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Colorize family photos using the MyHeritage in Color tool and bring new life to your photos. It’s easy and is a great way to share your family history!
Who has black and white photographs in their family photo collection? I know I do, and I’m raising my hand high!
Ever look at those old family photographs and wonder what color your great great grandmother’s dress was? Or what color your ancestor’s hair was? Me, too!
The MyHeritage in Color tool allows us to do that! [I confess, I’ve been having too much fun playing with this tool. It’s taken me longer than usual to write this post, because I keep colorizing my ancestor’s photographs. So much fun!]
What about those old faded and yellowed color photographs you have? Is there any hope to restore the colors of those?
Absolutely! MyHeritage in Color helps correct those colors as well.
It’s Improving!
Since its release, MyHeritage in Color along with the other photo enhancing tools at MyHeritage have continued to improve.
I have gone back and re-colored some of the earlier old family photos I worked with and was pleased with the new results.
Was everything perfect? No, but I’m okay with that!
Let’s see that nifty MyHeritage in Color in action below, and you will see what I mean. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words!
How To Colorize Family Photos With MyHeritage in Color
Step 1 – Sign up for MyHeritage for a FREE Trial. It’s a great way to try the feature out and see how you like it.
Step 2 – Get started uploading and colorizing your black and white family photos!
Simply click the orange “Upload photo” button as seen in the photo above.
I uploaded this favorite photograph of my great grandmother Esther Richardson Talbott.
Once you upload your photograph, the magic begins……
Here is the side by side comparison with the original photograph on the left. I never realized quite how large that hair bow was before!
Once colorized, MyHeritage in Color gives the option to use its enhancement tool to sharpen the image. I clicked that and am thrilled with the results. I love being able to see the details of her dress including the black sash pinned at her waist. That along with the black hair bow indicate she and her family were likely in the end stage mourning period for her father Daniel T. Richardson. He died in 1912.
Here’s another example of a photograph I colorized. It’s Esther from the photograph above as a young married woman. Sadly, it was likely one of the last – if not the last – photograph taken of her prior to her death from tuberculosis. I started with this photograph.
( You might have seen it before in this post on finding clues in your old family photographs.)
After the colorization process:
Being able to colorize photos is fun (Really, how much fun is this?!), but it has the added benefit of allowing you to see details in a photo you may have missed otherwise. For example, in the the photograph above, notice the wedding ring on the hand of the woman (Nannie Farson). It’s brighter now and catches the eye. That wedding ring helps narrow down the date this photograph was taken since we know she married Howard Milam on 25 March 1919, and Esther died Jan 1923. The photograph was taken between March 1919 and January 1923.
Combine MyHeritage in Color & New Photo Enhancer Tool
Along with the MyHeritage in Color tool, try the photo enhancer, MyHeritage also offers. Combining the two together offers researchers a chance to see those minute details more clearly.
Take a look at this photograph of two young boys – my maternal grandfather and his younger brother. You will notice it’s not the sharpest focused photograph.
[My ancestors were not known for their photography skills. 😏]
First I colorized it, and here’s the colorized version of the boys:
While I like the color okay, you will notice the faces and details are not sharp. It’s time to use the photo enhancer tool. I clicked the “Enhance” button above the right corner of the photograph and the enhancement process will start automatically.
Here’s the finished product:
Notice how much sharper and clearer the boys’ faces are. What a precious photo! It’s a family favorite!
Now one of the reasons I enjoy going through the process of colorizing and enahncing old family photos, is that I naturally spend time looking – REALLY examining – the photographs. This helps me discover small details missed when I’m only giving the photos a cursory look.
Do I colorize or enhance every family photo I have? No. I do colorize and enhance the ones I am seeking further family history clues in.
Now It’s Your Turn To Try Out the MyHeritage in Color
So now, you want to try colorizing your own photos, let’s talk details.
If you are not already a MyHeritage subscriber, you can try out MyHeritage in Color and the enhancement tool for free on 10 photographs. As a non-subscriber, your colorized photos will have a watermark on the bottom left hand corner.
Complete subscribers of MyHeritage can colorize an unlimited number of old family photographs.
Thanks for the hints…short, sweet, and to the point. I have wondered if the colorization tool was good. But, now I know what it can do along with the enhancement tool. Thank you.
This was an interesting article. Do you use My Heritage instead of Ancestry.com for your genealogy work?
Marcia, I use both as well as FindMyPast and FamilySearch. 🙂