Need some info here.........I have seen somewhere on line, either on the HAMB or elsewhere that there is some computer program or system that can somehow scan(?) a black and white original photo and give an accurate color interpretation of what the black and white shades are...............am I dreaming?.........or does this exist?.........thanks, Andy Douglas.
You may want to pose this question in the photoshop thread...you can definately colorize black and white but for the process to determine original color...hmmm not sure about that...I mean you can cycle the vehicle through the whole color range but actually determining original color I am not aware. Match to a desired color is definately feasible.
I would like to see it done but I can't imagine how that would work, printing photos in in magazines was done with black and white dots. HRP
https://www.theverge.com/2016/7/18/...d-white-photos-algorithmia-tool-image-editing edit: missed your link, AngleDrive
Stogy...........I was not aware of a photoshop thread, although I am aware of what photoshop basically is or does, I have never used it myself.........Lothia & HRP............yeh, I am not looking so much for use in car pics as actually for colours of a house built in 1900...........will find this photoshop thread & see how we go there......just had a look at that algorithmia link......but can someone answer is this just a way to add colours to a black & white pic that are essentially just a "guess" or is there some way that this program actually interprets the shading to correctly give the colours that are in the picture, which is what I want(and really have no way of knowing either way)..............regards, andyd
There is an ad that pops up on this one, scroll down for the info. https://petapixel.com/2016/07/14/app-magically-turns-bw-photos-color-ones/ This and post 6 will not tell you the color of a house or car from back in the day but they are the latest offering.
@andydodge here's a tutorial type Photoshop article on the process...I may give it a whirl myself.... https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-color-a-black-and-white-photo/ The Photoshop thread I was refering to was this one... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-to-end-all-photoshop-threads.300531/page-754 Might I suggest that this is one of those things a Nightschool class would be great for getting a handle on this and other processes. These things are fun but many are complex to learn...I probably haven't used 2/3's of what Photoshop offers.
Thanks guys but the question still isn't answered by photoshop which whilst it allows someone to colourise a black & white photo those colours chosen are NOT the original colours, just the computerised guestermation, which would be great in a general sense but because this is for the refurbishment and repainting of a heritage listed house the people concerned(not me BTW........lol.) want to be as accurate as possible..........in which case maybe photoshop IS the best case............anyway, I do appreciate the help and ideas and will forward the details...........thanks, Andy Douglas
I just took a typical reasonable resolution image of a Mooneyham & Sharpe Coupe and had no luck whatsoever colorizing it following what I posted for you from that Tutorial...This is typical of complex programs and someone who is very fluent in usage just telling you as a matter of factly...yeah right... Heres another easy peazy colorization tutorial...4 minutes Done...... https://www.diyphotography.net/learn-colorize-black-white-photos-4-minutes/ The other services such as The Verge or others similar is you input an image wait and there it is...an assumption of interpretation I'm assuming...you certainly don't have any control...but actually that's what you want is an accurate true interpretation or conversion...You could PM one of the many accomplished Digital Artists in the Photoshop thread because you just want a program that accurately interprets your B&W photo in correct original shades...question is How would you know if it was right with no actual samples to go by? Honestly I don't really think technology is there yet or ever will be. Good luck...don't forget to check out the Friday Art Show.
Stogy.....thanks for your efforts and unfortunately I think your question when there are no saamples to use as the control is going to be the crux of the matter...........lol ........I think the best that they can hope for is trying to find an original colour photo from maybe the 1930's but even then its relying on whether the house had ever been repainted or not in 30yrs..........lol..........thanks for the efforts.......and whats the Friday Art Show?........andyd..
I don't think Photoshop would be the best. Careful detective work like scraping away layers of paint in different areas should provide pretty good evidence. How often is a house stripped down to "bare wood" or whatever it's made of, before repainting, other than real rough spots? You should see all the paint layers in protected areas that were simply painted over however many times as was done. Evidence should be there.
Once a week every Friday Check it out...Its just starting out within the last hour so in about 10 or so hours it will get more populated...always interesting... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/friday-art-show-11-16-18.1129514/
Fascinating stuff, guys, for sure. Looks like without substantive evidence or living witnesses the colorization process is a crap shoot at best. I can appreciate the process used in vintage movies or old B&W photos where a "best bet guess" is used to determine a color to use for various things. I mean, a tin man is likely not going to be purple, but will be the color of tin, guess that would be silver. How cool would it be to be able to look at an old B&W of a car (or house in this case) and determine its' true color. Sadly, as advanced as tech is, we're not quite there yet....Take this car for instance, was it Grey, Cream, White, Pale Yellow, Pale Blue.......no way to know unless you were there or someone else was there................By the way, it was an almost flat White. I can attest as I was there.
Hello, As much as I like photo programs that help with the clarity of photos or can utilize stuff to help make the photo less spotty, grainy or blur oddball items that are in the photo, this program is strange. It almost gets the color, but we all know the 40 Willys was a "red" primer, the 58 Impala was pure black and Atts Ono’s 671 SBC motor was inside of a red Willys. The only one that is somewhat close is the Joe Pisano Model A Gas Coupe. RIVERSIDE 1959 We saw it as red in 1959, but later versions did show up as this color. CLOSE, BUT NO CIGAR… Jnaki You just cannot beat a 35mm quality, color slide for accurate colors, maybe a 2.25x 2.25 slide would be better…even a larger format 6x7 would do the trick. Trying to make something it isn’t or relying on a program that makes a supposition of what color things were or should be is just strange. The program just is not absolutely error free, yet. Copied photos from websites usually cannot be shown with absolute clarity for photographers. But, usually a copy and paste is OK for the casual viewer. Digital is almost the same, but new stuff is always being developed for us amateurs. This was a fun exercise on "what if it did work well?"
I agree with Beanscoot in that you should be able to carefully wet sand through the layers of paint on the house (just like a car) to get down to the first coat covering primer/bare wood. It'll be embedded in the grain or perhaps in crevices between boards. This would be the most accurate "hand held" sampling. It's a sure thing in that the paint layers will be chronological. There may be a repair or later build over addition (gingerbread trim, porch, shutters, etc.) that was nailed over the home early in the homes life, that hides/preserves the paint layers after possibly it's 2nd or 3rd paint job leaving less 'digging' to get to the original paint. If that fails, what process did they use in colorizing black and white films? Is it accurate or somewhat guess work?
True, and we may never get to the point where a photo can be analyzed to determine the colors within. Without knowing what film was used, it might be impossible. Early B/W film was orthochromatic, in other words it didn't register the full spectrum that the eye can see. Panchromatic film does register the full spectrum, but it cost 3-4 times as much, so cheap ortho film hung on at the bottom of the market. It is still available as a specialty product. Kodak panchromatic film ad: Color spectrum breakdown:
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