At the end of February 2021 MyHeritage wowed us all with their new feature to animate photographs - Deep nostalgia. At the click of a button users could see their ancestors smile, blink and turn their heads. The feature really brought photos to life and became
global phenomenom with images shared across social media platforms. To date over 88 million animations have been created
I had tried out the Deep-nostalgia technology and was very impressed. One of my animated images is above. It was amazing to see my ancestors images ‘brought to life’.
So when I heard that Myheritage had released another new feature - Photo repair. I was very keen to try it out. We all have treasured, irreplaceable photographs that have suffered from years of lying in a drawer. Photo repair uses AI technology to automatically fix scratches, tears, holes, stains and other damage on historical photos.
I started by uploading a photo of my Grandfather onto the Myheritage site (see top image). The photograph was creased and torn at the top edge. I clicked on the ‘Repair’ button and in seconds the creases and the tear at the top disappeared - Impressive! The software did not allow me to repair the white edges of the photo but it would be easy to crop the image.
So far so good. Next, I uploaded a picture of my Great Grandfather that was also badly damaged. Again, I clicked the ‘repair’ button and within seconds many of the imperfections vanished. However, there were still quite bad marks on the face in particular. The software then provided an 'Extensive Repair' option. I clicked on too this but sadly, could not see any improvement.
The repaired photograph by MyHeritage is in the centre for comparison. For contrast, I’ve added a third version of the same photograph - .one repaired by our professional photograph restorer. You can see how much better the final image is.
So, what’s my verdict? I think the Myheritage technology is extremely good for quickly and inexpensively fixing minor imperfections. It was really easy to use and Myheritage allows users to try out the features for free before you have to subscribe to the site.
However, I’d still strongly recommend using a professional, bespoke service to repair any extensively damaged photographs. Your Family Historian offers a bespoke restoration service that produces excellent results. We can also offer colourisation and unlike the Myheritage software you can provide details, where known, of hair colour, eye colour, complexion etc. to ensure that the final version is as accurate as possible.
If you have any badly damaged photographs you'd like brought back to life then contact us for a free, no obligation quotation.