Black and White Photo Colourisation
Seeing a relative in colour for the first time is the closest thing to meeting them. I colourise old photos by hand, layer by layer, from £30 — no filters, and no guessing at tones that can be researched properly.
Black and White Photo Colourisation in Practice
Drag the handle to compare the original with the restored version.
A 1962 studio portrait
A black and white studio print from 1962. Skin, hair and the patterned dress were colourised tone by tone, leaving the original grain and contrast untouched.
A wedding day in black and white
A sepia wedding portrait with no colour record to work from. The bride's dress, the groom's navy suit and the bouquet were each researched and colourised separately.
Why Hand Colourisation Looks Different
Automatic tools have made colourising an old photo black and white image instant. They have not made it accurate.
Skin tones are built, not applied
Realistic skin is never one colour. It shifts across a face — warmer at the cheeks, cooler at the jaw, different again at the hands. Automatic colourisation applies an average and the result reads as a mask. I build the tones in layers.
Fabrics and dyes are researched
A 1940s wedding dress, a wartime uniform, a school blazer from a particular county — these had specific colours that can be checked rather than guessed. Getting them right is what makes old photos in colour feel true rather than decorative.
The light is respected
The direction and warmth of the original lighting has to carry through into the colour, or the picture looks flat and pasted. This is the detail most automatic results miss entirely.
Restoration comes first
Colour applied over damage just gives you a colourful damaged photo. Every colourisation I do includes full restoration first — the price covers both.
How a Colourisation Is Made
A single photograph typically takes several hours across these stages.
Restore the black and white original
Damage, fading and dust are corrected first, and the tonal range rebuilt. Colour is only as good as the greyscale underneath it.
Research what we can know
If you can tell me anything — hair and eye colour, the regiment, the school, the year — it goes into the work. Where nothing is known, I choose what is most plausible for the period and tell you where I have done so.
Build the colour in layers
Skin, clothing, background and hair are each handled separately so they can be adjusted independently. This is the slow part, and the reason colourisation costs more than a repair.
Balance and proof
The whole image is brought into a single consistent light. You see a proof and can ask for changes — if you remember your grandmother's coat being green, we change the coat.
Black and White Photo Colourisation starts from £30. Payment is only taken once you have approved the proof — see full photo restoration prices.
Black and White Photo Colourisation: Common Questions
Three sources: anything you can tell me, historical reference for the period, and what the greyscale tones themselves indicate about the original colour. Where something genuinely cannot be known, I choose the most plausible option for the era and tell you which parts those are.
Yes, and the price includes it. Every colourisation starts with a full restoration — repairing tears, fading and staining first — because adding colour to unrepaired damage only makes the damage more obvious.
No. An app applies a statistical average of what similar photographs tend to look like, which is why faces often come out the same shade regardless of who they are. Hand colourisation builds tones specifically for your photograph and can be corrected if you tell me something is wrong.
Colourisation starts at £30 per photograph and includes the full restoration of the black and white original. Group photographs with many faces take longer and may be quoted higher — you will always have the exact price first.
Other Types of Photo Damage I Repair
Not the damage you have? These pages cover the rest.
Send me your photograph
A scan or a clear phone photo is enough to start. I will tell you honestly what can be recovered, and what it will cost, within three hours.
