Easy Guide: How to Colorize a Black and White Video

Black-and-white photos and videos possess a unique aesthetic charm, enhanced by the nostalgic filter of time and memories. Yet there are moments when you yearn to colorize them—to see how they'd appear in vibrant hues, whether they'd feel more lifelike, as if coming back to life.

Many share this desire, hoping to restore color to old films and family videos. So, many video editing software developers seized this opportunity, adding colorization features for black-and-white videos.

But where can you find the right software, and how to colorize a black and white video using them?

This article has prepared a comprehensive guide for you, covering both professional video restoration and editing software, as well as online tools. No matter where you prefer to work, there's something here for you.

Part 1. Why Do We Colorize Black And White Video?

In the introduction to the preceding section, we briefly touched upon why someone might want to colorize black-and-white videos. Before diving into the process in this subsection, let's first unpack the answers to this question.

• Emotional Value

When viewing old black-and-white footage, you might apply a thick layer of nostalgia to the colors, always feeling the images lack authenticity—as if separated by an immense distance in time.

But when authentic color is applied, you gain a direct sense that the events unfolded in the same vibrant world you inhabit. The barrier of time dissolves, placing you in the same space as the characters on screen.

• Viewing Experience

For those born into a world of color, revisiting old films or videotapes often feels jarring and uncomfortable.

Recoloring makes them more watchable, undoubtedly revitalizing classic works for modern audiences.

• Creative Work

Archival footage and documentaries form an immense creative resource. Yet inserting black-and-white clips into color footage creates jarring discontinuity. Recolored, this content becomes ideal for modern advertising or social media segments.

Part 2. How To Colorize A Black And White Video Via Vidhex

Alright, I trust you now understand the necessity of adding color to black-and-white photos. So let's dive into how to add color to a black-and-white video.

First, let's look at a professional desktop software for color processing: Vidmore Vidhex.

It uses AI technology to automatically analyze every frame of your video, intelligently identifying scenes, people, and landscapes. Based on this, it adds realistic color for you.

Don't worry—this software requires no manual adjustments. All you need to do is upload your video, click, and receive your colorized footage.

Main Features

1. Instantly convert black-and-white videos into color footage.
2. Upgrade SD to HDR, elevating your footage to cinematic color quality.
3. Boost brightness to enhance low-light or underexposed videos.
4. Automatically adjust contrast, brightness, saturation, and color balance.
5. Eliminate shaky footage with a single click.

Here is how to make a black and white video color with Vidhex.

Step 1. Download and install Vidhex on your computer. Select B&W colorization on its interface.

Step 2. The system will prompt you to upload your video. Then, choose a color model that suits your preference. Preview the effect.

Step 3. If you're satisfied with the result, click Export All to download the restored video.

Part 3. How To Add Color To A Black And White Video In Editing Software

If you feel AI isn't precise or customizable enough and want to control the final outcome yourself, we recommend using professional, high-precision video editing software like Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve. Both are industry leaders renowned for their color correction capabilities.

With these tools, you can manually adjust individual areas to ensure complete customization and achieve results that perfectly match your vision. However, this approach is significantly more complex and time-consuming than using AI. If you're a beginner, it may prove challenging initially and require a learning curve to master.

Below, we briefly outline how to convert a black-and-white video to color using Adobe Premiere Pro.

Step 1. Import your clip into Adobe Premiere Pro, then head to the Color workspace at the top to unlock color editing tools.

Step 2. From the window dropdown, enable Lumetri Scopes so you can monitor waveforms and RGB details on the left panel.

Step 3. Move over to the Lumetri Color panel on the right, where you can fine-tune curves—such as RGB Curves, Hue vs Hue, and Luma—for adjusting brightness and tone.

Step 4. Inside Basic Correction, tweak sliders like Shadows and Contrast to set a strong foundation for your color grading.

Step 5. Expand Color Wheels & Match to apply specific color tones to shadows, midtones, or highlights with more precision.

Step 6. If you need to adjust only a certain part of the frame, go to the Effects panel, drag in Lumetri Color, and choose Add Lumetri Color Effect.

Step 7. Use Effect Controls to create a mask around the area you want to alter, then refine the look by modifying Lumetri options. Once finished, export your project by selecting File > Export > Media to save your final video.

Part 4. How To Make A Black And White Video Color With Online Tools

I don't want to download third-party software. Is there a lighter method?

Of course. There are now many online platforms that support colorizing black-and-white videos. They launch quickly, deliver good results, and are worth trying.

Take Neural.love as an example. It uses AI technology to add modern colors to black-and-white videos. Plus, its usage and interface are extremely simple.

Now let's see how to use it.

Step 1. Head over to the Neural.love website and pick a plan or option that matches your needs.

Step 2. Upload your black-and-white video file, then let the AI system process it and apply realistic colors automatically.

Step 3. Once the rendering finishes, hit the Download button to save your newly colorized video.

Part 5. FAQs About Colorizing Black And White Videos

How to add color to black and white video?

If you want precise customization, we recommend using professional software like Adobe Premiere Pro to manually adjust colors. If you prefer an easier approach, try AI-powered video enhancers.

Can I add color to black and white?

Absolutely. Many video resolution enhancers support this, with Vidmore Vidhex being a standout example. It's simple to use—just upload your video and click to colorize.

What is the best free video enhancer?

Online video enhancers like Fotor and Canva are excellent choices. CapCut online editor is also a top pick among free options. All can fix blurry videos and enhance overall video quality.

Conclusion

Whether you prefer automatic or manual methods, you'll find the best solution for how to colorize a black and white video right here. We've gathered the top AI software, professional video editing tools, and the most user-friendly online utilities—each accompanied by step-by-step guides to ensure you succeed.