Colorize old photos
Turn a black-and-white or sepia print into a color image while the damage is repaired in the same pass. Honest expectations included.
How colorizing works
A black-and-white photo records brightness, not color. A colorizing model estimates the most likely color for each region from what it recognizes: skin, foliage, sky, fabric, wood. It is a well-informed guess, which is why two runs can disagree about a dress.
How to colorize a photo here
- Open the restore tool and choose your photo.
- Tick Also colorize.
- Restore, then compare with the slider and download.
Historical-color caveats
- Uniforms, flags, cars and signs are the usual mistakes. If the color matters, look it up.
- Skin tones are guessed from context and can skew for people of any background. Check faces against what you know of the person.
- Hand-tinted originals already carry color information in a different form; a colorizer may flatten it.
- Colors are muted on purpose. Oversaturated colorizations look fake and are less honest.
When not to colorize
If the photo is a formal portrait where the monochrome tone is part of the look, or an archival record you will cite, restore without color. You can always run it again with color later.
Getting the best result
Scan at a decent resolution, fix extreme contrast first if you can, and avoid heavily compressed screenshots. Detail gives the model something to recognize. For the rest of the process, see the restoration guide.
What good colorization looks like
Skin that varies across the face instead of one flat tone. Shadows that stay cool and highlights that stay warm. Grass and sky that are believable rather than neon. Clothing in colors that were available and common in the period. If everything has the same slightly orange cast, the model was unsure; try a cleaner scan.
Sepia, black-and-white and tinted originals
Most old family prints are not truly black and white: they are silver on yellowed paper, sepia-toned, or cyanotype blue. The tone is part of the original's character. Colorizing replaces it with a different interpretation, which is why we keep colorizing optional and why the guide above recommends keeping the untouched scan.
Using family knowledge
The best colorization uses facts: your grandmother's eye color, the color of the family car, the wallpaper in that house. If you know them, treat the result as a draft and adjust the colors that matter in an image editor. The AI step gets you most of the way; memory finishes the job.
More guides
Questions
Are the colors historically accurate?
No. The AI infers likely colors from context. Skin, grass and sky are usually plausible; clothes, cars and flags are often guessed wrong. Use family knowledge or records to check what matters.
Can I colorize without restoring?
The two happen in one pass. Colorizing works best on a clean image, so repairing scratches first is the right order.
Does colorizing cost extra?
No. One credit is one photo whether or not you tick “Also colorize”.