Can GPT-4o Colorize Old Photos? Sort of, but Be Careful!

DALL-E has been replaced by a caller image-generation motor nether GPT-4o, and lad is it a large jump. There seems to beryllium small this caller representation procreation tech can't do, but what astir adding colour to aged achromatic and achromatic photos?

This thought occurred to maine arsenic I was looking astatine immoderate humanities photos and their painstakingly-colorized versions, truthful I decided to spot however good this cutting-edge representation procreation bundle could bash this job.

GPT-4o Image Generation Can Practically Perform Miracles

The leap from DALL-E to the caller GPT-4o representation procreation exemplary is momentous. DALL-E had this telltale benignant that spoiled things adjacent erstwhile you were going for photorealism, but this caller exemplary tin make photos that are practically flawless. Consider this "photo" of Albert Einstein moving connected a MacBook.

If you look closely, determination whitethorn beryllium immoderate flaws apparent, but I deliberation that isolated from the anachronism I enactment successful determination to marque it wide this isn't a existent photo, it would walk the sniff trial for a batch of people.

What besides impressed maine nary extremity is however the representation procreation strategy integrated with ChatGPT itself. Since ChatGPT tin spot and recognize images, you tin usage them to usher the procreation process. For example, present I supply a illustration image, and inquire the bot to amusement maine what Star Trek's Captain Picard would look similar with a mullet.

Note that it's astute capable not to make him with a fish, but isolated from that the bundle cognition of the satellite shapes the punctual (which we don't get to see) and the results are stunning. Forget astir the foreground; look astatine however intimately the inheritance and creation of the archetypal representation has been mimicked.

So, could I enactment a achromatic and achromatic photograph successful and inquire it to springiness maine a colorized version?

The Results of Colorization Requests are Impressive

I decided to sojourn the Library of Congress website and drawback a fewer images from the "Free to use" conception to trial things out. I picked an representation and asked ChatGPT to make a colorized photo.

What we get is thing that looks beauteous decent. Although, it's besides gone and cleaned up the image, which is not precisely what I want. So I often person to enactment successful a follow-up petition to effort and sphere the archetypal imperfections of the image, and conscionable adhd colour to it. I threw respective photos into the premix this way, and wide the results are beauteous convincing, but lone astatine archetypal glance.

But, Look Closely!

Except, if you look closely, oregon sometimes not adjacent that closely, it's evident that these are not colorizations of the archetypal photo, but a wholly caller representation made to lucifer the archetypal photo.

Obviously, fixed however this exertion works, that's not excessively surprising, but unless the photograph is of a celebrated idiosyncratic similar Lincoln oregon Einstein, the representation generator can't truly support the look of the archetypal person. Sometimes it does an OK job, but I stake idiosyncratic who really knows the idiosyncratic successful question volition instantly timepiece that thing isn't right.

For example, I asked it to colorize this photograph of me, and I don't cognize who that feline is!

Real Colorization Preserves The Original Photo

The radical who bash existent colorization enactment person it overmuch easier these days due to the fact that of integer tools, but it's inactive a painstaking process that's driven by their humanities expertise and probe into what colors are astir apt to beryllium the close ones for that clip and place.

When you enactment the colorized photograph side-by-side with the original, the photos look identical, isolated from the colour and different touch-up work. History is some preserved and brought to life. Right now, contempt however awesome GPT-4o is arsenic an representation generator, it conscionable can't bash that yet.

It's Not Suitable for Important Photos

Playing astir with colorization, particularly for photos with recognizable humanities figures, is beauteous fun. However, the information is that this isn't existent colorization.

So if you person photos that request colorization, particularly household photos, past I wouldn't suggest trying to usage this method yet. However, determination are online AI services that person been built for this circumstantial job, and I was funny to spot if they did immoderate better. Most volition fto you colorize a fewer images for free, and here's what my photograph looked similar aft being enactment done Deep AI's colorizer. The archetypal is connected the right.

This did a large occupation of keeping the archetypal photo, but honestly, the colors don't look that large and it missed a fewer spots. I besides tried Palette which really did a large job, and that's what I'd usage if I had immoderate household photos I needed to spruce up.

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I'm truly pleased with that, but I'm besides inactive excited to spot what the almighty and freeform talents of aboriginal models similar GPT-4o's representation generator could bash that these specialized colorizers can't.