Given the input L channel and the predicted ab channels we can then form our final output image. Since the L channel encodes only the intensity, we can use the L channel as our grayscale input to the network.įrom there the network must learn to predict the a and b channels. The L channel encodes lightness intensity onlyįor more information, you can refer to This Wikipedia article.But unlike the RGB color space, Lab encodes color information differently: Similar to the RGB color space, the Lab color space has three channels. In this tutorial, we will be using LAB color space, but you can try using YCbCr space also. Hence, we have two options : either use YCbCr color space or LAB color space as both Y and L channel encodes the information regarding illumination. Now as we are getting intensity as input and we have to guess colors, we can’t use RGB color space as it doesn’t have information regarding illumination. decided to attack the problem of image colorization by using Convolutional Neural Networks to “hallucinate” what an input grayscale image would look like when colorized.
#COLORIZE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS MANUAL#
Previous approaches to black and white image colorization relied on manual human annotation and often produced desaturated results that were not “believable” as true colorizations. The technique we’ll be covering here today is from Zhang et al.’s 2016 ECCV paper, Colorful Image Colorization. We will utilize a Convolutional Neural Network capable of colorizing black and white images with results that can even “fool” humans! Lets’ Get Started The novel approach we are going to use here today instead relies on deep learning. Relied on significant human interaction and annotation.Previous methods for image colorization either:
Image colorization is the process of taking an input grayscale (black and white) image and then producing an output colorized image that represents the semantic colors and tones of the input (for example, an ocean on a clear sunny day must be plausibly “blue” - it can’t be colored “hot pink” by the model).
#COLORIZE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS HOW TO#
So lets see how to colorize black and white images : Overview But nonetheless, I thought of writing this blog about my project. After few hours of searching, I finally found a method to colorize these images, and I immediately started working on this project and after an exhausting 6 hours, I finally got a working model, albeit the results are not as perfect as I had imagined.