Colorize the archival still you will actually use, not the whole box
colorize_photo infers plausible color on a grayscale still. Running it on photos you will not animate or post, or colorizing before the board is picked, is a batch of interpretations you will not ship.
colorize_photo adds realistic color to a grayscale, black-and-white, or faded still. Saturation is a dial so you can keep it period-looking instead of neon. Colors are inferred, not historically verified. Treat the result as a plausible interpretation. That interpretation is billed per photo. A shoe box of scans is not a shot list. Colorize the still you will actually put in a slideshow or a motion pass.
Colorize an old photo is the job. estimate_cost before a batch. Extra tools already park this after lock. The lock here is: this scan is the scan.
Do not colorize as a way to "see if it's usable"
Usable is composition, faces, damage. Those are visible in gray. If the scan is the wrong aunt, color will not make her the right one. If the scan is too degraded, the model has less to work with — another reason not to batch the ruined pile "to see."
This is a photo tool. Video colorize is not this button. If the destination is a reel, colorize the keeper still, then put it in a slideshow or an image-to-video. Colorizing ten, motioning one, is nine souvenirs.
Do not treat the result as evidence in a documentary sense. If a historian has to sign the wall color, this is the wrong pipeline.
Order
- Pick the scan. Crop or restore enough to know it is the frame.
- Colorize with a saturation you meant.
- Then slideshow, overlay, or motion — on that file.
The text-to-image path is for new stills. This path is for old ones you have already chosen.
Saturation is the one control worth using on purpose. A "natural" pass on a scan you have not picked still produces a file someone will get attached to because it is now in color. Attachment is how a maybe survives. Stay in gray until the still has a job.
FAQ
Can I batch an entire album overnight?
You can. You will pay for interpretations of pages you will not post. Pick the pages that have a job.
Should I upscale before colorize?
If this scan is the scan and it is tiny, maybe. Upscaling the whole box then colorizing it is two meters on unpicked stills. Pick, then enhance.
Will this fix scratches and tears?
It adds color. Damage is a different restoration brief. Do not expect colorize to be a conservator.
Why is this a later step if there is no "picture lock" on a photo?
There is. The still can still be replaced by a better scan, a different crop, a different relative. Colorize after that argument is over.