What software can help colorize black-and-white photos using edge-aware selections?
Asked 6/23/2014
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I want to add color to some black-and-white wedding photos without manually tracing every region. I'm looking for software or techniques that let you roughly paint or select an area and then use edge detection or similar tools to refine the selection automatically for colorization. Are there straightforward options for doing this?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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I am just adding my two cents to the general question of colorization. Though it reads like you are looking for a technique or program to add color similar to how old movies are being colorized.
Personally, when I want to add color to monochromatic, I do the modern equivalent of hand-tinting. Pretty simple process; using Photoshop create a transparent layer. Set the layer to soft light, this will provide a look close to historic hand-tinted pictures (the color tones resemble a hand-tinted cabinet card I have). I found paint effect brushes (water-color, oil) provide the best look.
I do not tint everything . . . sort of defeats the purpose of shooting B & W. The question I ask myself is what element(s) on this image do I want the viewer to be drawn to? Choose wisely because the color part will be the first thing the viewer will notice. As such the rest will be perceived as part of the background.
Originally by user32866. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user32866
11y ago
0
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Yes. Based on the answers, Adobe Photoshop is a practical option for this.
Its Quick Selection tool uses edge detection, so you can roughly brush over an area and Photoshop will try to follow the boundaries for you. Using a smaller brush and adjusting the tool settings can help with difficult edges. Once the selection is made, you can add color in different ways.
One suggested approach is a modern version of hand-tinting: create a transparent layer, set it to Soft Light, and paint color onto that layer. This gives a natural tinted look and avoids permanently altering the original image. Paint-style brushes can also help if you want a softer, hand-colored effect.
So if your main goal is easy, edge-aware selection rather than fully manual masking, Photoshop fits that need well. A dedicated colorization tool like Recolored was also mentioned, but the most clearly supported answer here is to use Photoshop’s selection tools plus layer-based tinting.
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