Greyscale image to colour.?

Question

I have an old black and white photograph that I want to add colour to. I mean complete colour not just a tint. I can colour it in by asking people what colour the buildings were, what colour clothes the people used to wear and maybe use reference photos off the net that are in colour for the period. But I was wondering is there any software that will convert greyscale values to a colour value (RGB) and then you would know which colour to use. Any help would be gratefully appreciated and a best answer awarded.

Answer 1

This can only be done, as far as I know, in a graphics editor like photoshop or GIMP. You need to have knowledge of the software and know how to use layers, selections and masks. Unfortunately a original greyscale image does not contain any colour information that the software can use to convert to RGB, CMYK or the likes. Therefor you will have to add any colour "manually". Basically you will have to "colour-in" the photo with a good Graphics Editor and sufficient knowledge.

Answer 2

I know photoshop can do that by changing the settings from grayscale to RGB but I've only tried it with digital files not scanned in pictures. good luck

Answer 3

Paint Shop Pro has a tool called colorize. You just brush it on a grey part of the picture and it turns the grey to the color you want.

Photoshop you need to select the portion you want to color and edit the Color Balance. Or set the layer to multiply, then paint with a colored brush. It doesn't work as well.