The ability to convert sepia or black-and-white photographs into colour is not a new one, but thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) it\u2019s a technique that can now be applied to any digital photo with just a few clicks. But how does the technology work, how accurate are the results, and which are the best services to use to bring some actual colour into your ancestors\u2019 lives?<\/p>\n

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How colourisation technology works<\/li>\n
Tips to get better results<\/li>\n
More free apps to consider\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>
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We tested three photo colourisation apps (MyHeritage, Colourise.com and Ancestry) using a set of eight images \u2013 a mixture of photos from across the 20th century. You can see how we rated the major services below.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s worth noting that no single service did consistently better with all eight images, proving that it\u2019s a good idea to try different services yourself to see which one produces the most pleasing results for each of the photographs that you wish to colour.<\/p>\n
All of the tools we feature in this test \u2013 along with similar ones from Colorize (colorize.cc), DeepAI<\/a> and Photomyne<\/a> \u2013 are designed to be accessed directly from your web browser. In most cases, you simply upload your photograph, click a button and wait for the results to be delivered to you. The newly colourised image can then be downloaded to your computer.<\/p>\n
Some photo colourisation apps \u2013 specifically Ancestry and MyHeritage \u2013 require you to log in with your respective account (you don\u2019t need a paid subscription to use either of them).<\/p>\n
Some services provide additional tools. For example, after colourising a picture with MyHeritage, you can navigate to the \u2018Photos\u2019 section and select the image. Click the \u2018Settings\u2019 button above your image and you\u2019ll be able to tweak the effect several ways via four options, one of which allows you to change the version of the underlying DeOldify model that was used. Simply make some changes and click \u2018Preview\u2019 to compare versions, then click \u2018Save\u2019 when you\u2019re happy.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the website Hotpot AI<\/a>\u00a0features a \u2018colourisation\u2019 factor control you can play with, while ImageColorizer<\/a> enables you to make adjustments to your source image prior to colourising it.<\/p>\n
MyHeritage photo colourisation app tested<\/a><\/h2>\n
Pricing<\/strong>: Free for registered usersOther options:<\/strong> Restore faded colours, sharpen faces, animate imageOverall score:<\/strong> 4\/5<\/p>\n
MyHeritage\u2019s colourisation app is powered by the impressive DeOldify model, and delivers by far the most consistent results of all of the services we tested. On the whole, colours were realistic and sensibly chosen \u2013 even allowing for its bias towards blue in clothing \u2013 but the tool did tend to render sepia photos with a yellowish tinge. However, converting these to black and white prior to uploading them to MyHeritage eliminated the problem. Users can tweak the effect and colourised photos can be downloaded to your computer, but are watermarked with the MyHeritage logo.<\/p>\n