Bring Black&White History photo into colour ?

[Chris Potts]

This is off topic for me really. Maybe I felt silly ask question.

 

Recently I just found interesting very old photo black & white photo image of old building in 1923. I have scan this into my computer.

 

can it convert into colour image?

Is that possible using photoshop ? If so, How ? I would interest try this for fun to see what true colour like.

 

Perhap I was thinking try make 3D model out of 1923 photo for fun in my own time.

Edited September 9, 2008 by Chris Potts
missing words

[WAcky]

Convert? you wish!

 

Open it in photoshop, select a colour, brush over an area and change the blend mode to "color"

 

It brings to mind those poor people who had to colour each and every frame from those first colour movies that were done by hand.

[SandmanNinja]

Remember when Ted Turner bought that movie studio just for the rights/ownership of the movies, then he sold the movie studio (minus the old films). Then he...colourised... them.

 

You could do it, but the quality would vary with exactly how much time you devote to it.

 

I occassionaly restore an old B&W photo, but I don't colourise them - just fix the cracks.

[Chris Potts]

Yeah, I have seen google search about convert into colour using by brush photoshop. I sort of dislike way a look for example pink face look horrible.

 

But I dont know what real lfe colour life like exisit in photo. Ive thought something like black white colour split into Red, Blue, Green filter then overlay merge into colour like magic colour automatic come up. I know it wont be easy or not impossible.

 

I agree you about should leave black white photo alone in history. I just fun play up bring into alive one.

 

Hi SandmanNinja,

 

Yeah similar to I have seen on TV that black while film world war II into colour. It crazy by hand brush photo.

[mattclinch]

heres a method i've used before. its fairly convoluted to setup initially, so i'll try to be as clear as possible.

 

- bring your BW photo into PS as a base layer. select and copy (ctl+a. ctl+c)

- make two new empty channels - and paste (ctl+v) the image into both of themm

- select one of the channels and invert it (ctl+i) - this has effectively given you a rough channel of highlights and shadows (you may need to tweak the contrast ratio as necessary.

- in your main layer stack, place your base image at 30% opacity with a pure white layer underneath it - call this layer 'base'

- create a blank layer above it at 77% opacity - call this 'colour'.

- create two curves adjustment layers above this and mask each with the channels you previously created - you then have an adjustment layer for both the shadows and highlights

- in the highlights channel, boost the main RGB graph in the midtones, and pull down the highlight point in the blue channel to about 80% and boost the red channel by 5-10%

- in the shadows channel do the opposite, knocking back the overall RGB midtones, and adding 10% blue and removing 20% red.

 

- go into your paint channel and paint colour - i recommend 70-50% grey tones for best results.

 

heres a quick (and i mean like 10 seconds) example i started using this method.

[e[dub]]

Chris- sorry to be off-topic, but I can't help to be curious about your writing style (after having read some of your previous posts as well).

 

Assuming that English is your native language (since you're in the UK, and have a very English-sounding name), I'm wondering if you intentionally write in disjointed sentences without much regard for proper grammar.

 

I mean no personal disrespect. If by no fault of your own you happen to write the same way you speak, I'm sorry if I offend you with my questioning.

 

on-topc: I think the only way to bring back color information in a B/W image, is if you have a photo originally shot in RAW format. Even if your camera was set to B/W the color info would still be there. With a jpg or tif file, no less of a scanned photo, there would be absolutely no color info embedded in the file.

Edited September 10, 2008 by e[dub]
add relevant on-topic information

[SandmanNinja]

That would work for digital photos, but there's no such thing as a RAW file for a B&W photo shot on a Brownie camera back in the 1950s! hehe

 

off-topic: I don't crit people's writing or typos. If I did, I could point out that topic is not spelled 'topc'. While I'm a spelling and grammar Nazi, I find myself slipping up more and more as I get older, so I don't worry that much any more.

 

I should really read more books.