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How to Make Black-and-White Pictures Colored

Once the color profile has been removed from a digital image, and that edited image has been saved, you cannot restore the original full color to the file. You can however, add selected color to the picture. This process is known has "Hand coloring" or "Hand tinting." It was a practice that began when artists and photographers wanted to create color images when only black-and-white film existed. Today, you can accomplish the same results using digital images and a photo editing program like Adobe Photoshop, Paint.Net or GIMP.

Instructions

- 1
  Turn your computer on, open the software program you use to edit pictures and open the black-and-white photo you want to colorize.
- 2
  Click on the "Paint brush" tool located in the left margin of the photo editing program window. Across the top of the program, there will be adjustments for the size and type of brush you want to use to add color to your photograph.
- 3
  Click on the color palette located on the bottom left of the photo editing window to select the color you want to add first to your photo.
- 4
  Position your computer mouse cursor over the section of the image you want to paint, click and hold the mouse button to add the color to you image. When you are done adding that color, release the mouse button and the program you are using will add that color to the picture.
- 5
  Select the next color you want to use and start adding that color to the rest of the picture. Repeat the process until the picture is colored to your liking.
- 6
  Click "File" and select "Save as." Give your edited picture a name and save it to your computer's hard drive. Saving the edited picture as a separate file will retain the original picture for future editing.

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