Colorize a black and white photo - it happens on its own

Here colorization happens automatically

There is no separate tool to find and no "colorize" button to press. When you upload a black and white photo, the system recognizes it and adds colour before the animation runs. You get a colour living video, not a grey one.

How colorizing an old photo works

The model learned from millions of pairs: a colour photo and the same photo stripped of colour. From brightness, texture and context it infers which colour was hiding under each shade of grey. For skin, sky, foliage and wood the inference is very reliable.

What the model almost always gets right

• Skin tone and lips, including tan or pallor.
• Hair - dark, fair and grey.
• Natural backgrounds: sky, grass, trees, wood, brick.
• Typical fabrics of uniforms and work clothes.

What is always a guess

• The colour of a dress, a tie or a bouquet - grey simply does not record it.
• Eye colour on small faces in a group shot.
• Hand-tinted or heavily yellowed prints where colour blends with damage.

The face stays the same

The biggest risk with AI colorization is that the photo turns into a different person. That is why the result is automatically compared with the original. If the facial features drift, we discard the colour version and animate the original instead.

In practice this means we would rather give you a black and white video of your grandmother than a colour video of a stranger. For memorial photos, faithfulness matters more than effect.

How to prepare an old print

A scan beats a phone

If you have a scanner or an all-in-one printer, scan the print at 300 to 600 dpi. A flat surface and even light do more than any filter.

If you shoot it with a phone

Shoot straight down, near a window, with the flash off. A flash leaves a glossy patch across the face and it carries into the video. Watch out for the shadow of your own hand.

Take it out of the frame

Reflections in glass confuse the model and are sometimes treated as part of the face. Remove the print from the frame for a moment.

Frequently asked questions