Post by BrƎИsꓘi on May 30, 2020 8:57:43 GMT
Colorizing - it's pretty much hit and miss - the online software, that is.
for my Aunt/Uncle's 50th Anniversary, i'd been collecting many of the old family B&W photos - some going back to just after the 1st World War and mid 1920s.
the AI does some things very well. As I'd spent approximately 6 weeks working on 170+ old photos and then having to "fix" the colorized images myself, i'll share my experiences.
There are several different online apps claiming to do this, i've looked at those that work with Windows PCs/Laptops - don't get fooled by the mobile apps - these are really just for fun. to be serious about getting B&W images correctly coloured, you'll need a PC/Mac with some photo editing software to process/correct the flaws/shortcomings of the AI Colorized results.
A little info about each of the online apps:
■ ColouriseSG - good front end, slow to process, generally usable results - many, many fixes required.
■ DeepAI - excellent front end, fast processing, generally usable results - frequent fixes required. I opted to use this app.
■ photomyne - could not get this to work. note: is now up and running
■ MyHeritage - quick processing, nice results, watermarks to both bottom corners - this can be removed with paid subscription.
■ Algorithmia - a pay per use app. did not use this as it's hard to estimate what package (in hours) to opt for.
My Experience with DeepAI
The Good:
■ Fast processing - around 15 seconds per photo.
■ Facial Recognition - generally very good, tones are usually correct
■ Sky and Grass are recognized and coloured correctly.
The Bad:
■ Pathways. Sometimes paths and pavements can end up being coloured green - my guess? the AI algorithm assumes most underfoot will be grass?
■ Clothing. It really has no idea what colour most clothing should be.
■ Anatomy. Ears being slightly set back from the face are often left "grey" by the colorizing process. not the worst thing to remedy, but an irritation. same goes for noses, legs and arms/hands. if the body part is not at the same lens distance as the face, the AI can get confused and leaves these grey also. on occasion in group photos, a face slightly further back remains uncolorized. conversely, and worse still - in group photos a face nearer the lens than the others may end up being the only face colorized.
My Solutions: (Desktop Software)
■ First step - load your colorized image into your photo editor and select "Equalize" option. it may remedy many AI mistakes. If it makes things worse, just undo.
■ Occasionally - usually on clothing, but also anatomy, there can be some sections that lack colour (in darker objects - these sections end up a faded pink shade). select the whole of the object with the error, desaturate it completely, and then (while still selected) re-colour.
■ Colour Correction. use your magnetic selection (or similar) to add/removed brightness, contrast and amend colours and saturation. really useful where skies, grass, walls, fences and clothing look a little washed out.
Below you can see the process as per a relatively simple correction. A Photo of myself and my aunt (taken in 1965)
■ Load Original
Convert with Online App (30 secs)....................................................After Processing in Photo Editor (40 Minutes)
It's not an easy task - by any stretch. As I said - 170 photos took me six weeks (ave. 4hrs per day) - and the online AI was the quick bit (approx 2hrs to convert 170 images). So - as you can see, for any large-scale project, you'll need to be prepared to commit time and effort. An AI colorized image can sometimes require an hour (or much more) of photo editing to get it presentable.
Anyone, need help/advice - or share experiences on this, just shout
for my Aunt/Uncle's 50th Anniversary, i'd been collecting many of the old family B&W photos - some going back to just after the 1st World War and mid 1920s.
the AI does some things very well. As I'd spent approximately 6 weeks working on 170+ old photos and then having to "fix" the colorized images myself, i'll share my experiences.
There are several different online apps claiming to do this, i've looked at those that work with Windows PCs/Laptops - don't get fooled by the mobile apps - these are really just for fun. to be serious about getting B&W images correctly coloured, you'll need a PC/Mac with some photo editing software to process/correct the flaws/shortcomings of the AI Colorized results.
A little info about each of the online apps:
■ ColouriseSG - good front end, slow to process, generally usable results - many, many fixes required.
■ DeepAI - excellent front end, fast processing, generally usable results - frequent fixes required. I opted to use this app.
■ photomyne - could not get this to work. note: is now up and running
■ MyHeritage - quick processing, nice results, watermarks to both bottom corners - this can be removed with paid subscription.
■ Algorithmia - a pay per use app. did not use this as it's hard to estimate what package (in hours) to opt for.
My Experience with DeepAI
The Good:
■ Fast processing - around 15 seconds per photo.
■ Facial Recognition - generally very good, tones are usually correct
■ Sky and Grass are recognized and coloured correctly.
The Bad:
■ Pathways. Sometimes paths and pavements can end up being coloured green - my guess? the AI algorithm assumes most underfoot will be grass?
■ Clothing. It really has no idea what colour most clothing should be.
■ Anatomy. Ears being slightly set back from the face are often left "grey" by the colorizing process. not the worst thing to remedy, but an irritation. same goes for noses, legs and arms/hands. if the body part is not at the same lens distance as the face, the AI can get confused and leaves these grey also. on occasion in group photos, a face slightly further back remains uncolorized. conversely, and worse still - in group photos a face nearer the lens than the others may end up being the only face colorized.
My Solutions: (Desktop Software)
■ First step - load your colorized image into your photo editor and select "Equalize" option. it may remedy many AI mistakes. If it makes things worse, just undo.
■ Occasionally - usually on clothing, but also anatomy, there can be some sections that lack colour (in darker objects - these sections end up a faded pink shade). select the whole of the object with the error, desaturate it completely, and then (while still selected) re-colour.
■ Colour Correction. use your magnetic selection (or similar) to add/removed brightness, contrast and amend colours and saturation. really useful where skies, grass, walls, fences and clothing look a little washed out.
Below you can see the process as per a relatively simple correction. A Photo of myself and my aunt (taken in 1965)
■ Load Original
Convert with Online App (30 secs)....................................................After Processing in Photo Editor (40 Minutes)
It's not an easy task - by any stretch. As I said - 170 photos took me six weeks (ave. 4hrs per day) - and the online AI was the quick bit (approx 2hrs to convert 170 images). So - as you can see, for any large-scale project, you'll need to be prepared to commit time and effort. An AI colorized image can sometimes require an hour (or much more) of photo editing to get it presentable.
Anyone, need help/advice - or share experiences on this, just shout