Turn Black and White Photos to Color in Seconds

Upload a black and white photo. Click colorize. Get a full-color image back.

AI colorization tools make this possible. They analyze your grayscale image, predict what colors were likely in the original scene, and fill them in.

Here's how to do it—and what to expect.

How to Colorize Your Photos (Step by Step)

Option 1: Free Online Tools

Several free tools colorize photos instantly:

• DeepAI Image Colorization - Free, web-based, no signup
• Palette.fm - Free tier available, good quality
• MyHeritage InColor - Good for old family photos

Process:

1. Go to the tool's website
2. Upload your B&W photo
3. Wait 10-30 seconds
4. Download the colorized result

Option 2: Photoshop Neural Filters

If you have Adobe Photoshop:

1. Open your B&W image
2. Go to Filter → Neural Filters
3. Enable "Colorize"
4. Adjust the sliders if needed
5. Export

Option 3: Mobile Apps

• Remini (iOS/Android) - Photo enhancement + colorization
• Colorize (iOS) - Dedicated colorization app

What AI Colorization Does Well

Family photos: Old photos of grandparents, historical family moments. AI adds realistic colors that bring the images to life.

Portraits: Faces get natural skin tones. Hair and clothing get plausible colors.

Landscapes: Skies turn blue, grass turns green, water looks natural.

What AI Colorization Gets Wrong

Unusual colors: A red car might become blue or silver. The AI guesses based on common patterns.

Specific clothing: Your grandmother's famous yellow dress might come out pink. The AI doesn't know the original color.

Historical accuracy: 1940s photos get colorized with modern color palettes. Period-specific colors may be off.

Important: AI colorization is interpretation, not recovery. The AI predicts likely colors—it doesn't know what the actual colors were.

The Technology Behind Colorization

AI colorization works by pattern recognition. The AI was trained on millions of color photos:

1. Take a color photo
2. Convert to grayscale
3. Train the AI to predict the original colors
4. Repeat millions of times

After training, the AI recognizes patterns: sky textures mean blue, face shapes mean skin tones, foliage textures mean green.

This same technology powers modern color grading.

From Colorization to Color Grading

The AI that adds color to B&W photos can also adjust colors in your existing photos.

Colorization: "This grayscale pattern looks like sky → add blue"

Color grading: "This photo has a yellow cast → reduce warmth" or "Photographer wants moody cinematic → add teal to shadows"

Summrs uses this technology for batch color grading. Instead of adding missing colors, Summrs analyzes your photos and adjusts them toward your aesthetic vision—adapting to each image's unique lighting.

Try AI-Powered Color Grading

If you're interested in what AI can do with color, try Summrs.

Upload 10 photos. Describe the look you want: "warm romantic," "moody cinematic," "bright editorial." Summrs analyzes each photo and applies adaptive adjustments.

Same AI technology that colorizes B&W photos—applied to professional color grading at scale.

10 photos free. No credit card required.