Key facts
- What it does
- Adds color to black and white photos
- Works best with
- Scanned prints in even light
- Platforms
- iPhone, iPad and Android
- Price
- Included with a Glow subscription, from $1.99/week (pricing)
How to colorize a black and white photo
- Scan the print, or photograph it flat in even light without glare.
- Open Glow and tap Colorize.
- Pick the photo.
- Compare before and after, then save the colorized copy. Your original is not changed.
Tips
- Crop out the border and any table or frame around the print first.
- If the old photo is soft or small, run Enhance before or after Colorize.
Limits
AI colorization is an educated guess. Clothes, cars and walls get plausible colors, not necessarily the real ones from the day the photo was taken.
Who it's for
Best for
- Family archives and old prints
- Gifts for parents and grandparents
- Genealogy projects
Not for
- Historical work that needs verified colors
- Video
- Photos that are already in color
Questions
Can Glow colorize old photos?
Yes. Colorize adds natural-looking color to black and white photos. Scanned prints in even light give the best results.
Are the colors accurate?
They're realistic, but AI can't know the true original colors. Treat them as a likely version, not a historical record.
Is it free?
Glow is free to download. The photo tools are part of the Glow subscription: $1.99 a week, $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year on the US App Store. The app shows the exact price for your country before you pay, and you can cancel any time in your App Store or Google Play settings. See pricing.
What happens to my photo?
Your photo is uploaded securely and processed once to create your result, which appears in your in-app Gallery. Glow doesn't collect or store face data, and you can delete any result from the Gallery. Details are in the privacy policy.
Last updated October 27, 2026. Made by Halberd LLC, the developer of Glow.