Oval Infotech Editorial Team
2024 · 6 min read · Oval Infotech
Photo colorisation — the process of adding realistic colour to black and white photographs — is one of the most transformative and emotionally powerful photo editing services available. When a skilled colourist applies historically accurate or aesthetically compelling colours to a monochrome image, the photograph takes on a new dimension of life and immediacy that a greyscale image simply cannot convey.
Manual vs AI Colorisation
AI colorisation tools like DeepAI and MyHeritage's photo colouriser have made automated colour application accessible to anyone. However, AI colorisation has significant limitations — it cannot research historically accurate uniform colours, does not understand context or the subject's personal history, and often produces flat, saturated results that look artificial compared to the nuanced work of a skilled human colourist.
How Professional Photo Colorisation Works
Reference Research
For historical photographs, our colourists research period-accurate colours — military uniform colours, car paint colours from specific years, fashion colours from specific decades.
Layer-Based Colour Application
Colour is applied on separate Photoshop layers using blend modes (Colour or Soft Light) that interact naturally with the luminosity of the original image.
Skin Tone Accuracy
Skin tones are the most critical element. We apply multiple colour layers at different opacities to achieve natural, realistic skin across different ethnicities.
Environmental Colour
Skies, vegetation, and architectural elements are coloured based on the time of year and location indicated by the photograph's context.
Final Integration
All colour layers are reviewed for consistency and natural integration with the original photograph's tonal qualities.
Photo colorisation at Oval Infotech starts from $15 per image for standard colorisation. Complex historical images requiring research are quoted individually.
Bring Your Old Photos Back to Life
Send us a black and white photograph for a free colorisation sample.
Start Free TrialPhoto Colorisation