Paid
Palette.fm
AI colorizer for black-and-white photos, with filter presets and text descriptions to steer the colors.
BeginnerWeb
Cutout.Pro Photo Colorizer
Adds colour to black and white photos automatically, with free low-resolution previews and credits for the full-size file.
FreemiumBeginnerWebiOSAndroid
Overview
Cutout.Pro's Photo Colorizer adds colour to a black and white photo. You upload a grayscale scan and the AI reads what each part of the scene is, then colours it. There is nothing to paint or mark by hand. The colours are informed guesses, so grass comes back green and skin a skin tone, but the model cannot know the real colour of a particular dress or car.
It runs in the browser, and there is a colorizer app for iPhone and Android. A free account gives 5 credits, and every image gives a low-resolution download to keep. A full-resolution colorized photo costs two credits, bought as a subscription or a pay-as-you-go pack.
Key features
✓Adds colour to black and white photos
✓Works out what each part of the scene is
✓Nothing to paint or mark by hand
✓Unlimited free low-resolution previews
✓Full-resolution download costs credits
✓Accepts PNG, JPG, JPEG & WEBP
✓Enhance, upscale & restore in the same suite
✓Web, plus an iPhone & Android app
When to use
Use Cutout.Pro's Photo Colorizer if:
- You have scanned family photos in black and white and want to see them in colour without learning an editor.
- Your scan is already in good condition, since colour works best on a photo with no damage.
- You want to see the result before you pay, which the free low-resolution previews cover.
- You will enhance or upscale the same photo afterward, since those tools sit in the same suite under one account.
- You want it on your phone, which the iPhone and Android app covers.
- You only need a colour that is believable rather than a colour that is correct.
When NOT to use
Skip Cutout.Pro's Photo Colorizer if any of these describe you:
- Your photo is scratched, torn or creased. This colours damage rather than fixing it. Repair it first with a photo restoration tool.
- A specific colour has to be right, such as a uniform, a flag or a particular dress. The model guesses.
- You want to correct a colour it gets wrong. There is no way to tell it what the answer was. Palette.fm lets you steer colours by describing the scene.
- You want a full-size file for free. Free previews are low resolution, and the real download costs credits.
- You want to compare first. Other photo colorizers handle the same scan differently and the results vary.
Frequently asked questions
No. The model applies the colour that is most likely for that kind of subject, based on the photos it was trained on. Grass comes out green and skin comes out a skin tone. It cannot know what colour your grandmother's coat was. Uniforms, flags, badges and specific clothes are where a wrong colour shows.
Partly. A free account gives 5 credits. Every image also gives a low-resolution download, up to 0.25 megapixels, that you can keep. A full-resolution file costs two credits, which come from a subscription or a pay-as-you-go pack.
Yes. This tool only adds colour. It does not remove scratches, creases or stains, so they stay in the photo and get coloured too. Damage can also confuse the model about what it is looking at, which makes the colours around it worse. Repair the scan first, then colorize the clean version.
Not in this tool. It has no prompt box or brush, so you cannot tell it the car was blue. Your options are to accept the result or to take it into a photo editor and change the colour by hand. If your photo has one colour that has to be right, use a colorizer that lets you describe the scene.
Cutout.Pro states it takes PNG, JPG, JPEG and WEBP, up to about 15 MB. An image above 16 megapixels, about 4096 by 4096 pixels, is resized down to that before processing. Scanning at a high setting and shrinking to fit keeps more detail than scanning small in the first place.
This is built for black and white input. A faded colour photo still has its colour information in the file, only weak and shifted, so what it needs is colour correction rather than colorization. Look for a colour correction or restoration tool instead.
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