Myheritage.com is an amazing online family tree maker, where you can create your own family history by adding old family photos and stories. But, problems can be if you are dealing with a picture that is not sharp or damaged with scratches, it is difficult to recognize the person in the photo. Don't worry. A cool part of this site is that you can also restore and enhance old photos. This post is about how to enhance old photos with MyHeritage Photo Enhancer and also gives you its best alternative, VanceAI Photo Restorer, which would perform better in face enhancement for old photo restoration.
What Is MyHeritage Photo Enhancer?
MyHeritage Photo Enhancer is an AI-based tool offered by MyHeritage.com, the popular online family-tree platform. The enhancer focuses on a specific problem: small, blurry, or low-resolution old family photos where the faces are hard to recognize. The model uses deep learning to detect every face in the image and pull each one into sharp focus.
What MyHeritage does well:
- Enhances old photos in a matter of seconds.
- Uses one of the strongest face-detection models in the consumer enhancement space.
- Pulls every detected face into focus with one click.
The trade-off is also clear: MyHeritage focuses on face enhancement at the expense of full-photo restoration. If your photo has scratches, surface damage, or large faded regions outside the face area, MyHeritage does not address them. That's where stacked tools like VanceAI Photo Restorer come in.
How to Enhance an Old Photo with MyHeritage Photo Enhancer
MyHeritage offers many features, but the photo enhancer is what most users come for. If your old photo is blurred, grainy, or very small, MyHeritage automatically improves it using its deep-learning face detection — no manual brushwork required.
Step 1. Open MyHeritage Photo Enhancer
Visit the MyHeritage Photo Enhancer page from your browser.
Step 2. Sign in or create a free account
You need a MyHeritage account to enhance photos. The free tier allows up to 10 enhanced photos — enough to test the tool before committing to a paid plan.
Step 3. Click "Upload Photo"
After signing in, click "Upload Photo" and select a file from your computer. Upload time depends on file size and the number of faces in the image.
Step 4. Review the before/after slider
Once enhancement finishes, the result loads with a before/after slider. Drag the slider to see how the model changed your image.
You can also click each individual detected face to see the per-face enhancement. The face panel sits under the photo.
The face enhancement is genuinely strong. If you're satisfied, download the photo. Non-subscribers download with a subtle MyHeritage watermark in the corner. The free tier is capped at 10 enhanced photos total.
To compare results side by side, here is the original photo, the full-size MyHeritage-enhanced version, and the zoomed face view.
- Original old photo:
- Enhanced photo at full size:
- Zoomed face view:
Best MyHeritage Alternative: VanceAI Photo Restorer
For photos with both blurred faces and surface damage (scratches, fading, sepia drift, torn edges), the VanceAI Photo Restorer is the stronger one-click solution. It combines AI face enhancement with full-photo restoration — no brush, no manual masking. Hit "Start to Process" and the model handles both passes in one round.
| Feature | MyHeritage Photo Enhancer | VanceAI Photo Restorer ⭐ |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial up to 10 photos, paid plans for more | Credits-based — Starter $9.95 / 100 credits per month, PAYG with 7-day money-back |
| Face enhancement | Strong | Strong |
| Scratch / damage restoration | No | Yes |
| Stacked modes (Restore + Colorize + Upscale + Denoise) | No | Yes |
| Watermark-free output | Paid plan required | Yes (free trial credits and paid plans) |
| Edit / advanced settings | Limited | Yes |
| UI | Polished | Clean and concise |
| Processing speed | Fast | Fast |
How to Enhance Old Photos with VanceAI Photo Restorer
Step 1. Open the VanceAI Photo Restorer page in your browser.
Step 2. Click "Upload an Image," select your old photo, then click "Start to Process."
Step 3. Preview the before/after side by side, then download.
MyHeritage Photo Enhancer vs VanceAI Photo Restorer: Direct Comparison
Both tools produce strong face enhancement. The clearest difference shows on photos that have surface damage in addition to blurry faces. MyHeritage focuses on the faces; VanceAI Photo Restorer addresses the whole photo, sharpening faces and fixing the scratches in one pass.
A heavily scratched original benefits more from VanceAI's combined restoration. The example below shows a photo full of surface scratches that VanceAI cleared up while also enhancing the baby's face with natural detail — a result MyHeritage on its own wouldn't deliver.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is MyHeritage Photo Enhancer free?
Yes, with a limit. You can enhance up to 10 photos for free with a MyHeritage account. Beyond 10, you need a paid MyHeritage subscription. Non-subscribers also get a small MyHeritage watermark in the corner of downloaded photos.
What types of photos does MyHeritage Photo Enhancer work best on?
Photos with blurry or low-resolution faces. The model is built around face detection, so portraits and group photos of family members produce the strongest results. Landscapes, documents, or photos without clear faces benefit less from the enhancer.
Does MyHeritage repair scratches and physical damage?
No. MyHeritage focuses on face enhancement and does not address surface scratches, torn corners, or large faded regions.
Is VanceAI Photo Restorer free?
Yes — the free trial includes monthly credits with no account required for basic restoration. The Starter plan is $9.95 / 100 credits per month, with higher tiers (Standard $19.95 / 200 credits, Pro $39.95 / 500 credits, Premium $59.95 / 1000 credits) for larger workflows. A 7-day money-back guarantee covers pay-as-you-go top-ups.
Can I use MyHeritage Photo Enhancer without creating an account?
No. MyHeritage requires you to sign in (or sign up) before enhancing photos. VanceAI Photo Restorer offers a free trial without forcing immediate account creation, which is helpful for one-off enhancements.
What file formats do these tools support?
Both MyHeritage and VanceAI accept common formats — JPG and PNG primarily. VanceAI Photo Restorer also supports TIFF inputs up to 5,000 pixels on the long edge, and offers PSD download on paid plans for users who want to continue editing in Photoshop.
Will the enhanced photo look natural or over-processed?
Both tools aim for natural results. MyHeritage's face-only focus sometimes over-smooths skin (the classic "plastic face" effect on heavily upscaled features). VanceAI Photo Restorer applies enhancement more evenly across the photo, which usually produces a more natural-looking final image, especially on group photos.
Can either tool restore black-and-white photos to color?
MyHeritage offers a separate Colorize feature in the same family-tree workspace. VanceAI Photo Restorer's workspace includes Colorize as a stackable mode — you can run Restore and Colorize in the same session without re-uploading.
Which tool is better for genealogy research?
MyHeritage is integrated with the MyHeritage family tree platform, so enhanced photos tag directly to identified ancestors. VanceAI is a standalone restoration tool — better for quality but not integrated with genealogy databases. The two pair well: enhance in MyHeritage when the photo is linked to a tree, restore in VanceAI when the photo needs deeper damage repair.
Can I batch-process multiple photos?
MyHeritage's free tier is capped at 10 photos total. Paid MyHeritage plans support more but still individual processing. VanceAI Photo Restorer supports true batch processing on paid plans — upload dozens of photos at once, process them in a single run, and download as a zip.
Conclusion
MyHeritage Photo Enhancer has a noble goal: recovering a memory. Saved memories are why we restore old photos at all. The MyHeritage tool is excellent for blurred faces in family photos that are otherwise undamaged. For photos with scratches, surface marks, or large faded regions, VanceAI Photo Restorer is the stronger one-tool answer — it brings the same face enhancement plus full-photo restoration in a single workflow, and its credits-based pricing scales naturally with how much restoration work you actually do.
