Black and White, To Colour

[SpicyDuck]

Just a little general curiosity really. I was wondering how people manage to get old black and white films/photographs and make them colour. Is it purely a guessing game that includes hours of work, or do they use the different shades of black and white in order to determine the original colour?

I was thinking of getting a few photographs that my Grandfather has, restoring them in Photoshop, then giving them to him. I think it'll make him very happy at the grand age of 95.

Thanks,

Phil.

 

[iCraig]

I think there is a technique called white balancing that can help colourize old photos.

I've never done it myself, but it's definately possible.

 

[BaJ]

I've used Recolored before with some success, cool little app!