A tutorial showing the method I use to colour photographs.
david.

Edit: small addition to the tutorial to explain how feathering produces smooth transition between colours.




Edit: PDF file was incomplete - now corrected. Also use of overlay mode changed to soft-light mode now they are different.

The second part of the tutorial.
david.

Edit: The complete file is now in #1 of this thread.

Excellent tut, David. I saw it on GL and I told other users to have a look there; good it's now available also on GC.

You can also use this free web service to quickly color a B&W image using a computer algorithm with AI technology. It make quick work of it. https://colorize.dev.kaisou.misosi.ru/?lang=en

Cool tut David. I have only seen one other Gimp one which I used once. May try this next time.
Will have a look at that link now racer

Might save one a lot of work but no good if you want all of the photo colourized correctly

As far as i know, because of a bug, Overlay is still the same as Soft Light.

When it comes to grayscale images, isnt it much better to use the Color Layermode ?

From the manual:

Konstantin,

Whilst the formula for overlay appears, at first sight, to contradict what is required, it gives acceptable results.
Using colour mode does not - try it and you will see!

david.

I did. In Overlay mode all the colours come out lighter as you pick them. How do you produce predictable results ?
You always have to guess what a colour will look like lightened.

But when you paint on transparent layers and put the grayscale base-image in 'Value Mode' on top, the colours stay the same.

Konstantin,

You have raised an interesting question and made me think!

In Overlay mode it is necessary to select a colour which will be correct towards the lighter parts of the image.
Having tried your suggestion of reversing the layers and using Value mode, a colour towards the darker part of the picture must be selected.

I will have to experiment further with your method to see which is easier and produces good results.

david.

I have little need for this type of thing, but why not just use Normal mode on duplicate layer. Then use Color Mode on brush. Adjust opacity to suit.

Example:

I learned a lot about selections from your tutorial David, thankyou. Here's my first quick try...

@racer-x,

Thanks for the video. I think most people, when they first colour photographs, do it by free-hand painting on layers.
The method I used in the tutorial is that which works for me. It was written as the result of a request for help. Some of the techniques may also suggest other uses.
Of course there may be better ways of achieving the same result and I am always open to new ideas.

david.

I have made a small update to the tutorial to explain how feathering produces a smooth transition between colours.
It is now split into parts 1a, 1b and 2 owing to uploading problems!

david.

Hi David,
Subtracting from the pre-created channels and performing the painting really gives a good result, interesting technique.


Luckily in this tutorial you were not asked to use color layer mode, since in Gimp 2.10 this mode disappeared.

Thanks for the tutorial!

@TicTac,

I am glad you found the tutorial useful. I hope it also explained the reasons for the technique so that it can be applied for other uses.
Having a set of channels - like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle - allows adjustment to individual areas of an image with a smooth transition to adjacent areas.
Also, the channels are available to use as masks for adding localised effects.

david.

Found another tut to colour BW photos with Gimp and thought I'd give it a try. Using masks instead of selections

sallyanne,

Excellent result! Can you point us to the tutorial? I am always ready to find better ways of achieving good outcomes.

david.

Thank you David. I hope I can do more. This is it.
https://turbofuture.com/graphic-design- ... P-Tutorial
I read through it and I think got the idea of what to do, and then I did it..Took me a few days though.
I did do something extra that a friend told me awhile back - and that was, when I had finished colouring I put a copy of the black and white image above the photo in overlay mode to bring out the detail and also curves to taste.

Logged in just to tell you that your coloring of that photo is nothing short of spectacular. Very well done.