Local Photo RestoreHow to remove yellow stains from an old photo on iPhone
Written by David Balderston, the developer of Local Photo Restore. The app handles one of the two problems below; for the other, this guide points to free and paid tools that do it.
First decide whether the yellow is a cast over the whole picture or a stain in one place. An overall yellow cast is a color problem: Local Photo Restore’s Remove Yellow Tint slider (on device, $3.99 once) or the color sliders in Apple Photos fix it in seconds. A local stain, such as a water ring, tape mark, glue spot, or brown foxing, has to be painted out with a spot tool: Clean Up in Apple Photos, Snapseed’s Healing tool, Photoshop’s Spot Healing Brush, or MyHeritage Photo Repair. Local Photo Restore does not remove local stains.
How to tell which one you have
- Yellow cast: the whole photo looks warm, including whites, skies, and shadows. Common on color prints from the 1960s to the 1980s as the dyes age. A white shirt looks cream everywhere.
- Yellow stain: a patch, ring, streak, or speckles with edges, while the rest of the photo looks normal. Common around old tape, album glue, water damage, and the edges of prints.
- Both: fix the cast first, then deal with the stains that are left. Stains are easier to see once the overall color is balanced.
Check your capture before you edit. If your phone photo of the print looks much yellower than the print does in daylight, the problem may be warm lamp light. Re-photograph it near a window (capture tips).
Remove an overall yellow cast on iPhone
With Local Photo Restore
- Open the photo from Photos, or photograph the print with the in-app camera.
- If it is small or soft, tap Enhance Photo first. Enhancement runs on the device.
- Tap Auto Fix for a conservative starting point, or move Remove Yellow Tint a little at a time. Add Restore Contrast if the print is also washed out.
- Compare a white or gray area with skin tones. Stop before skin turns gray or shadows turn blue.
- Tap Save. The result is a new copy; the original stays in Photos.
The sliders are color adjustments, not generative AI: they rebalance color already in the picture and add nothing. More on judging the result: reduce yellow tint and faded color.
With Apple Photos (free)
Open the photo, tap the edit button, tap Adjust, and swipe through the settings to the color controls. Drag a slider, tap the button to compare with the original, and tap Done. If a whole album has the same cast, Photos can copy the edits from one photo and paste them onto a batch. That is something Local Photo Restore can’t do, since it edits one photo at a time.
Remove a local yellow stain
Apple Photos Clean Up (free, on Apple Intelligence iPhones)
On an iPhone 15 Pro or later with Apple Intelligence, open the photo, tap the edit button, tap Tools, then Clean Up, and brush or circle the stain. It works best on small spots away from faces. You can undo it later with Reset. Apple notes that some Apple Intelligence editing tools rely on server-side models and may have usage limits.
Snapseed (free)
Google’s Snapseed has a Healing tool: zoom in and brush over the spot, a little at a time. It is manual, but free, and works on older iPhones.
Photoshop (free download; premium plans from $4.99/month)
Photoshop’s iPhone app has the Spot Healing Brush for “blemishes, spots, or small imperfections,” which its listing describes outside the premium features. Premium tools such as Content Aware Fill need a plan, from $4.99 a month in the U.S. App Store.
MyHeritage Photo Repair (cloud)
MyHeritage says Photo Repair “automatically fixes scratches, tears, holes, stains, and other damage on historical photos.” It is one-tap, but photos are uploaded, several are free, and more need a Complete subscription. Restore-specific apps such as Yore and RetroFix also list stain or discoloration removal, also online and by subscription (comparison).
When the stain crosses a face
Spot tools fill a stain by copying nearby texture, which is fine on a wall and risky on an eye or mouth. Work in small strokes, compare often, and keep the unedited copy. For a precious portrait, a professional restorer who works from other photos of the same person is the safest choice.
Don’t try to clean the print itself
Stains in the paper or emulsion can’t be wiped away, and household cleaners can make them permanent. Photograph or scan the print as it is, store it flat in an acid-free sleeve, and ask a conservator if the physical print matters. More: scratched or torn photo options.
What Local Photo Restore can and can’t do here
- Can: remove an overall yellow cast, restore faded contrast, and enlarge a soft photo up to 4x on device (capped near 17 MP), saving a new copy.
- Can’t: remove local stains, spots, water rings, scratches, or tears; colorize black-and-white or sepia photos (it can neutralize a sepia tone); or batch-process an album.
Local Photo Restore (App Store name: Restore Old Photos: AI Enhance) costs $3.99 once in the U.S. App Store, with no subscription or in-app purchases. iPhone and iPad, iOS or iPadOS 18.2 or later. Price and version checked November 8, 2026.