How to Colorize a Black and White Photo for Free

A black and white photo of an old man on a bench in a garden next to the same photo in color — Before and after, made with Mokivo’s Colorize Photo. The example photo is AI-generated.

The tool is Colorize Photo. It runs entirely on your device: your picture is never uploaded to any server. The only thing downloaded is the open-source AI model (about 129 MB, once — your browser keeps it for next time).

You need a black and white photo (JPG, PNG or WebP) and a modern browser such as Chrome, Edge or Safari. A computer works best; the model needs some memory.

1Open the tool

Go to Colorize Photo. You will see a drop area. There is no account to create and nothing to install.

The Colorize Photo tool with an empty drop area — The empty tool.

2Add your photo

Drag the photo onto the drop area, click it to choose a file, or paste an image with Ctrl+V (Cmd+V on a Mac). Very large images are reduced to 4096 pixels on the longest side, which is plenty.

Scans work fine. If your scan has a yellow or sepia tint, the tool only uses its brightness, so the tint does not matter.

A black and white photo loaded in the tool with the Colorize photo button below it — Photo loaded, ready to colorize.

3Press “Colorize photo”

Click the button. The first time, your browser downloads the AI model (about 129 MB) and a progress bar shows how far it is. Later runs skip the download and start straight away.

The result usually appears within a few seconds to half a minute, depending on your computer. While it works, keep the tab open.

The colorized photo with a Color strength slider and download buttons — The colorized result, with the slider and download buttons.

4Adjust the color strength

The Color strength slider goes from 0 to 150%. Lower it for a soft, natural tint; raise it for punchier colors. Hold the Hold to see original button to flip back to the black and white photo and compare.

The AI decides the colors at a lower internal resolution and then applies them to your photo’s full-resolution brightness, so detail and sharpness are kept.

The same photo with the Color strength slider lowered to 45 percent — The same photo at 45% color strength: softer and more muted.

5Download the result

Choose Download PNG for the best quality, or Download JPG for a smaller file. That’s it — the file goes straight to your device.

A black and white street scene next to its colorized version — Another example: a street scene before and after.

Tips for better results

Start with the best scan you have. Sharp, well-exposed photos of people, landscapes and buildings colorize most naturally. Very dark, blurry or badly damaged scans are harder.
Remember the colors are a guess. A black and white photo contains no color information, so a dress, a car or a wall can come out in a different color than in real life. Treat the result as an interpretation, not a historical record.
Fix damage first. Scratches, dust and fading are better repaired in a photo editor before colorizing.
Try a lower strength for faces. If skin looks too red or too orange, drop the slider to 60–80%.
Already a color photo? It works, but the original colors are thrown away: only the brightness is kept and new colors are painted on.

Ready to bring an old photo to life? It takes about a minute and nothing leaves your device.

Open Colorize Photo →

Frequently asked questions

Is it really free?

Yes. There is no account, no watermark and no limit on how many photos you colorize. It is part of Mokivo.

Is my photo uploaded?

No. The photo is processed in your browser and never uploaded to any server. Only the open-source AI model is downloaded, once, and cached by your browser.

Why does the first run take longer?

The AI model is about 129 MB and has to be downloaded the first time. After that it is reused from your browser cache.

Are the colors accurate?

No. The model guesses plausible colors from what it recognises in the picture. The real colors of an old photo can be different, so treat the result as an interpretation.

Can I colorize several photos?

Yes — one after another. Remove the photo with the ✕ button and add the next one — the model is already loaded, so it starts straight away.

What formats can I upload and download?

You can upload JPG, PNG and WebP, and download PNG or JPG.

The example photos in this guide are AI-generated. The colorizing is done by DDColor (Apache-2.0), an open-source model that runs in your browser.