To colorize or not to colorize?

Originally published November 2022 · p. 41

The ongoing debate whether to colorize photography or not will continue long after this article was published. Using artificial intelligence, computer software can select the different shades of gray and automatically colorize black and white images. Light reflects differently off colors and the software uses this gray scale data to create colorized images. The bottom image was hand tinted during the Civil War and the right image on October 2, 2022, using Adobe Photoshop’s® Neural Filter, Colorize. With colorization, the color of his uniform, the wood stock of the firearm, and the backdrop all come to life. We encourage you to let us know your opinion on this controversial topic. Send your comments to email [email protected].