Recreate old photographs from the same viewpoint today. GhostViewer helps you align historic and modern photos so you can see the past and present in one clear comparison. This process is often called rephotography, re-photography, then and now, before and after, or comparative photography.
How GhostViewer works
- Load an old photo – upload from file, use the GhostViewer map, or import from Geograph.
- Add a new photo – take a current photo, choose from your library, or upload from file.
- Match landmarks – click matching points on both images.
- Align images – choose the best transform mode and refine the result.
- Review and output – check alignment quality, adjust if needed, then save or share.
Example GhostViewer Gif Creation
See more GhostViewer Creations
Example GhostViewer video output
Visit the GhosttViewer YouTube Playlist.
Key Features
- Landmark-based alignment for historic vs modern photos
- Multiple old-photo sources (file upload, GhostViewer map, Geograph import)
- New-photo capture options including Ghost Guide Camera
- Distance context for location-based imported images
- Browser-based workflow with privacy-first handling
- Optional project saving for signed-in users
Who Is It For?
GhostViewer is for anyone curious about local history.
- Local historians documenting how streets and buildings have changed
- Photographers creating then-and-now comparison images
- Family historians revisiting the house a grandparent grew up in
- Architecture enthusiasts tracking how a neighbourhood has evolved
- Anyone who has ever looked at an old photo and thought — I wonder what it looks like now
We are creating some Inspiration Guides – if you have any questions, please contact GhostViewer.
Statistics
GhostViewer was created in March 2026. Here are the high-level statistics in images contributed and created. You can see a breakdown of these statistics in our statistics area. Old Photographs are images that have been added from various sources for anyone to use to create, with a new photo, GV Creations (Gifs and videos) – after/before or before/after, so that we can see through time.
Privacy First
GhostViewer is designed around browser-first image processing, so you stay in control of your photos and workflow.
Share Your Discoveries.
Found a great then-and-now match? Share your GhostViewer creations with the community and explore inspiration from other users.
Share your GhostViewer creations with our Facebook community — a growing group of history enthusiasts sharing then-and-now images from around the world. Please see the Map for images that you can use as a foundation for GhostViewer Creations. Plus creations that have already been published.
You may also like to try the GhostViewer Media Framer.
