MyHeritage Releases Color Restoration Feature to Bring New Life to Faded Color Photos

MyHeritage In Color™ expanded, now beautifully restores faded color photos using AI technology licensed from DeOldify

TEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MyHeritage, the leading global service for discovering your past and empowering your future, announced today the release of color restoration for faded color photos. A major enhancement to MyHeritage’s advanced suite of photo tools, color restoration revives the authentic colors in faded photos, with exceptional results.

Color restoration is ideal for old color photos from the 1950’s through the 1990’s, where the chemistry of printed photos stored in albums did not withstand the test of time and caused the colors to fade or turn yellow. The technology for color restoration was licensed exclusively from DeOldify, created by deep learning experts Jason Antic and Dana Kelley, and was integrated into MyHeritage. It accurately restores a photo’s original colors and sharpens the image in the process. Color restoration is a powerful new addition to MyHeritage In Color™, the company’s flagship photo feature for colorizing black and white photos, which was also developed by DeOldify and licensed exclusively by MyHeritage.

MyHeritage In Color™ and another AI-based feature, the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer, were released last year and have been used by consumers over 20 million times. Both have gone viral, received high acclaim, and have inspired a renewed appreciation for historical photos among consumers.

“In 2020, MyHeritage became the top online destination for colorizing, enhancing, and sharing historical photos,” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “The addition of color restoration to our robust suite of photo features offers the incredible opportunity to bring cherished childhood memories back to life, and to share the beautifully revived photos with our family and friends. Nostalgia doesn't get any sweeter than this!”

"We're thrilled that our cutting-edge color restoration model will be enjoyed by the community as part of MyHeritage In Color™", said Jason Antic and Dana Kelley, founders of DeOldify. "So much effort has gone into creating this software, and we can think of no better partner for bringing it to the market than MyHeritage, a company that is defined by innovation and whose mission is to make family history more accessible to people all over the world.”

Integration into the MyHeritage platform

Millions of people around the world use the MyHeritage platform to discover their family history and digitally preserve their family photos. With world-class technologies for colorizing and enhancing photos, and now with the addition of color restoration, MyHeritage offers cutting-edge tools that provide new perspectives on family history.

Color restoration is available on the MyHeritage platform on the web and on MyHeritage’s free mobile app for iOS and Android. The mobile app includes a built-in scanner so users can digitize family photos stored in physical albums. When a photo is uploaded to MyHeritage, the system automatically determines if the photo is black and white (or sepia), or was originally taken in color. Photos that were originally black and white can be colorized, and those that were taken in color can have their original colors restored. Color-restored photos can easily be shared with family and friends on Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, and other social media. Restoring colors does not modify the photo, but creates a separate copy on MyHeritage alongside the original.

MyHeritage In Color™ is a freemium feature on MyHeritage. Users can restore the colors in 10 photos for free, after which continued use requires a subscription.

About MyHeritage

MyHeritage is the leading global discovery platform for exploring family history. With billions of historical records and family tree profiles, and with sophisticated matching technologies that work across all its assets, MyHeritage allows users to discover their past and empower their future. Launched in 2016, MyHeritage DNA has become one of the world’s largest consumer DNA databases, with 4.7 million customers. Since 2020, MyHeritage is home to the world’s best technologies for enhancing and colorizing historical photos. MyHeritage is the most popular DNA test and family history service in Europe. www.myheritage.com