Before cameras were able to capture colored photos, people could still capture their cherished moments, and photographers of that time did not have an option other than black and white in the early 19th century. It took about half a century for the possibility of seeing a colored image. But as a result of this transformation, many people now have old black and white photos. Whether they are distorted or missing parts, coloring these photos will bring them to life. Fortunately, coloring a photo does not require many skills, thanks to artificial intelligence capabilities that can color any black and white photo in seconds. We recently tested some programs and tools that perform this task to discover that they actually deliver results that exceed all expectations, so let’s review them below.
1- Picture Colorizer Program
It is a free program, relatively new, that works on both Windows and Mac systems. Picture Colorizer is not the perfect program for coloring black and white photos because there are times when it fails to add color correctly; this might be a problem in the image itself, especially if its quality is poor, or a problem in the program. We cannot be certain. However, it is the best program that has been tested and has given excellent results, surpassing other programs.
You can install it on your computer to easily color any number of old photos, but keep in mind that the program does not color the photos locally but online, as the image is sent to a server and then artificial intelligence takes over to complete the task. In terms of privacy, the developers of the program state that every image is deleted 24 hours after processing.
The program’s interface is very simple, reflecting an easy user experience. The first thing you need to do after running the program is to add the desired image to the editing area. Do this by clicking on the “Add Images” button and then selecting the image from your device. Once the image is added, simply click the “Colorize” button and wait for the image to be uploaded and converted. The duration of the process depends on the size of the image, the details in it, and the speed of your internet connection. Keep in mind that a continuous internet connection is required here, or else the program will not work as intended.
Once the image processing is complete, you should see the old black and white image now in color, but this is not the end. As you can see, on the right side of the tool, a set of options is available that allow users to edit the image. For those who do not want to make manual edits to the image, they can scroll down to see a variety of filters for the image to make it better. Once you are done and satisfied with the result, click the “Save” button to save the image to your computer. By default, all images are saved in PNG format, but this can be changed to JPG. To do so, click the “Options” button, then select JPG and press “Confirm” to change the format.
2- MyHeritage In Color Website
The MyHeritage In Color website is one of the best web-based tools you can turn to for seeing how old black and white photos look when colored. The site relies on a leading technology called DeOldify, which produces colored images of unprecedented quality. The technology has been trained on millions of images since its invention nearly two years ago, making it capable of determining the appropriate color for each element in the image to achieve amazing results. Fortunately, the website works with all types of images, but to use it and start coloring images, you must create a free account.
After visiting the website, click the “Upload photo” button and choose a photo from your computer, or you can even drag and drop the image into the browser window to add it directly to the site. Before uploading the image, you will be asked to log in to your MyHeritage account, so do so and wait for the image upload process to finish, then the coloring process will begin, which may take a few seconds depending on the size of the image and level of detail.
Once the colored image is ready, it will be displayed to you while the original black and white image remains intact. Simply drag the scrollbar across the image to see the before and after coloring. If you notice that the colored image needs further improvements, such as increasing its quality or saturating the colors, just click the “Enhance this photo” button, and the website will take care of improving the image and providing you with a new colored and enhanced version as needed. All you have to do now is click the “Download photo” button to download the image to your device or share it on social media directly from the presentation page.
3- Image Colorizer App
If you want to color old photos from your mobile phone, luckily, the aforementioned tools have special free applications for smartphones, all of which are free applications. So, you can start experimenting with the Image Colorizer app that relies on the AI algorithm of the Picture Colorizer program. The app is available on Google Play and also on the App Store. Once launched, click on the “Click to add an image” area and grant access to media permissions, then select the old image from the studio or photo library on the phone and press the “Start to Upload” button.
The app will then inform you that the image has been successfully uploaded and is awaiting processing. Since the coloring process may take some time, the app provides you with an identification number or TaskID that you can keep and return to the app at any time to check the status of the image processing. However, this is not always the case, as the app processes most images immediately after uploading. So before exiting the app, click the “Check the Status” button, then “Preview” to see the image after coloring, you can also add a variety of filters to the image as you see fit. Now, if the result is satisfactory for you, click on the checkmark (✔) at the top and then click on the “Save to album” button to save the image on the phone.
If you notice that the colors in the image are not correct and you are not satisfied with the result, which is possible, you can simply try the free Android and iPhone app of MyHeritage as well, as it works just like the website and relies on the world’s best DeOldify technology for coloring black and white photos.
