How to determine actual colors in a black and white photo?

I'm not sure if I'm in the right section, but I'm wondering if it's possible to use an Adobe program to restore actual colors in a black and white photo? I don't want add color by imagining or guessing; I need to determine the real colors. This might not even be possible, but if it is, please tell me what I can use.
Thank you.

That's where the artistry comes into play when they colorize old movies.
A lady wears a nice dress:  is it greeen or purple?  It looks gray.
A baby comes home from the hospital cute new baby clothes: pink or blue?  They look light gray.
That's a nice school tie that guy's wearing: use the wrong colors on the stripes, and he's at a different school.  But they're nothing more than varying shades of gray.
If there's one thing missing in a B&W photograph, it's any vestige of color information.   All you have is gray scale.   You may NEED to determine the real colors, but without a color photograph to use as a reference image, you're out of luck.

Similar Messages

  • Adding color to a black and white photo

    I've searched everywhere on here and on Youtube and can't seem to find how I can add color to a black and white photo using Aperture 3 that was taken in black and white.

    Hi, and welcome to the list. Make sure you read the [Help & Terms of Use|http://discussions.apple.com/help.jspa] section when you get a chance.
    It's not a good idea to insert a new question into someone else's post. First as you are not the originator of the post you can not assign solved or helpful ratings to any answers you get here. And the forum really relies on those to help other users locate meaningful responses.
    Secondly your question is less likely to get answered. readers of the post will be looking to either give advice on the original question or else be looking for answers to the question. A new question stuck in between the other replies is less likely to be noticed. It's always best to start a new thread and if something in another post applies you can always link to it.
    Now to your question. There was a great solution given to your very problem back a little while ago, see: [Topic : Black, white, and color?|http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12805425&#12805425]
    (see how I worked that last bit of advice into this post )

  • Determining colors in a black and white photo

    I don't know if Photoshop can do this, but I really need to bring color to a black and white photo. I'm not looking to add color by imagining or guessing; I need to find out the actual colors. Is this possible? If photoshop can't do it but another program can, please let me know.
    Thank you.

    Just for interest sake, make a screen grab of your swatch panel, and paste it into a new Photoshop document.  Add a B&W adjustment layer, and have a think about what colour each shade of grey represents.  You can turn the B&W adjustment layer off and on again to help you along.

  • PSE 8: Color Tinting from Black and White Photo

    Basically, the title says it all.  Can someone tell me how to add areas of color in a black and white photo for PSE 8?
    I really appreciate it.

    Using Hue Saturation won't colorize my whole picture?  What if I just want to color a hat?  I mean, I know about hue/saturation and I know how to colorize.  But, how do you do it for something specific within that picture and leaving the rest black and white?
    Select what you want to colorize and then apply the colorization methods. You might want to first feather the selection 1 or 2 px to get a soft edge. As to Barbara's first method (painting on a blank layer with Color blend mode), the color tends to be washed out. If you want a deeper color, duplicate the layer and set its blend mode to Multiply; if the result is too dark then lower the duplicate layer's Opacity.

  • Add a touch of color to a black and white photo?

    In Aperture how do you add a touch of color to a black and white photo?

    Ledted wrote:
    easiest way is to spend $1.99 on Color Splash Studio from the App store.
    Can you confirm that Color Splash Studio allows one to _add_ a hue to a grayscale image?  I asked their support, and got this answer which seems to say that one cannot add hues other than sepia or blue (cyanotype simulation is my guess) to grayscale images:
    Regarding your questions: the app can add hue in color photography, but when in grayscale mode, you can adjust brightness, contrast, blur and amount. Also, our monochrome layers include grayscale, sepia and blue tone, so you can choose.

  • Bringing out colors on a black and white photos

    I just got Photoshop elements 11 for Xmas. I've been attempting to have a single color or object colored in a black and white picture. I have gotten as far as making a duplicate layer and then creating a mask but don't know where to go from here. How do you do this and is there an easier way to do this?

    For a colored original, get out the smart brush (the one with the gears on it), choose a black and white style from the popout menu in the tool options, turn on the Inverse checkbox, and drag over the object you want in color. The rest of the photo will turn black and white. The smart brush creates an editable layer mask, so no need to make one before you start.
    For a black and white original, select the area you want to colorize, then Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/Saturation, turn on the colorize checkbox and adjust the sliders to get the shade you want.

  • Colorizing an original black and white photo

    Is there a way (kinda simple) to turn a black and white photo (never in color) into a color photo ? The desaturate / history thing won't, of course, work.
    Thanks!

    Think of using Layers and setting their Blending Mode to Color. You can go a bit bolder in the painting, and then lower Opacity, as is required, but I would go for the tint that you want to start.
    You can probably use the existing Channel to create Masks, along with QuickMask, and these can be applied as Layer Masks to each color section.
    It seems that I saw an article by Katrin Eismann on "hand tinting." Maybe in Photoshop User magazine? I also think that MyJanee had a tutorial, though it would have been for an earlier version - should work fine in later versions.
    Good luck. It's fun to do, but does take a bit of hand-work. Almost any variation on Colorize will probably yield garish results.
    Hunt

  • Beginner help with splash of color in a black and white photo

    Hi there.  I just perchased the Photoshop Elements 7.  I have a picture of my niece who has beautiful blue eyes and I want to make it black and white and them leave her eyes there beautiful blue??  Can anyone give me step by step instructions on how to do this?  I have search all over and the answers I can across where way to complex for my new beginner knowledge. Also I have another photo of the same niece with  her prom dress on that I would like to leave her eye color alone and dress, but the rest in black and white.   I would appreciate any help anyone can give me.  I am so lost with this program at the moment.  Thank you so much!!

    There are several ways to do it. One way which is really flexible is to add a Hue/Saturation layer over your image. Reduce the Saturation in this dialog to -100 to remove all of the color. Grab your paint brush and set the color to black. With the Hue/Saturation layer selected, paint over the eyes to reveal the color of her eyes.
    A couple of tricks to go with this.
    You can blur the mask to soften/feather the edges after you paint if needed.
    If you need to firm up the edges, use levels on the mask...ctrl L.
    If you want to mix your own black and white effect, you can use the drop down box in the Hue/Saturation dialog box to reduce each individual color channel's Saturation to -100 (instead of the master which effects the overall); then tune your effect by adjusting the individual color's lightness values. You can also adjust Hue values if desired.

  • Black and white photo with color

    how do I leave color in a black and white photo ?

    There are several ways, here is one:
    Open picture file
    Duplicate the background layer
    On the background copy layer, remove the color (Enhance>convert to black and white)
    Apply a mask to the background copy layer
    Paint with a black brush where you want to reveal the color. If you go too far, correct with a white brush.

  • Help! How can i print a color document in black and white?

    I have tried some of the other solutions found on Google but i still can not figure out how to print a color document in black and white on my macbook pro...can someone help me?

    One of the print dialogue options is for a black-and-white draft, for both Safari and Word.

  • How do I add selective color to black and white photo?

    New to Photoshop Elements 12.  How do I add selective color to a black and white photo?

    The easiest way is to use the Smart Brush tool in Expert tab.
    On the tool's option bar, in the drop-down select "Revers Effects", then select the "Reverse" option. Be sure that "Inverse" is ticked.
    Paint over the object that is to retain color, the rest will become b/w.

  • Coloring in Black and White photos

    How do you color in a black and white photo?

    Actually you can very easily add color to a B&W picture using the Adjustment Brush with the 'Color' option set to the color you want to paint on the image area. You may also find using the 'Auto Mask' setting helps to confine the brush strokes to the area you are trying to fill. If you accidentally paint outside an area hold down the ALT key, which puts a in the brush allowing you to remove the color.
    You can also use this in reverse with a color image by first painting over the entire image using a large Adjustment Brush with Saturation set to -100. Next hold down the ALT key and paint (i.e. remove) in the area you want to reveal the original color. Optionally you can set a new Adjustment brush using the Color picker as detailed above for a B&W image to paint in a different color.
    You actually have three different options for painting inside LR and maybe even more if you think outside the box!

  • Adding color to a black and white image

    How do you add a splash of color to a black and white photo? I have this beautiful picture of my daughter in a ballet tutu and I would like the pic to be black and white and her leotard to remain pink.

    To colorize a B&W, please refer to my reply in the recent forum topic "Photo Elements 6.0 question" :  http://forums.adobe.com/thread/492539?tstart=0

  • Colorize a black and white photo

    Hello all! I'm new to Mac and Aperature and sure would appreciate a little help. I'm wondering if I can add color to a black and white photo. For example, a picture of my daughter, and I'd like to add color to the flowers in her hair. Thank you! dwatt

    I wouldn't be to quick to discount Aperture's abilities to get that look you want. If you're starting with a color photo and then going to almost B&W and then
    "colorizing," the Color tools (hue, saturation, luminance, range) can be quite helpful.
    Start with dropping the saturation a lot, but not completely. You can try and void out some of the colors you don't want by using the hue slider to get a more neutral pallette. You can start experimenting with the sliders at this point, epscially luminance, to bring out your specifics. The range slider can also be helpful. A lot of the skill involved with this kind of editting just requires experimenting.

  • How convert a color pdf to black and white pdf...? new acrobat in creative cloud cs6

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