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Old family snapshots, archive scans and monochrome film shots can be given plausible natural color in a few seconds. The model predicts only the color; every bit of the original detail and tone is kept at full resolution.
Processing locally on your device
Overview
Colorization is an ill-posed problem: a grey pixel could have been a red dress or a green one. Modern models learn from millions of color photos which colors usually go with which shapes and textures, so skin, sky, grass, wood and fabric get believable colors. This tool uses DDColor (ICCV 2023, Apache-2.0), which pairs a ConvNeXt image encoder with a multi-scale color decoder. That design reduces the washed-out sepia look that older colorizers often produced.
The work happens in the CIE Lab color space, which splits an image into lightness (L) and two color channels (a for green to red, b for blue to yellow). The model receives a 512 × 512 grey version of your photo and predicts only the a and b channels. The tool then combines that predicted chroma with the lightness of your original photo, pixel by pixel, at its full resolution. Fine detail such as film grain, hair and text therefore comes from the original and is never blurred. Color edges are slightly softer than the detail, which human vision barely notices; JPEG uses the same trick.
The model is the DDColor tiny ONNX export, about 135 MB, stored with 16-bit weights. It is downloaded once and cached. It runs on your CPU through WebAssembly (its 16-bit weights don't produce reliable colours on browser graphics drivers yet), and a colour prediction takes roughly 7–20 seconds. The Strength slider then scales the predicted color from 0% (grey) to 200% (extra saturated) instantly, without running the model again. Downloads in PNG, WebP or JPG keep your photo's original dimensions.
| Strength | Effect | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 0% | Clean greyscale from the lightness channel | Neutral black and white conversion |
| 40–70% | Muted, hand-tinted look | Old portraits, period feel |
| 100% | The model's prediction | Most photos |
| 120–160% | Richer, more saturated color | Landscapes, flat-looking scans |
Drop in a black and white or faded photo (JPG, PNG, WebP or HEIC).
Wait a few seconds while the colors are predicted. The first run downloads the model once.
Drag the comparison divider to see the before and after.
Adjust Strength for subtler or richer color.
Download the colorized photo as PNG, WebP or JPG at full resolution.
Use cases
Colorize grandparents' wedding photos or childhood snapshots for a family album, slideshow or anniversary gift. The scans stay on your computer.
Give historical street scenes and archive photos a modern look for social posts, talks and exhibitions. Label them as colorized, because the colors are an AI estimate.
See how a monochrome film or digital shot would look in color, or use a low strength for a muted, hand-tinted effect.
Faded color prints that have turned brown or pink can be treated as grey and recolored, often giving more natural tones than trying to correct the color cast.
Pro tips
Answers to common questions about the photo colorizer.
No. The model predicts plausible colors from what it learned, not what was really there. Skies, skin and vegetation are usually convincing, but clothing, cars and painted walls are guesses.
No. Only the color is predicted at 512 × 512. The lightness, which carries all the detail, comes from your original at full resolution, so the output has the same size and sharpness.
Yes. The tool uses only the lightness of the image, so sepia or faded color prints are recolored from scratch. It does not keep or blend the existing colors.
The model is about 135 MB because it is a full image encoder and color decoder. It downloads once and is cached by your browser for future visits.
It scales the predicted a and b color channels. 100% is the model's prediction, lower values fade toward grey for a subtle tint, and higher values boost saturation.
No. ToolEnhancer processes files on your own device inside the browser. They are never sent to, stored on or seen by our servers.
Yes. The photo colorizer is free to use with no sign-up, no watermarks and no daily limits.