

How do I remove fold lines from a photo?

Not from the print itself. Flatten it gently, photograph it with light from the front so the crease casts no shadow, and remove the line on the digital copy with a repair tool.

Can I iron a creased photo flat?

No. Heat softens and blisters the image layer and can stick it to the cloth. A crease is a crack in the image, so flattening it physically never removes the line anyway.

Going deeper

How to fix old photos explains the method behind this, including what it cannot fix.

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