How do I make a black and white photo into color?

Question

My grandad has this old picture that is of a warship called the Cockade - D34, He has the picture in black and white, He served on this ship and I thought it would be nice to try and render it for him but I have no idea how to, Im not very good at photoshop programs and I really need help as his condition is worsening. Someone please get in touch, Send me a message if you could help or do something to help me

Thankyou very much

Rob

Please email me at [e-mail] if you could help :)

Answer 1

This is a tough situation. It's easy to go the other way, but you are really looking for what amounts to a very expensive custom job.

Consider just "goosing it up" a bit to make the black and white more vibrant.

You can do this by playing with Levels or you can use a few filters. Maybe just making the B&W into a sepia tone would be dramatic enough. You might be able to give the picture more "snap" for aging eyes by first adjusting the contrast under the "Enhance" menu.

In Photoshop Elements (and perhaps others), you can click on:

Filter > Adjustments > Photo Filter and then choose what you want to add and how much of it you want to add.

Of course, I didn't think about how you are going to get the thing into your computer to do this. If you don't have a scanner, you might try just photographing the original picture and take it from there. I do not mean to sound heartless, but even if you get distortion (like curled edges of the original) in the final print, your grandad will not care. You are trying to help him relive a memory; not create a gallery-ready piece of art.

Answer 2

You can't. It's just that simple, it just isn't possible. You can't replace information that just wasn't there to begin with. If a picture was taken in black and white (with black and white film, or with grayscale if you use a digital camera), there was never any color information captured. About the only thing you can do is add a "tint" to the picture, such as a red "sepia" tint. Most image editing programs will have features where you can tint the picture red, blue, sepia, etc which simulates toning. But you can't actually make a black and white picture color, with the correct colors, because that information was just never captured. Even an image editing program can't fake it, because the computer wouldn't know where to add the colors. Otherwise, the only thing you could do is add colors manually...just imagine hand-coloring a picture. It's just not practical. You can convert a COLOR picture into black and white, but NOT the other way around.

Answer 3

The only way to do this with an old photo, would be to take it to a photo restorer or retoucher, and have them colorize the image. This process is usually done by hand, by an artist. They won't actually paint onto the original image, rather they will reproduce the image, and colorize that. Usually it's a very expensive service, but I have heard a few companies that can do a nice job fairly cheaply.
Another option would be to have the original photo custom framed as is. Make sure they use nothing but conservation materials, acid free mats, uv grade glass, etc. This can also be very expensive, but done right the photo will never age any further.

Answer 4

This site contains photography tutorials and courses for you to study at your own pace. https://tr.im/GfsTc

To get started, all you need is a camera, whether it be the latest digital camera or a traditional film-based apparatus!

Read about what is ISO, aperture and exposure. Discover different types of lenses and flash techniques. Explore portrait photography, black and white photography, HDR photography, wedding photography and more.

Answer 5

Unfortunately, the only way to do it is through Photoshop or equivalent. Have you scanned it yet?. If so, what size is it. The larger, the better. I like changing old B&W's to colour. I may be able to do it for you.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

I don't know for sure how to do it in the computer; probably Adobe Photoshop can do it.

I really am answering this to tell you an interesting note: many years ago, my mom used to hand color black-and-white photographs as a hobby. Your question reminded me of this. Thanks for the memory, and good luck in your quest.

P.S. I will pray for your granddad.

Answer 8

Ask Ted Turner, he made all the old black and white movies, into color.

Answer 9

http://www.jaydax.co.uk/customgraphics/WRAF/bandw2colour.html

^^^^^^^------above is a pretty good tutorial. i really hope this helps. :)