Black and white photos become lifelike color photos PS can not be done

　"translator's words" even now the function of PS is very powerful, but if you want to turn a black-and-white photos into lifelike color photos, still difficult, and the effect is not satisfactory. Before the invention of color film, there were many ways to color a black-and-white photograph, and the way the Swiss used the method of coloring more than 100 years ago, even in today's eyes, still makes the PS master humbled.

You need a big leap of thought as you watch this, because when you look at some of the pictures inside, you may not be able to tell when the photos were taken. So I need to emphasize here beforehand: in this article, all the pictures, are black and white photos using the authorized lithography program, through the photographer's own color imagination to paint. All these photos (except the first one) were created before the invention of color film. Color film came out in 1907, but the real use was already in the 30 's.

After the invention of photography, the printing company's demand for some hand-coloured photographs rose dramatically, with a hand-painted layer on a black-and-white photograph. Some of the results are still basically commendable, but this artificial coloring method always gives a person an unreal feeling and lack of some subtle color changes, and can not accurately express some exquisite details. The image below shows the effect of this artificial coloring, which is the intersection of Hollywood and Vine Street in Hollywood.

Figure 1

In the 1880s, Swiss inventor Hans Yas Bu Schmidt (Hans Jakob Schmid) invented a process to paint photographs by using stone prints of limestone and a series of photosensitive chemical agents to color photographs, and call this procedure "Photochrom." (That is, "color photos"). Using a Black-and-white negative, the photochrom process can be used to add exquisite color to the photo, the effect is quite realistic. Below are two photos of the Yosemite National Park Half Dome scenic area in the Library of Congress, the first of which is black and white, and the second is the effect of using photochrom treatment.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Here's a picture of Ms. Becky Ross (Betsy Ross, who designed and sewed the first American flag), and we can enjoy the color details of the photochrom process.

Figure 4

Figure 5