Color Photo from Black and White

This reader wants to make a color photo from a black and white. Tough question.

Lord Jenna from Kuala, Malaysia, using Photoshop SC with Windows XP, writes in with:

[Quote:] I'm working on a black and white old photo. The quality of the photo is still in good condition - nothing to repair -- but I need to know the best solution for coloring photo so that the original black and white photo become colored photo. I need to know the best way how to use the brush tools. How to pick the correct color so that when I use the brush the color appear soooo real. I've tried all the features but the photo still doesnt look like real colored photo. Help me.

Reply:

The full answer goes beyond the scope of this column. However, we'll try and get you started.

You'll want to open an existing photo that has the sort of coloration you desire for your photo. Use this as a guid, and to pick up colors from.

Making color from black and white is a tedious and time-consuming task. It requires a combination of over-painting, replacement and even generation of image from scratch.

Begin to get a feel by adding layers above the black-and-white photo, setting the blending mode to "Color" and painting in with a brush.

Experiment with brush size, hardness and intensity. After applying color in this fashion, you begin to get a "hand tinted" photo.

Return to the black-and-white layer and experiment with making it lighter to reduce the amount of black in your coloration.

In many instances you'll need to make selections and copy sections then "colorize" them using the Hue/Saturation dialog.

See our full Colorizing Images in Photoshop tutorial

Comments

[Jilani basha]

plz i how to earn money colour photo from b/W photo

[Asim]

I have more thetun 4,5 years experience in coloring black n white pictures, well i dont like the results of this black magic and red color, there colors need much improvement, totaly unmature,

Well i use jesc paint shop for this purpose, the results are 1000 times better then black magic and redcolor, actually it depends on you and your experience, first of all do chose colors from original colored pics then select the hue quantity, for dark pics u ve to use 6,7 percent
Usualy i use 12 percent, but in some i really have to use 100% too, after coloring u need to adjust its color,contrast, clearity etc balance, and apply some color advancing effects, this is what make it so real n proffesional, n black magic etc lack these features

[anurag]

its very beautiful to convert the bkack & white photo to the colour i like it very much

[Steve Jones]

Well i have to agree that blackmagic really id the program to use, i read a tutorial for it at

http://www.black-and-white-to-color.com and was very impressed, more so because when i d/l a copy i actually found that the program really is that simple, at lot of programs have advertising hype done by total experts that we will never be able to emulate but not in this case

[Charanmai]

I want to colour my old greyscale photos at home only.
Kindly suggest the softwares and other procedures

[Arturo]

Hi All. Just to correct the url posted by Narinder. The right url is www.blackmagic-color.com

And I have found a better one to do this grayscale to color conversion, try out www.recolored.com

Greetings!

[Photo Master]

The is a peice of software called photo old magic it has a heap of different of definition for convert grayscale to color you can even mix and match definitions until you get the right colors for your photo Just google "photo old magic" and you'll find it

[Narinder]

I have rich exp. about converting old black & white photographs into color. I have 4 year exp. in this fields and i can repair damage photographs. So plz tell me how i can earn the money regarding this field.

[Ron]

A great little program for coloring a black and white photo is available for download at www.Blackmagic.com it does a great job wihout loseing any facial features or shading. I used it on a photo of my brother that was killed 50 years ago and was stunned to actually see him again in color as he looked in real life. I highly recommend this program as it brings life back to lost loved ones.

[Twinkle]

well i want to know what do we do to colour the scanned pictures that we make
Like if we make a picture with pencil and scan it sooo how do we colour it and give cool effect to it like in cartoons and anime!!!!!!if anyone knows so please contact me

[Fred]

Experiment with different blending modes, COLOR and MULTIPLY have distinctive results as well.

[pjstaley]

Put a layer above the original image. Pick whatever color you deem appropriate. Paint an area then change the blending mode to SoftLight. Follow the same proceedure for every individual color you plan on using. Using a separate layer for each color makes editing a lot easier.

PS911: Good post, Staley. Thanks for the help!