Compare two dates with the Compare Tool
Chronolog is designed to capture change over time. Often, thse changes can be subtle, maybe even imperceptible day-to-day. But when you step back and compare month to month, or year to year, those changes become more clear and tell a story.
Chronolog’s online interface includes a way to select two specific dates in your timeline and compare them side by side. Here's how to use the Compare Tool and what you might use it for.
How to use the Compare tool
When you navigate to any Chronolog site, you’ll see a button at the top labeled Timelapse | Compare. By default, your timeline will open in Timelapse view, showing your photos as they always have. Click Compare to select two photos to view side by side.
To choose your two dates, drag the endpoints to the images you want. You can also use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move between dates, just select the endpoint you want to move first.
Once your two dates are set, click and drag the arrows in the center of the images from left to right to reveal each image and compare them. This lets you easily look at the same scene on two different days.
Share or save your comparison
Click the Share button below the timeline and copy the URL. Anyone who opens that link will see the Compare Tool with these two selected dates automatically.
You can also download an image that shows your comparison. Click the download button at the bottom right of the timeline, the same way you would to download an image in the timelapse player view. Wherever you’ve placed the compare slider, is how the image will appear when you download it.
With the Compare Tool, organizers can:
Show how an area is recovering from wildfire:
Visualize the effects of an extreme weather event on the watershed or a city waterway:
Demonstrate erosion:
Demonstrate shorelines changes:
Show differences in snowfall from one year to the next
Highlight the results of a publicly funded project, like a dam removal:
Educate visitors about seasonal change—revealing what a native plant garden looks like in summer while the contributor is standing there in the same spot in winter
Document stewardship efforts, like trail clearing
Measure the results of a controlled burn. What does vegetation growth look like after this year’s burn? What about compared to the results from last year’s?
Share feedback
We’d love to hear how you plan to use the Compare Tool, or how we can improve it. Please share your thoughts with us in this quick form.