I’ve never had a cause to use the image compare feature on this website, because there is so rarely something that demands it. But I couldn’t resist using it to show off the before and after of Ancestry’s new “Sharpen” feature.

As I watched their demo during Rootstech earlier this month, I instantly knew that I wanted to put it up against one of the trickiest photos in my collection.

It is the sole remaining photo of my great-grandfather Harry Ed West. He was only a part of our family for less than 2 years before his mysterious disappearance near Baltimore, MD. The family believes he was robbed for his paycheck and his body thrown in Cheasapeake Bay. He had no family and was brought to the US as a child, too young to know the town of his German birth. I don’t believe he ever got to lay eyes on his only daughter before his disappearance.

Much of the time they were married he was away with the military enlisting a total of 4 times during and after WWI. He was stationed at the Edgewood Arsenal as a Chemical Warfare Specialist.

With that out of the way, I want to show you what this tool can do! Currently, it only works on the face and hair. Take a look at the results and slide the bar back and forth to compare the before and after.

Note that Harry isn’t a Babb. His daughter, who is also my grandmother, married Louis Anthony Babb (1-2-2-2-5-8-7-1-1).

Using the Tool

Using the tool is easy, if you have an ancestry account. I tested and validated that it works with free accounts. You simply click on the Sharpen icon in the top right corner of the image. It will automatically save as a new file, which is very important. Never touch your original, because technology continues to evolve and someday far more will be able to be accomplished than this little tool is capable of.

Colorization

Similarly, there is an option to colorize the photo. I’m not as fond of the results on this one. I don’t find the skin tones to be that believable and the colorization was made more difficult by his olive drab uniform, her white shirt and likely tan skirt. She was Irish and he was German, so there wasn’t much pigment to go around either. Additionally, the photo has been stained & discolored over time. As I said, it is the most challenging photo in my collection.

Despite the limitations, I was shocked at the vast improvements and I feel like I am seeing Harry for the first time! Hi Grampa! I plan to use it going forward to help improve upon other challenging photos.

Next, I plan to conduct this same test with the new Photoshop tool that was also announced during Rootstech 2025. Stay tuned!

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