The market for sub-$200 digital cameras is huge, largely due to the fact that cameras at this price point have very forgiving automatic modes which capture good amateur pictures in almost any environment.  But unfortunately, photos from these cameras are rarely perfect and typically have some color misrepresentation, red eye effect, or other defects.  Arguably, for most digital photos, these defects are acceptable since they can be overlooked by the amateur user.

But occasionally, a really great picture is captured worthy of printing, framing, and displaying.  It’s these digital pictures that must be flawless, and unless a properly calibrated camera costing five times its $200 cousin is used, rarely are professional results achieved.  Photo restoration services can cost over $50 per picture, free corrective software can be time consuming to learn and operate, and professional grade software, such as Adobe Photoshop, is expensive.

A new website called Pho.to is offering automated corrective photo restoration services for free.  Simply upload your red eye ridden or worse digital photo and the Pho.to algorithm analyzes  and attempts to correct the most common flaws occurring in digital photography.  It’s easy to use and does a decent job with simple errors, but its highly automated nature doesn’t work well with less common or complex repairs.  In these cases, manual restoration may be a better option.  The site has other features, such as a portrait editor meant to enhance human skin tones and features, and a fun cartoon/funny photo generator.  It’s another option in that quest for the perfect picture.