When researching the past of certain places or people it is common to find photos in black and white only, leaving the curiosity of how the images really were in color. To solve this problem, the Algorithmia website uses deep learning to color any black and white (b & w) photograph automatically, just insert the URL or the file of what you want to transform.
How to color black and white photos online
With deep learning, online software works with so-called «neural networks», which simulate the way neurons work by linking information from a huge database. According to the developers, the program has a trained algorithm with millions of images from the Imagenet service (image-net.org) and is capable of offering very satisfactory results.
Algorithmia has software trained with millions of images to help color photos – Photo: Reproduction / Pixabay
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When inserting a photo on the Algorithmia website, the program searches for references in its system to color each detail according to reality. During tests with landscapes, objects and people, the app showed more satisfactory results with pictures of faces, while in the other examples it always presented orange tones, perhaps based only on a lighting point of the photo.
Algorithmia can help color old photos that are in black and white – Photo: Isabela Giantomaso / dnetc
For now, Algorithmia is part of a state-of-the-art algorithm development program and is still in a demo version, indicating that it may receive improvements in the software for coloring photos. However, even though it is still in progress, the program already makes it easier for the average user to work that demands time and skill in advanced editors such as Adobe Photoshop.