How to Colorize Black and White Photos with AI?

Old black and white photos preserve some of our most important memories, but imagining their original colors isn't always easy.

Today, AI can automatically colorize black and white photos in just a few seconds. Instead of manually painting every part of an image, you can let an AI model analyze the photograph and generate a colorized version automatically.

In this guide, we'll show you how to add color to old black and white photos with PhotosRevive, and how to fine-tune the result when you want more control over the final image.

How Does AI Colorize Black and White Photos?

AI photo colorization analyzes the content of a black and white image and predicts plausible colors for different parts of the scene.

For example, it can identify elements such as skin, hair, clothing, vegetation, buildings, and the sky, then generate colors based on what it recognizes.

However, an important limitation of automatic colorization is that the original colors are usually not stored in a black and white photograph. AI can therefore create a plausible interpretation, but it cannot know with certainty whether a particular dress was blue, green, or red decades ago.

This is why having the ability to manually guide the colorization can be useful.

Step 1: Import Your Old Black and White Photos

PhotosRevive is designed to make photo colorization accessible without requiring professional photo-editing skills.

Start by opening PhotosRevive and importing the photos you want to colorize.

On Mac, you can drag and drop your images into the application or select photos stored on your computer.

You can use scanned family photographs, portraits, historical images, and other black and white photos.

For the best results, start with the highest-quality scan or original image available.

Step 2: Automatically Colorize the Photo with AI

Once your photo is loaded, start the automatic colorization.

PhotosRevive analyzes the black and white image and generates a colorized version automatically.

For many photographs, automatic AI colorization may already produce the result you're looking for.

You can then compare the original black and white photograph with its newly colorized version.

Step 3: Fine-Tune the Colorized Photo

Automatic colorization is based on prediction, so there may be situations where you want to adjust the result.

For example, you may know that someone's clothes were a specific color, or you may simply prefer a different interpretation.

PhotosRevive provides additional editing controls that let you refine the result.

You can adjust the source image to improve the distinction between dark and light areas before generating another result.

Step 4: Add Color Hints for More Control

For photos that need more precise adjustments, you can provide color hints.

Color hints tell PhotosRevive which colors you'd like to see in specific parts of the image.

For example, if you know that a piece of clothing was blue, you can indicate that color instead of relying entirely on the automatic prediction.

This combines the speed of automatic AI colorization with additional manual control when you know something about the original scene.

Before and After: Black and White Photo Colorization

Once you're happy with the result, you can compare the original photograph with the colorized version.

The entire process can be completed without manually painting the photograph pixel by pixel or using complex professional photo-editing software.

Tips for Better AI Photo Colorization

The quality of the original image can have a significant impact on the final result.

Whenever possible, use a high-resolution scan rather than a compressed copy of an old photograph. Make sure the image has good contrast and that important details such as faces are clearly visible.

If the original photograph is damaged, faded, blurry, or very low resolution, restoring the image before or alongside colorization can also help produce a cleaner final result.

And remember that AI-generated colors are an interpretation. If historical accuracy matters, use known information about the photograph to guide the colors rather than assuming the automatic result represents the original scene exactly.

Colorize Old Photos on Mac, iPhone, and iPad

PhotosRevive is available for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, allowing you to restore and colorize old photographs on your Apple devices.

It combines automatic AI processing with manual controls for situations where you want more influence over the final colors.

Whether you're working with old family portraits, scanned photographs, or historical images, PhotosRevive provides a simple workflow for bringing color back to black and white photos.

Download PhotosRevive

If you have old black and white photographs you'd like to rediscover in color, you can try PhotosRevive and automatically generate a colorized version in just a few steps.

You can learn more and get PhotosRevive from the NeededApps website or download it from the App Store.