Are the colours the real ones?

No - nobody can know those from a black and white photo. The model gives each thing the colour it most often has, so skies come out blue and grass green, but a dress or a car gets a plausible colour, not necessarily the one it was. It is a colourised photo, not a restored record.

How do I fix scratches and tears?

Press Fix scratches first. The photo opens in Remove Objects from Photos, where you brush over scratches, creases, tears and spots and they are filled in to match; its Colorize button brings the mended photo back here. Mending first gives the model a clean picture to colour.

How long does colouring a photo take?

A few seconds a photo on most computers, and less where the browser can use the graphics card (WebGPU). The size of the photo makes little difference, because the model always works on a 512-pixel copy.

Do my old photos leave my computer?

No. The model is downloaded to your browser once, from this site, and every photo is coloured on your own computer.

Stays on your computer Downloads a 78 MB colour model from this site the first time; the browser keeps itHow this works

Colorize black and white photos free

Old family photos in colour, at their full resolution, coloured by an AI model that runs in your browser - free, no sign-up, and the photos are never uploaded

Drag & drop black and white photos here, or browse

JPEG, PNG or WebP · several at once · the first time, a 78 MB colour model is downloaded

About colorizing old photos

Colour comes to a black and white photo from DDColor, an AI model from Alibaba's DAMO Academy that has learned from over a million photographs what colour things usually are - skin, sky, grass, brick, uniforms, wooden floors. It runs in your browser: the photos are never uploaded, there is no limit on how many you colour, and nothing is watermarked. It is free to use, with no account and no upload limit, and it runs entirely in your browser: nothing is uploaded, and while the page stays open, a feature you have already used keeps working offline.

The model looks at a 512-pixel version of the photo, because colour carries little detail, and its colours are then laid over the photo's own brightness at full size. So the coloured photo keeps every bit of the original's sharpness and grain, even from a large scan, and only the colour is new. Colour strength turns the colour down for a softer, hand-tinted look, or up for something bolder.

What you can do

Colorize black and white and sepia photos at their full resolution
Compare before and after with a slider
Turn the colour down or up
Colour several photos at once and save them together as a ZIP
Mend scratches, tears and spots first in Remove Objects from Photos
No watermark, no sign-up and no limit; the photos stay on your computer

How to colorize a black and white photo

Drop one or more scanned photos onto this page. The first time, the colour model (78 MB) is downloaded; after that your browser keeps it.
Drag across the photo to compare it with the original, and set the colour strength.
Press Save photo, or Save all for a ZIP.

Questions

Are the colours the real ones?: No - nobody can know those from a black and white photo. The model gives each thing the colour it most often has, so skies come out blue and grass green, but a dress or a car gets a plausible colour, not necessarily the one it was. It is a colourised photo, not a restored record.
How do I fix scratches and tears?: Press Fix scratches first. The photo opens in Remove Objects from Photos, where you brush over scratches, creases, tears and spots and they are filled in to match; its Colorize button brings the mended photo back here. Mending first gives the model a clean picture to colour.
How long does colouring a photo take?: A few seconds a photo on most computers, and less where the browser can use the graphics card (WebGPU). The size of the photo makes little difference, because the model always works on a 512-pixel copy.
Do my old photos leave my computer?: No. The model is downloaded to your browser once, from this site, and every photo is coloured on your own computer.

Built by John McMillan, a senior full-stack engineer. Open to remote roles: hire me.

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