In this practical, hands-on webinar, Maureen Taylor—The Photo Detective®—guides you through the best modern methods for improving historic photographs. You’ll learn how to make smart decisions about enhancement, when colorization is helpful (and when it isn’t), and how today’s software and AI tools stack up for genealogists.

We’ll explore a range of popular options—including Vivid-Pix Restore, MyHeritage’s photo tools, Google Gemini’s Nano Banana, and other AI-powered solutions. You’ll discover what each tool does well, its limitations, and how to choose the right approach for different types of images: scans, snapshots, tintypes, cabinet cards, slides, and more.

Whether you want to gently clean up a portrait, sharpen a faded scene, or experiment with tasteful colorization, you’ll walk away knowing how to get better results with confidence—and preserve authenticity along the way.

When: December 17, 2025

Time: 2 pm to 3:30 pm ET on Zoom 

This will be recorded.  Attendance is limited to 100 live participants. 

Participants will receive a handout

You’ll learn:

• How colorization happened in the past

• When and how to use historical enhancement methods

• Safe approaches to colorization for genealogists

• Strengths & weaknesses of today’s top editing tools

• How Vivid-Pix Restore and MyHeritage compare

• What AI tools like Google Gemini can (and can’t) do

  • Prompts and Results

• Tips for improving difficult images (fading, color shifting, blurriness)

• How to maintain preservation-friendly practices while enhancing images

Perfect for family historians, photo collectors, and anyone who wants their images to look their best without losing their historical integrity.

Who This Class Is For:

• Family historians and genealogists

• Anyone with a box (or hard drive!) full of old photos

• People curious about using AI tools without losing control of their images

You don’t need to be a tech expert—just someone who wants their photos to look as good as the stories behind them.

The post Revitalize Your Memories: Smart Ways to Restore, Colorize, and Enhance Your Photos appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

This LOVE YOUR PHOTOS MONTH personalized photo guidance program is for folks who are ready to commit.

You can book a time for either  March or April Once you’ve purchased, I’ll contact you with possible dates. 

This is not a course, a group, or a generic checklist. It’s a one-on-one support package where I work directly with you to bring order, clarity, and confidence to your photo collection—whether that means identifying faces, determining what to scan, sharing photos on collaborative platforms, or making sense of digital chaos.

This is for you:

• For decades, I have helped families preserve their photo history. If you have ever thought, “I just wish someone could walk me through this,” this is your chance.
• Frustrated trying to find answers on my own
• I do better when someone offers me step-by-step support
• I’ve spent too much time trying to find an answer
• I’d love some help creating holiday photo gifts

Typically, personalized services like this cost $600 plus, especially with a detailed written plan and ongoing support included. For this holiday season, I’m offering a holiday special of  $299. ($301 savings).

Here’s what’s included:

• A 60-minute one-on-one consultation. ($300 value)
• A personalized action plan based on your goals, collection, and comfort level. ($300.)
• One week of direct email support for any questions that come up afterwards

This holiday special won’t be offered again this year

Why  Work with Me

• • Whatever your platform: Google Photos, Apple Photos, Forever, MyHeritage, Dropbox, Ancestry.com, an external hard drive, or none at all, I can help you streamline your process.
  • Photo identification is my passion. I can help you put names with those mysterious faces. We’ll go over tools to assist you as well.
  • Sharing family photos is something I love to do with my own family. There are so many ways to do that–websites, apps, and photo-related gifts, too.

If you need to cancel, please do so within 48 hours.

Tell me about what you’d like to accomplish 

The post Holiday Special Work One On One With Maureen appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

Join me for this free event and discover why I’m using Forever.com for preserving, sharing, and organizing my family photos.  As a Forever.com ambassador, I can help you get started.  There is so much to love.

• Preservation quality digitization
• Easy to collaborate with cousins
• Metadata capabilities
• Nested albums
• Facial recognition

This approximately 1 hour presentation will be recorded and available later.

Want to start right away? Sign up for your free 2 GB storage using the QR code in this image or click here 

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Unlike traditional search engines, Perplexity offers direct, conversational answers and cites its sources, allowing users to quickly gauge the credibility of the information presented. In this class, we’ll explore how this tool can complement your existing research methods and help you dig deeper without drowning in tabs or unreliable results.

Through guided examples and real-world research scenarios, you’ll see how Perplexity supports fact-checking, uncovering obscure details, and accelerating your learning curve on any subject. It’s not just about getting answers—it’s about asking smarter questions.

This class is ideal for anyone curious about how AI can be used responsibly and efficiently in academic, professional, or personal research. No technical background is required—just a willingness to experiment with a powerful new tool.

Join us to learn how Perplexity can become your research sidekick—making your work faster, sharper, and more insightful.

We’ll take the Google versus Perplexity challenge too.

What You Will Learn:

• What is Perplexity and how does it work?
• Comparing Perplexity to Google, ChatGPT, and traditional archives
• Genealogy-specific use cases
• Case studies–photo identification, consistency checking, image searching, family narratives and more
• Ethical considerations and limitations

Why This Class? This class is more than just a technical walkthrough; it’s an interactive exploration of what’s possible and not (yet) with Perplexity.ai.  Whether you’re a hobbyist or a professional genealogist, you’ll find invaluable resources and expert guidance tailored to making the most of your historical photo collections. Bring your questions and we’ll run some tests.

The post 2025 Unlock the Power of Perplexity.ai appeared first on Maureen Taylor.

You’ve heard on The Photo Detective Podcast how digital organizing works and how a photo organizer can help.  Perhaps you’re not convinced that you need one or that it’s too overwhelming.  Not all organizers are alike. In this master class, we’ll cover the basics and show you the power of digital photo organizing. 

This master class advises you on how to get started with digital photo organizing. 

Faced with boxes of images and not sure how to get them into a digital photo organizer?  It’s easier than you can say metadata. You’ve heard me talk about how I use a photo organizer for all my photos–both those of family and those I use for my Photo Detective business.  I can find a photo including its metadata in seconds. I can even export all of that information if I need to. I’ve looked for years for a full-service digital photo organizer.  That’s why I created this three-part series.  This series includes best practices for digitally organizing your photographs.

This is a recording of a live class offered on  on April 9th  You’ll be sent a link to watch with access for 30 days. 

What You Will Learn:

• Preparation and Scanning Techniques: Start with the essentials of preparing and digitizing your physical photos. Learn how to handle and organize photos safely, choose the right scanning equipment, and select optimal settings to preserve the integrity of your precious memories.
• Metadata Mastery: Dive into the world of metadata to add invaluable context to your photos. We’ll guide you through editing and managing details like dates, locations, and names, which are crucial for genealogical research.
• Software Solutions for Genealogists: Explore and compare top digital photo organizers such as Forever, Mylio, MemoryWeb, and Lightroom. Understand which features matter most to genealogists, including facial recognition and geotagging capabilities.
• Collaborative Family History Projects: Discover how to effectively collaborate with family members and other genealogists. Learn about sharing settings, privacy considerations, and engaging others in enriching your family’s historical narrative.

Why This Class? This class is more than just a technical walkthrough; it’s a gateway to preserving your family legacy. Whether you’re a hobbyist or a professional genealogist, you’ll find invaluable resources and expert guidance tailored to making the most of your historical photo collections.

The post 2025 Digital Photo Organizing 101 for Genealogists appeared first on Maureen Taylor.