colorization

Colorizing B&W Photos Then and Now, From Oils to Neural Filters

The day after photography was invented in 1839, somebody pointed out that the photographs were just shades of gray – there was no color. The photography inventors knew this was a problem and probably hoped that no one would notice. Paintings were in vivid color and if photography was ever to compete with painting, there needed to be some color in them.

The Intricate Work in Restoring Photos for a Vietnam Veteran

A while back, a young man contacted me about a photo digitization and restoration project for his grandfather, who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. They had some photographs from this period in his life—of friends, scenery, and the culture of Vietnam—that they wanted to use for an album.

How Adobe’s Neural Filters Make Colorizing Photos Way Easier

A growing trend among retouchers and editors in the last few years has been to repair vintage photographs that have faded and been damaged over time. In addition to this restoration work, "colorizing" vintage photographs has been experiencing explosive growth. Adobe's "Colorize" Neural Filter now makes the job easier than ever.

How Hand-Painted Photographs Helped Introduce Japan to the World

When you see the term "colorized photo" you probably imagine skilled retouchers working in Photoshop, or perhaps a machine learning algorithm that does that same work automatically. But the original colorized photos were hand-painted prints made from glass plate negatives. And, as Vox explains, the best of these images came out of Japan.

Stop Upscaling and Colorizing Photos and Videos, Historians Say

Colorizing and updating photos and footage from the past is becoming more common and much easier thanks to the advancements of AI. We've shared stories and images of colorized images and videos many times over the past decade, and colorists say it is designed to bring the past forward for a modern audience. However, there are some historians who believe the process is doing more harm than good.

Colourise.sg Uses AI to Colorize B&W Photos

Want to turn some old black-and-white photos into color photos? There's an amazing new website called Colourise.sg that'll get the job done for you. It uses deep learning AI to create remarkably realistic results in just seconds with zero work on your part.

How Peter Jackson Colorized 100-Year-Old WWI Footage

Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson is out with a new highly-acclaimed World War I documentary titled They Shall Not Grow Old. Here's a 5-minute look at how Jackson colorized 100-year-old footage to give the world a fresh look at the Great War.

Google Photos to Use AI to Colorize Black-and-White Photos

Google is taking to the stage at the Google I/O developer conference this week to show off its new products and technologies, one of which is a new AI-powered version of Google Photos. The new app will feature a host of new intelligent features, including the ability to colorize black-and-white photos with one tap.

Colorized Photos of American Child Laborers

Photographer Lewis Wickes Hine once said: "There is work that profits children, and there is work that brings profit only to employers. The object of employing children is not to train them, but to get high profits from their work."

How Colorization Experts Breathe New Colors Into Old B&W Photos

We've shared some impressive work by photo colorizers who use Photoshop skills and hard work to add realistic colors into historical monochrome photos. If you're wondering how its done, check out this 7-minute video by Vox that discusses the process. (Note: there's a bit of strong language.)