The ability to convert sepia or black-and-white photographs into colour is not a new one, but thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) it’s a technique that can now be applied to any digital photo with just a few clicks. But how does the technology work, how accurate are the results, and which are the best services to use to bring some actual colour into your ancestors’ lives?
Colourising old photos didn’t begin with the advent of computers, of course. Handcoloured techniques date back to the 19th century - almost as far as photographs themselves. You can find a potted history on US photo-retouching specialist InstaRestoration’s blog at instarestoration.com/blog/history-of-photo-colorization.
The arrival of computers then made it possible to scan and manipulate old photographs digitally using software such as Adobe Photoshop. Over the years, such apps have developed tools to make it increasingly easy to recolour old images - originally by hand (or mouse), but these days with the help of automated techniques such as
