DeOldify AI Review: What to Expect From Its Photo Restoration

Part 1: Overview of DeOldify AI

DeOldify AI is an open-source deep learning project. It can add color to black-and-white photos and even videos. The tool is a relatively new solution as it was developed by Jason Antic in 2018. But DeOldify AI has become popular quickly as it's now one of the most popular AI colorization projects on GitHub, with over 18,000 stars.

The primary purpose and feature of DeOldify is quite simple: bring color back to old images without manual editing. Moreover, the resultant photos in this tool are quite natural, with fewer odd color patches and gray "zombie" skin tones that are common in many AI tools.

Why use DeOldify AI?

DeOldify AI solves a number of problems and provides you with many benefits.

• Hand-coloring old photos is slow and requires significant skill and practice.
• Old AI tools and traditional photo editing tools add flat or glitchy colors.
• Old film footage often flickers when colorized frame by frame.

Main audiences: Family historians, genealogy fans, archivists, history content creators, and developers who want to study or build on its model.

What sets it apart: DeOldify AI is free and open source under the MIT license. It is powered by a unique training method called NoGAN, which minimizes glitches. Many popular apps, including MyHeritage In Color, were built on its technology.

Part 2: DeOldify AI Colorization Results: Quality, Features, and Limitations

Here are the key features of DeOldify:

Feature 1: Three AI models for different jobs

DeOldify AI offers an Artistic model, a Stable model, and a Video model. You can use the Artistic model to get bold and more vivid colors, while Stable works better for portraits and landscapes. Video is tuned to reduce flicker.

Feature 2: NoGAN training

This is DeOldify's own training method. It keeps the realism of GAN models but minimizes the strange artifacts and color bleeding.

Feature 3: Render factor control

You can change the "render_factor" value in DeOldify. A higher value results in richer color and more stable results. A lower value can help with low-quality scans.

Feature 4: Free photo and video colorization

You can run DeOldify for free through Google Colab notebooks. It means you won't have to install anything on your computer.

Real Performance of DeOldify AI

In our view, DeOldify AI produce some of the most natural colors among free tools. Overall, skin tones look warm and believable. Similarly, wood, fabric, and indoor scenes often look very realistic. Its video model also stays steady from frame to frame.

Strengths:

• Natural skin tones in most portraits
• Rich colors with the Artistic model
• Smooth, flicker-free video results
• Free and open source

Limitations:

• It only colorizes. It does not fix scratches, tears, or blur.
• It does not upscale low-resolution photos.
• Colors are a best guess, not historically accurate. Even the developer admits historical accuracy is a big challenge.
• The Colab setup can feel technical for beginners.
• The original GitHub project was archived in October 2024, so it no longer gets updates.

Part 3: How to Use DeOldify AI to Colorize Old Photos

Here's how to use DeOldify:

Step 1: Open the DeOldify AI Website

Go to deoldify.ai and click the try DeOldify button. The website will now refer you to the MyHeritage page or give an option to access via Google Colab.

Step 2: Upload photo

Upload the black-and-white image to restore colors to it.

Step 3: Sign up and Sign in

In order to access your colorized pictures, you'll have to create an account on the platform.

Step 4: Colorize and download

Run the colorize cell. Check the result and download the photo.

Part 4: DeOldify AI Alternative: Restore and Enhance Old Photos with Advanced Tool

DeOldify AI is a great online tool when you just need color in your pictures. However, there are many old photos that have bigger problems, such as scratches, creases, blurriness, or small size. In those cases, you'll need a complete AI-powered photo editing and restoration tool to enhance the pictures and not just add color.

HitPaw FotorPea

HitPaw FotorPea is a desktop AI photo enhancer for Windows and Mac. It handles colorization, along with repairing damage, sharpening faces, and boosting resolution in one place. If you want to restore family photos, you should definitely try out HitPaw FotorPea.

Key Features of HitPaw FotorPea

• Old photo restoration: Scratch Repair and Generative Repair & Colorize models fix cracks, creases, and stains. They can also restore and colorize group photos in one go.
• Enhance image to 4K/8K: The AI Upscale model can enlarge photos up to 8X. Small, old prints can become sharp enough to print or frame.
• Advanced models support: Choose from Face Restoration, Denoise, Sharpen, AI Color, Low-light, and more. Auto Mode can also pick the best model for you.
• All in one workflow: Restore, colorize, upscale, edit, and remove backgrounds without switching apps.
• AI image generation: Create new images from text prompts inside the same software.
• User-friendly interface: Drag and drop your photo, pick a model, preview, and export. No coding is needed.

How to Use HitPaw FotorPea to Restore Old Photos

• Step 1:Download and install HitPaw FotorPea on your Windows or Mac computer. Launch the program.

  
  

• Step 2:Click "AI Enhancer," then "Choose File." You can also drag and drop your old photo into the window.

  

• Step 3:Select the models you need. Turn on Scratch Repair for damage and AI Color Model for black-and-white photos. Add Face Restoration or AI Upscale if needed.

  

• Step 4:Click "Preview" to compare before and after. When you're happy, click "Export" to save your restored photo.

  

Part 5: DeOldify AI vs HitPaw FotorPea: Which Should You Choose?

Both tools can bring old photos back to life, but both have different working processes. Here's a quick look at how DeOldify AI and HitPaw FotorPea compares:

Quick Table of DeOldify AI vs HitPaw FotorPea

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose DeOldify AI If:

• Your photos are already in good shape and only need color.
• You want a free, open-source tool.
• You are comfortable running a Colab notebook.
• You are a developer or researcher who wants to study the model.

Choose HitPaw FotorPea If:

• Your photos are scratched, faded, torn, or blurry.
• You want to colorize and restore in one step.
• You need larger, sharper files for printing.
• You prefer a simple app with no coding.

In short, DeOldify AI is a solid free colorizer. HitPaw FotorPea is better suited for complete old photo restoration.

FAQs on DeOldify AI

Conclusion

DeOldify AI is still one of the best free ways to colorize black-and-white photos. Its colors look natural, and its NoGAN method keeps glitches low. But it only adds color, needs some technical setup, and is no longer updated.

If your old photos need advanced solutions like scratch repair, face restoration, or 4K/8K upscaling, try HitPaw FotorPea. It brings colorization and full old photo restoration together in one easy workflow.