Colourising complex patterns in material

[Pedro55]

Hi.
I have recently been colourising and repairing old photographs for people, mostly B+W (Greyscale) photos of WW1 soldiers. Occasionally I come across soldiers, say from a Scottish regiment, who are wearing tartan/plaid/checks etc. I'm finding it difficult to colourise these accurately.
Is there a tool/group of tools/Plugin I could use to help me with this or any other complex pattered material?

Any help or pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Pete.
Using both Paintshop pro 2018+2019.

[leahcimi]

It isn't perfect but take a look at colorize-it.com
https://demos.algorithmia.com/colorize-photos/
Simply upload your b/w image, process & download the finished result.

[Pedro55]

Hi leahcimi.

Followed your link and tried it with a B+W image of my tartan PJ trousers!!
As you say, not perfect but it did a pretty good job of it. I'm sure with a bit more manipulation the results would be improved.
Haven't tried it on any old photos yet (Some of the photos i'm scanning are the original prints and are over 100 years old!!) but I'll give it a try and see what happens.

Thanks for your help and input .

Pete.

[leahcimi]

Glad it worked for you.
As you say, it provides a good starting point for further work.

[ehume]

Somehow, the colorizing of old B&W photos seems . . . incorrect.

No matter what colors you pick, they are arbitrary. I don't mean reconstructed photos like how workers in Hong Kong colorized a print of Gone With The Wind from notes made at the time of the original filing. Nor am I referring to restoring faded color prints, as they did with the original Star Wars. But colorizing portraits and group shots originally done in B&W doesn't seem right. Some pictures from the Civil War are extremely interesting. But I would have to see samples to know.

[Pedro55]

Hi ehume.

I both agree and disagree with you on various points.
As to the colours being arbritary, if it was say, a group of holidaymakers, then yes, who's to say what they were wearing. But when it comes to uniforms the colours are VERY specific.
I have to do research to find the specific colours of Tunics, hats, trousers, kilts, badges, emblems, flags etc. If I colourised a photo of some Green Beret vets. and put them in red berets I don't think they'd be too pleased!! Plus the colourisation of B+W photos has some historical significance.
If you get a chance watch Peter Jackson's (Lord of the Rings director) latest film "They Shall not Grow Old.". It's the colourisation and enhancement of WW1 footage. It is nothing short of astounding! As Peter Jackson said "The soldiers didn't fight the First World War in black and white".

Anyway, my question was not whether colourising B+W photos was, as you put it "Incorrect" ,that's subjective , but was trying to find a way of colourising intricate patterns.

Thanks,
Pete