Effortlessly Colorise Black and White Photos with Photoshop’s AI Magic

Photoshop’s AI-powered Colorize feature is a game-changer for bringing old black and white photos to life. This tutorial will guide you through the process of using this amazing tool to add vibrant colours to your monochrome images. Let’s dive in and explore how to use Photoshop’s Neural Filters to colorise your photos with ease.

Preparing Your Image

Before we start, make sure you have the latest version of Photoshop installed. Then, follow these steps:

1. Open your black and white image in Photoshop.
2. Ensure your image is in RGB mode by going to Image > Mode > RGB Color.
3. If your image is already in RGB mode, you’ll see a checkmark next to it.

Accessing the Colorize Neural Filter

Now that your image is ready, let’s access the Colorize filter:

1. Go to Filter > Neural Filters in the main menu.
2. The Neural Filters panel will open on the right side of your screen.
3. If you haven’t used the Colorize filter before, you’ll need to download it. Simply click on the cloud icon next to “Colorize” to start the download.

Using the Colorize Filter

Once the filter is downloaded, you can start colorizing your image:

1. Enable the Colorize filter by clicking the circle button next to its name.
2. Photoshop will quickly analyze your image and apply AI-generated colors.
3. You’ll see a preview of the colorized image in the Neural Filters panel.

Adjusting the Colors

The initial result is often impressive, but you can fine-tune the colors:

1. Use the sliders in the Neural Filters panel to adjust the overall colour balance.
2. Move the sliders towards red or cyan, yellow or blue, and green or magenta to change the colour temperature and tint.
3. Experiment with these settings until you’re happy with the overall look.

Adding Focal Points for Precise Color Control

For more control over specific areas, you can use focal points:

1. Click on the Color Picker below the image preview.
2. Select a color you want to apply to a specific area.
3. Click on the preview image where you want to change the color. This will drop a pin on that spot.
4. The selected color will fill the related area.
5. You can add multiple pins for different areas of the image.
6. To edit a pin’s color, select it and choose a new color from the Color Picker.
7. To move a pin, simply drag it to a new location.
8. To duplicate a color point, hold Alt/Option and drag an existing point.

Fine-tuning the Results

To further enhance your colorized image:

1. Adjust the “Colour Artifact” slider to reduce any unwanted colour artifacts.
2. Use the “Noise Reduction” slider to smooth out any grainy areas.
3. Toggle between the before and after views using the preview mode icon in the lower left corner of the gallery.

Outputting Your Colorised Image

When you’re satisfied with the results:

1. Choose an output option from the dropdown menu at the bottom of the Neural Filters panel.
2. Options include: Current Layer, New Layer, New layer masked, Smart Filter, or New Document.
3. Click “OK” to apply the colorization to your image.

Common Issues with Photoshop’s Colorize Neural Filter

While this tool is great at adding colour to a black and white photo, there are several flaws and bugs users should be aware of:

1. Transparent pixels may appear in layers after using the Colorize filter with the colour layer option. This issue can be resolved by restarting Photoshop.
2. The filter may not accurately pinpoint specific areas when manually assigning colours.
3. It may not guess the correct colours for all areas in an image. This can be mitigated by using colour focal points.
4. Lips may appear oversaturated in some cases.
5. Some users have reported errors when trying to recolour specific areas within the filter, resulting in the image not being recoloured with the selected colour.
6. The filter’s performance may be affected by your graphics card. Newer versions of Photoshop require a minimum of 2000 operations per second (Ops/Sec) for proper functionality.
7. After recent updates, some users have experienced issues with the Neural Filter not working as it did before, even on systems where it previously functioned well.
8. The filter may struggle with certain elements or introduce inconsistencies, requiring manual intervention to achieve the desired outcome.

To work around these issues, you may need to make manual adjustments, use alternative colouring techniques, or ensure their system meets the required specifications for optimal performance.

Conclusion

Photoshop’s AI-powered Colorize feature makes it incredibly easy to breathe new life into black and white photos. With just a few clicks, you can transform old monochrome images into vibrant, colorful memories. Remember, practice makes perfect, so don’t be afraid to experiment with different settings and focal points to achieve the best results.

For more information and advanced techniques, check out these helpful resources:

1. Adobe’s official guide on Colorize Neural Filter
2. Photoshop Bootcamp’s tutorial on colorizing black and white photos
3. PiXimperfect’s YouTube video on advanced colorization techniques

With these tools and techniques at your disposal, you’re now ready to bring your old photos to life with stunning colours. Happy colorizing!