How to Turn Black-and-White Photos Into Color Using Palette.fm
Palette.fm is a free artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can turn black-and-white photos into color. Thanks to machine learning, it can identify what is in an image and take a good guess at applying the right color. If you’ve never colorized black-and-white photos before, the results will blow you away!
Unlike other AI colorizer tools, the image can be fine-tuned using a text prompt or by selecting a different color palette. If you have some old black-and-white family photos, this is how you’re able to bring them to life in a matter of minutes.
What Is Palette.fm?
Palette.fmis a free web tool that uses AI to turn black-and-white photos into color. The process is incredibly simple, all you need to do is upload an image, and it will automatically apply color to the image.
The interesting thing about this colorizer is that you can edit an image by changing the text prompt. In other words, if the AI hasn’t done a good job, you can edit the text description and help it to correctly identify what’s in the picture.
Behind the scenes, Palette.fm uses two deep-learning models. One model creates a caption that describes what’s in the image, while the second model uses the text to apply what it thinks is the right color. Usually, the base palette color produces amazing results, but it also offers a range of alternative color palettes to choose from—20 to be exact.
So far, there isn’t a privacy policy in place, which means it’s difficult to know for sure how your images are handled. The only mention of this issue is a statement on the homepage saying they don’t store your images. Especially when it comes to private family photos, it’s important to know that your images are protected.
At the time of writing in December 2022, the tool is completely free. However, the creator has toldArs Technicathat they might add a paid tier in the future.
For frequent users of the platform, there is a handy Twitter bot version of Palette.fm. To use it, add@palettefm_botto a post that contains a black-and-white image, and it will reply with a colored version.
How to Use Palette.fm
There are plenty of other AI tools that can add color to black-and-white, but none have a website that is quite as easy to use asPalette.fm. You don’t need to sign up before beginning, just drag and drop a file or click onUpload image.
Get ready toscan and digitize a few black-and-white photosin preparation, or use one of the provided examples if you just want to try it out for fun.
Once the image has been uploaded, it will appear in the editing window. The default color profile is called Base Palette, but feel free to check out another style by clicking one of the profiles along the top. There is plenty to try, with names such as Faded Elegance, Lively Floral, and Colorful Memories.
Quite often, we find the Base Palette does the best job, but there are times when over-saturated colors add a nice flare.
As we mentioned, you can also guide the AI colorizer by editing a text prompt, but we will cover that in more detail in the next section. Once you’re happy with your creation, click the download button below the image to save it to your computer.
How to Fine-Tune the Results
AI doesn’t always manage to get it perfect, which is why Palette.fm lets you fine-tune the image by editing the text description.
Start by hovering the mouse over the image to see how the AI system has described the image in the first place. The result we got was: “A stock photo of boy, forest, and people. Small contrasting details in color. In color film.”
This reveals what the AI has identified in the image, and in this case, it correctly pointed out that the photo contained people and a forest.
However, when we tried colorizing the same image a second time, the result was wildly different. This time it said, “Stock photo of kids, herbs, yoga, temple, orphanage, pupil, and canvas.” While we understand the sentiment, it wasn’t quite accurate!
There are lots ofcreative fields where AI is accelerating. But in reality, AI can get you 90% of the way there while the last 10% is still up to you.
Editing the Text Prompt
We want to help the AI correctly identify what’s in the image, so it can apply the most suitable color. To bring up the text editor, click on the pencil icon to the right of the image.
This is what we changed the text to: “A stock photo of picnic, people, and forest. Small contrasting details in color. In color film.” If you look at the two photos side by side, you can see that a lot more green was added to the forest—and the objects in the picnic scene are colored in greater detail.
It takes some trial and error to see what text will help improve the colors. Use the arrows on the right to help with this by moving back and forth between different attempts.
Alternatively, there is a button calledSuprise Mewhich will automatically generate a new description. Sometimes the results are so random that they will make you laugh, but even if they aren’t accurate, you might still like the choice of colors used as a result.
If you’re wondering how else this technology is being used, make sure to explore some of the many freeAI text-to-art generatorsout there.
Instantly Add Color to Black-and-White Images
Palette.fm is one of the easiest and most impressive tools out there for turning black-and-white photos into color. The biggest difference is the text editing feature that lets you guide the AI and edit the color of the image. Alternatively, the fantastic preset color palettes give you plenty of different color profiles to try.
Fun and free to use, Palette.fm will help you turn beloved black-and-white family photos into stunning colored images.
Black and white photography is more than just pictures that lack color, it’s an art form with a rich history. Here’s how you can get started.
Obsidian finally feels complete.
It’s not super flashy, but it can help to keep your computer up and running.
You’re not getting the most out of what you pay for iCloud+.
The key is not to spook your friends with over-the-top shenanigans.
Your iPhone forgets what you copy, but this shortcut makes it remember everything.
