How to "Hand-Color" B&W Photographs Digitally in Photoshop

Not long ago, I wrote a B&H Explora “How-to” article about hand-coloring black & white photographs using toned black-and-white prints and transparent photo oils. The article was well received and fun to produce. It also got me wondering if there was a way to produce images that emulate the look, color, and feel of hand-colored prints electronically using Photoshop.

Long story short, I played around a bit and—wouldn’t you know—it’s possible. You can do it. Not only that, but unlike hand-coloring photographs with oil paint, there’s zero cleanup. All you have to do when you’re finished is hit “Save.”

Photographs © Allan Weitz 2020

You Start with a Black-and-White Image…

If you have an existing black-and-white image, good; you’ve completed the first step. Take five and talk among yourselves. If you’re starting with a color image file, you have two choices. The first option is to open the image in Photoshop and go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > HUE/SATURATION and slip the SATURATION slider in the MASTER channel all the way to your left. Boom, you have a black-and-white conversion of your color image file.

The second—and preferable—method is to open your image in Photoshop and go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > BLACK & WHITE, and pause at the Color Channel Menu.

This step gives you an opportunity to tweak the tonality of the image by adjusting the Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, and Magenta color channels individually. This is important because, when coloring photographs, you want to be able to open up the shadow areas in order expand the image’s range of tonality while revealing previously hidden detail. These adjustments can be performed globally in “Master” mode, but you have far more control over highlights and shadows if you go through the image file color channel by color channel.

For best results, it’s recommended you lighten your final image about 10-15% more than you normally would before hitting the Save button. Doing so allows the colors to better blend and meld their way into the shadow areas. Keep in mind you can always increase the density of your shadow areas, as well as make fine adjustments to the saturation and tonal values of each of the color channels at the end of the process. (I will remind you about this again toward the end of the story)

Before moving forward, make sure you are using an RGB image file—not a single-channel Grayscale file. They look the same on your monitor, but we can’t make magic today if the image file is Grayscale only.

If you converted your color file to black-and-white using either of the methods described above, you are good to go. If you’re not sure if your black-and-white image is RGB or Grayscale, open the file in Photoshop and go to IMAGE > MODE. If the image is Grayscale, simply open your image file in Photoshop, go to IMAGE > MODE > RGB COLOR, and boom—you now have an RGB image file. OK, let’s move on.

Now the Fun Begins

Let’s start by opening a black-and-white image file. Take a good look at the image and decide which portion of the picture you want to color and what color you want it to be. Once decided, go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > PHOTO FILTER, and a selection of 21 industry-standard photographic filters appears. If you’re familiar with the basic filters for black-and-white and color photography, you will recognize all of them.

With few exceptions, I commonly begin the coloring process by lightly sepia-toning the entire image at a density lighter than the default 25%. (I said usually—please keep that in mind.) The reason is that with the exception of ash, Nantucket, and certain varieties of stone, nothing is neutral gray in this world. The moon is gray. Earth isn’t. When working on land and seascapes, I often keep certain rocks—or portions of the rocks—in the images natural gray tone. In the case of architecture, I will often leave a majority of the base image in its untouched neutral state.

When you go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > COLOR FILTER, the default filter is an orange # 85 Warming Filter. The default density settings for each of the filters is 25% when you first open them. The filtered image can be viewed WYSIWYG, and like most filters and adjustment menus in Photoshop you can click the image or small checkbox to preview the image before and after.

Note: Each step of the way I make a point of adjusting the flow, edge hardness, and opacity of the new color in order to maintain a level of realism.

Next, I went back to the filter menu (IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > PHOTO FILTER) and selected the green filter, adjusted the density to a higher 78%, and applied the green filter to my image. Using my History brush, I clicked on the green-filtered image and began filling in the leaves in the trees and bushes that lined the canal. In order to vary the tone of the greenery without creating any jarring effects, I selectively adjusted the flow of my brushes to increase and decrease the color intensities of the green, which gives the image added depth and a more realistic feel.

Next, I repeated the above step using a blue filter at 18% density for the sky and water. Using the History brush, I filled in the areas I wanted rendered in blue and hit Save.

My final step was to add a bit of Sepia into the mix in order to vary the earthy tone of the tow path. I also went back to the original black-and-white conversion and, using the History brush, “neutralized” some of the stones along the water and a few other areas to render them gray.

Throughout the process, it’s important to monitor the flow, density, and edge sharpness of the brushes in order to maintain a balance of color and contrast. I often make fine adjustments to contrast and color levels along the way and often do a final tweak before saving the final image.

The following are additional before and after images of black-and-white photographs I have digitally colored using this workflow process. Most of the original images used in this series started off as color and were converted to black & white using the process described in the above text. In each set, the original image is on the left and the reimagined color version is on the right.

The “faux color process” described above is just one of many methods to choose from for emulating color photographs. I prefer this method because it works well and the Photo Filter color palette renders color similar to the look of traditional photo oils, which I’ve used often in the past. I also have years of familiarity using Kodak Photo filters, so when I hear the terms 81A and 85B, I know exactly what the tonal values should be.

Do keep in mind it’s not imperative to match the colors identically to the original. If anything, you should approach coloring these images as an interpretive creative process. If you have a preferred methodology, go for it, and when you have a moment, let us know about it in the Comments field below. No doubt others would like to hear about it. I know I would.