A GENTLE GUIDE
The photos, videos, and voices you save to your stone don't have to be perfect — but a few free, easy tools can make them shine. Here's what we recommend, and how to use each one before you upload.
01
A familiar melody can turn a simple slideshow into something the whole family holds onto. These free tools make it easy — no editing experience needed.
Easiest on a computer
Works right in your web browser, with ready-made slideshow and tribute templates and a built-in music library. Drag in your photos and clips, pick a song, and you're done.
Free · optional paid plan
Open Canva →Already on Windows
If you use a Windows PC, Clipchamp is already installed — look for it in your Start menu. Simple, free, and includes music you're allowed to use.
Free with Windows
Open Clipchamp →Easiest on a phone
A free app for iPhone and Android with a huge music library. A good one to hand to a grandchild — many families find the youngest editor makes the best tribute video.
Free · optional paid plan
Get CapCut →We recommend choosing songs from the music libraries built into these tools, or from free collections like the YouTube Audio Library and Pixabay Music. Commercial recordings you don't have rights to can cause a video to be muted or blocked when your family shares it elsewhere — and no one wants that to happen to a tribute. Please make sure you have the right to use anything you upload.
02
Faded, creased, or black-and-white — the oldest photos often carry the most. These tools can repair damage, sharpen faces, and even add color.
Restore & colorize
Repairs scratches and fading, sharpens blurry faces, and can colorize black-and-white photos. Made for exactly this — family history.
Free trial · paid plan for more photos
Try MyHeritage →Quick fix on your phone
Point it at an old or blurry photo and it sharpens it in seconds. Works well on faces in particular.
Free with ads · paid plan
Get Remini →Digitize a whole album
Turns your phone's camera into a photo scanner — no glare, straightened edges. Perfect for working through a shoebox or album, one photo at a time.
Free
Get PhotoScan →03
A voice is often the memory families miss most. Saved voicemails, camcorder tapes, and old recordings all belong on a stone — here’s how to rescue them.
Clean up a recording
Upload a voicemail or a noisy recording and it comes back clear, like it was recorded in a quiet room. Free to use in your browser.
Free
Enhance a recording →Tapes & film
VHS tapes, camcorder cassettes, and 8mm film can be converted to digital files by mail-in services like Legacybox, or at many Costco and Walgreens photo centers.
Varies by format
Explore Legacybox →Don't lose a voicemail
Voicemails can disappear when a phone plan changes. On most phones you can share a voicemail to yourself as an audio file — do that today, then upload it to your stone for safekeeping.
Free · takes a minute
04
Every photo, video, and voice you save is kept safe — the tag is just the key. Your memories live forever.
upload to your stoneThese are independent tools, recommended because they're easy to use and work well. Memory Stones isn't affiliated with any of them.