Barbara from Texas asks:
Would I be able to make black and white photos into colored ones in Serif Photo Plus?
Barbara, I’m not sure what you mean by colored photos, but the short answer is yes. If you mean change the tint of a photo from say black and white to a sepia or a blue tone, you can easily do that in Serif and also in many other simple free, online photo editors like BeFunky.
If you want to colorize black and white photos so that each element is individually colored like the image below, the answer is also yes.
Photo editing software that gives you the ability to isolate parts of an image, add layers and make those layers transparent will allow you to colorize photos.
But, for those not familiar with this type of editing, I want to make sure that you understand that it’s not a simple process like adding a single filter. You will have to isolate and carefully color each part of the photo. This is some of the most painstaking work you’ll ever do. In the example below, I’m using a magnetic lasso tool to attempt to outline my grandma’s dress in a photo of me with my cousins. I’m terrible at close work like this, so this is not a project for me to undertake.
You can also use the eye-dropper or paint brush to selectively and painstakingly add selective color. Fortunately, Serif Photo Plus includes a help section that explains how to do it. The actual process for doing this will vary depending on your program.
For a really nice-looking image, you’ll have to play with color values and other settings to achieve a realistic looking result. If you’d like to try out a software that can help you colorize photos, you may want to check out Blackmagic.
You can try out a free version of the program that can help you colorize photos. No matter which program you use, it will require a steady hand, sharp eye and a ton of patience.
~ Cynthia