Photo Restoration | I Restored 26 Presidents With Photoshop, Here's Why!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2024
- In this video explain why and how I restored 26 of the 45 U.S Presidents in Photoshop. I talk about both my creative and technical processes and my wider thoughts on making history more accessible.
I had previously decided to both restore and color a Photograph of Abraham Lincoln. After it was unusually successful online I decided to rather ambitiously color every single U.S president who only existed in Black and White Photography.
I already made a video featuring every completed picture:
• EVERY U.S President in...
In this video I show the working processes involved with a representative selection of the pictures I worked on. Along with Lincoln I also talk about John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft,
Some are daguerreotypes, some are glass negatives and some are regular photographic prints but all of them received the same care and attention.
Along with explaining my Photoshop process, a lot of this video is actually more about the creative side of colorization. I, along with many in the community, receive so many comments thanking us for making these historical pictures, and the people within them, feel alive again. So a lot of this video is talking about my thoughts on making history more easily relatable and allowing people to connect with these people who have now become almost more myth than real life people of history.
History Colored Interview
historycolored.com/articles/4...
/ historycolored
Restoration Tutorial
• PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL: Ph...
Colorization Tutorial
• PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL: Ph...
Civil War Contraband
• Captured Civil War 'Co...
WW1 Hospital
• A WW1 Christmas (1918)...
Medieval Jester
• Time Travelling Jester...
Bike Owner
• Bicycle Powered Suffra...
IMAGE SOURCES
(I only have 5000 characters, so full credits, catalog numbers, and Image locations in video credits!)
George Washington
npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.200...
John Adams
images.nga.gov/en/search/do_q...
~149230&launchZoom=149230230,145713,162784,149572&basket_item_id=undefined
Thomas Jefferson
npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.99.66
James Madison
npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.68.50
James Monroe
npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.70.59
John Quincy Adams
www.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.201...
Andrew Jackson
www.loc.gov/pictures/item/200...
htps://www.loc.gov/item/2004664005/
www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3g01...
Martin Van Buren
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
James K. Polk
www.loc.gov/pictures/resource...
Zachary Taylor
www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
Millard Fillmore
www.loc.gov/pictures/item/201...
James Buchanan
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Abraham Lincoln
www.loc.gov/resource/ppmsca.1...
Ulysses S. Grant
www.loc.gov/resource/cwpbh.00...
Reproduction Number
Rutherford B. Hayes
www.loc.gov/resource/cwpbh.03...
William McKinley
www.loc.gov/item/2016689259/
Theodore Roosevelt
www.loc.gov/item/2002718198/
William Howard Taft
www.loc.gov/resource/hec.15145/
Calvin Coolidge
www.loc.gov/resource/ggbain.3...
Gerald Ford
(NAID) 530680
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Civil War Contraband
www.loc.gov/resource/cwpb.01005/
Bike Owner, Jester, WW1 hospital and HDR Images from my own collection.
Music Sourced from TH-cam Audio Library
Dream Escape - The Tides
Peaceful Mind - Astron
Spenta Mainyu - Jesse Gallagher
Fresh Fallen Snow - Chris Haugen
#History #Photography #Photoshop #restoration #repair #restore
"This colorization allowed commenters to see Lincoln as a fully real human for the first time."
*paints Lincoln blue*
Ig that's just a marking for the real color
Yondu Udonta's Earth ancestor.
I'm blue daba dee daba
@@damiyoflapies8473 no duh
Lincoln, the famous Smurf President
My goodness. Absolutely incredible.
I agree, this is fabulous.
yessir
You really captured how constantly stressed and tired Abraham Lincoln was with giving insane detail to his wrinkles and bags.
WHFJEJJFJFJF WHY'S THIS SO FUNNY TO ME
Thank You for take these ghosts and bringing them back to life , so they can live on forever as restored American History
Thank you, that's very kind indeed of you to say! :)
Dude, using the engraving of Andrew Jackson as a bottom layer was genius
Oh no did he paint you blue too
Calvin Coolidge is my favorite to this date so it was nice seeing him get the recognition that he deserves.
Thank you. I really enjoyed working on his picture and researching him! :)
the fact he colorized them manually instead of using AI is impressive
It is, but it's also kind of useless now
AI is ass too be honest. I restore photos as a hobby and AI doesnt compare at all to what you can do manually.
Lincoln looks like he's ready for us to shout "Grandpa!" & run up to his arms
IKR 🥺💖
@@Xanderboof weird flex, okay
What do u mean?
@@opportunegrace6660 he looks like a shoulder to cry on, someone whom is able to be responsible, bring tea & sweetbread while we enjoy the sound of the Winds through the trees
Care, looks like there's care in there
@@VincentGonzalezVeg our grandparents really love us. Our thoughts , these emotions you’re expressing shows that they are emotionally active in our lives
This video was so fascinating to watch! It was an amazing insight into how these images are transformed. You did amazingly well on Andrew Jackson. What do you think your next project will be?
Thank you so much, that's very kind of you to say! Well I'm hoping to work on some smaller projects for a little while before diving into another project of this size. Are there any historical people/topics you'd like to see me work on? :)
@@JBColourisation Ooh I'm not sure! I think that I would like to see something really obscure like people who worked in victorian circuses?
@@JBColourisation a great and relevant project could be; Vivaldi. One of my heroes. But no real images of him like Bach and Handel... from painting and statues. From Vivaldi there is just one picture of him, of which its sure its him (the most used picture of him isnt maybe the authentic Vivaldi)... so that one authentic pic is above that some sort of charicature. So bringing that face back to some realistic proportions would be a great adventure in the first place. So there is waiting a wonderful work for you Mr JB ! :)) Good luck anyway !
@@JBColourisation please please PLEASE do Buddy Bolden. There’s only one image of him that’s very old and damage and would love to see a restored version of that as a jazz enthusiast!
@@JBColourisation could you do war scenes?
Like the Civil war, WWI or WWII
Your painstaking work in this field has given a new depth to the Presidents. Thank you for your dedication to your art.
Fascinating! There is so much more to "colorization" than I ever knew. That term doesn't being to encompass what's involved in restoring these photographs.Thank you for restoring these people back to life, and for educating me in the process. Now I'm off to see your interview.
Thank you very much indeed! I'd recommend also checking out History Colored's TH-cam channel if you want to see more videos of this type. :)
This guy is doing those well made videos about colorization purely for us and not for views, thanks man!
You're very welcome, I enjoy making them! Although I won't complain if I also happen to get more views ha ha.
My mind was blown when I saw the Andrew Jackson picture, even the picture itself. I never knew they had a picture of him and seeing the man in a picture made it feel similar to seeing Jefferson or Washington. Thank you for restoring these photos it makes the people come to life!
Simply astounding what you did with the very damaged Andrew Jackson picture. And it's a pleasure to listen to your thoughts while watching you work. (You should have your own show on TV. I even have an idea for the premise ;-)
That's very kind of you to say! I actually have a video planned for later in the year which I've taken a lot of inspiration from longer form TV documentaries to create. i'm really looking forward to sharing it and i'll certainly be very interested to hear your feedback upon release as it's going to be a bit different from my usual videos, it's a bit of an experiment. (not that I plan to stop making my regular content)
I teach Photoshop and I've done a good bit of photo restoration on the side, including one colorized WWII photo... These images are INCREDIBLE!
Have you thought about older sports figures? There are a lot of legendary athletes who most of us only know as black and white figures. I personally would love to see some baseball players depicted in color! Thanks and great work!
Thank you very much for the suggestion (and Kind Words)! I have previously looked at Baseball players and I would certainly love to work on some of them moving forwards. :)
Honus Wagner in color for example? Alright, count me in
Excellent. I also love to study history. For the Presidents, I read a biography first, then a fiction novel about them to get imaginative details of the era. Then I choose something from their Administration to read another book about...an important piece of legislation, a war or national event, something that defined their tenure in office. Lastly, I read a fourth book about another country during that time. It’s been an amazing project for me! Pictures, of course, are worth, you know, the thing. Lol
Thank you for sharing your method, it sounds like a really good way to get a feel for both the person and the time they lived in! Out of interest, and if you don't mind answering, which of the Presidents did you find the most interesting to learn about so far?
@@JBColourisation Oh, thanks for being interested. I used this series as my start for each one.
www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805083456/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I was fascinated by them all. I’m only up to Eisenhower. Some of the eras were so interesting and I would get side tracked by history. lol I was especially fascinated by both the Roosevelt’s for different reasons. I love Victorian history so Teddy was fun for me.
I also like to see what was going on in England during these Presidents because of the impact on Europe.
Every President who fought a war was big learning and I would love to tackle the great Generals, too. I’ve read all Victor Davis Hanson’s books.
I think this obsession started when I was reading the Founding Fathers (my all time favorites) and realized I didn’t even know who the King was we were fighting!
Puzzle Pieces. Were I 18 again, I’d definitely be getting my degree in world history. 🤫
Thanks for the part you play in bringing history so alive.
This was a awesome effort. It was really exciting to see those people come to life, especially U.S. Grant. Just imagine what those eyes have seen.
I am so ignorant and unskilled as to how this is done, it might as well be magic. Hell, it IS magic. Amazing work!
Thank you so much for your kind words! If you're curious about the process I would recommend possibly checking out some of my tutorials. :)
You're pretty much making my jaw-drop. Watching you restore makes me realize how lazy I've gotten in my own restorations. Relying too much on AI and ignoring the intricacies of layering. I feel like I was actually giving it more time and care when I started out, despite my current work getting more praise.
You earned my sub.
Working over 4 years as a photo restorer I know how much time and hardwork you have put to the photos respect
Hi, I do the same with old family pictures. It's interesting how much things can be seen from it. For example, based on lighting and reflective material of tie, I could figured out the color of tie of my grandfather. Or when I colorized aunts jacket, I saw its acttualy jeans sweatshirt.
A really excellent result. The colors are very well chosen and balanced. This should have been an obvious task for historians in America.
I will say I was quite surprised that the Presidents hadn't been covered in this particular way before by someone else. One interesting personal aspect for me was how much I learnt about both the American presidential system and the Presidents themselves while working on this project. I hope that other people from outside the US also gain some similar educational value from what I've done! :)
This reminded me of the time when i was a child and thought the entire world used to be in black and white
How does this only have 11k views. Amazing work thank you for sharing
Thank you! I also feel you brought good luck to the video as it started getting a boost just after this comment ha ha! :)
@@JBColourisation 140k views, I'm glad this is getting more attention than before
Once I began watching, I simply could not stop! Fascinating... Thank you for sharing!
The first photo looks like a fairly recent painting in the end product. I guess because of the heavy repair that needed to be done with the “painting” tools at hand. The others look more like original photographs...
Yes, when there's extensive restoration it's always hard to strike that balance between keeping the integrity of the original picture and not having it be undermined by the damage. I'm still not entirely happy with that particular image but it's all a learning experience! Thank you for your comment! :)
Damn it’s crazy to think how high resolution these photos are.
Fantastic video JB! You have a fantastic insight into why you colorized the US Presidents and how you did it. Looking forward to your future projects!
Thank you very much indeed! The same to you :)
Good job! Truly amazing transformations!
Great video, stunning work! top notch content all around. Thanks a lot!
Thank you so much for doing this. This had to have been a labor of love 💘
I have always loved that photo of JQA. I know that people had to sit still for a time for photos to be clear, but it looks like he is lost in thought and would be jarred to attention when someone approached him.
This is absolutely amazing, this channel deserves much more
Excellent work as usual JB. Your Lincoln remains my favorite but I'm in awe of the Grant colourisation. The color pops, yet is "restrained" at the same time. The B&W photos always gave these presidents an otherworldly feel. The colors make these men so much more relatable
That's such a nice comment thank you! :)
Thank you so much for all your hard work on these projects. As a lifelong genealogist this means so much to historians and genealogists around the world to be able to keep visual history alive. You will be helping the entire world remember the reality of life.
👊 *Good job, man! I love that liquify tip from the Andrew Jackson photo. I have restored a few family photos from the 1,800's so totally understand dealing with scratches and damage on these old photos.*
There's a high-quality lithograph drawing of that Jackson photo, made in 1856 by Lafosse. It looks as if he was able to perfectly reproduce all the detail in the picture, before it was so heavily damaged. The main difference though is that the drawing replaced the black background with a white one, but otherwise it has incredibly fine and realistic detail in it.
You’re doing gods work by restoring these historical presidents of this country.
I want to let you know I really enjoyed that small history lesson and your skills of restoring old photos. Would love to see some of other presidents.
WoW you do great Work I greatly appreciate the time you spent restoring history.
Awesome work...so remarkable and valuable to history!!
This is fascinating! Thanks for taking the time to share your journey on this project.
That's kind of you to say! Thank you for leaving a comment :)
It really is incredible how humanizing it is to see these men in color
As a history buff, this is amazing
Thanks for your videos. Great to pick up some tips and techniques. Love that you are into the history too. I have just coloured some old black and white family photos in Photoshop and have been searching round for ways to improve.
Thank you so much, i'm glad to have been of help! I wish that more of history had been Photographed as I think it makes the past relatable in a way few other things do. I'm a bit envious of the people a few hundred years from now who will be spoilt for choice, 'historical' picture wise :).
I have a old photo of my grandfather and his 1949 Ford 4 door, do you think you could try to colorize it because me and family would love to have a photo of my grandfather and my moms dad and his car in color
Absolutely brilliant! Thanks!
It’s just awesome what you did!
I wish I could do such!
Excellent work. You are the best interpolator of black and white to color I have seen. Close to awesome.
Learning History, but also: Anatomy, and Lighting science! Absolutely incredible!
I'd love to see black and white movies colorized with such attention to detail.
It's sad that we have lost touch with a lot of these older presidents and their legacy on our country's history. Not many Americans know more about Taft than his obesity, and the impact he had on labor laws or foreign policy is largely forgotten in national consciousness. Sometimes all it takes is a photograph to get someone interested in a historical figure. What you're doing is amazing work.
You are one talented individual. Great job!!
Hello, I really like your work, is really interesting, as an history lover I found it wonderful, I really wish it could be possible to colorize photos of people in folkloristic costumes during the late 1800, I am really interest in that, I also like to discover detalis in things. I wish to talk about colorizing photos with you, thanks for this amazing work!.
I have heard of Photoshop since its inception - and you have inspired me to learn how to use it. Am guessing that is much more improved by now... 🌷🌷🌷
Thank you for sharing your knowledge, you are really very indepth, I wish I had your patience, your tutorials are very interesting, thank you again, bless you
Exactly my reason for loving your work. 👍🏽
Unbelievable! Great work!
This is wonderful! Thank you!
Thank you very much! :)
You're doing good for the future of education. God bless you!
Oh my god this is incredible thank you so much 🙏🏼
I'd like to see the photo of the Duke of Wellington restored and colorized.
Thank you very much for the suggestion! :)
Beautiful work!
Marvelous job on the photos as well as the video! As an old retoucher myself, Id like to get an idea of what resolution and pixel dimensions you were working with on an average photo (I imagine they varied but they would have to be fairly hi-res to hold any detail); what tablet you use (assuming that you use one); and why you did not use the dust and scratches filter (with lighten & darken settings) to shorten the work of some of correcting some of the more onerous spotty areas (it works wonders IF used judiciously); and how many gigabytes your your largest photos has been (in layers). I'd also LOVE to see one of your more complicated layered files and pick your brain as to your working methods. At the ad agencies where I worked, one of the aspects of the collaborative nature of the environment I liked best would be to walk past a colleague's desk, do a double-take and ask "Show me how you did that!!!" Of course, the tools have greatly improved over the years. The technology has come a LONG way since I started out using Photoshop v.20 on a Mac II FX with 4MB RAM and an 80 MB hard drive! (Before that Digital Darkroom was king!) Though I am mainly retired from commercial work I still dabble with Pshop and find old photo restoration to be one of the most satisfying projects to work on. You can get to where you feel like you really know someone by the time you're done. I look forward to watching many more of your videos!!!
Love your work 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥
Amazing work!
This is absolutely incredible...
superbly done. magnificent...
amazing work
Brilliant!! You are an artist!
Thank you, that's very, very kind of you to say! :)
beautiful work
These are fantastic! I hope these are added into textbooks one day.
Uploaded July 4th, I see what you did there... subtle yet a nice touch
So cool, thanks so much for sharing this.
Thank you for the lovely comment! :)
Man what a work ! Realy beautiful
How do you come up with the colors for there clothes? Do you make it up or do you have a reference?
It is weird an amazing to see these guys as close to life as we'll ever get.
Amazing work
Fabulous!
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing.
Incredible!
Very nice, lots of work, very detailed and time.
Thank you! :)
Thank you for this upload. I am an artist and would love to learn how to do this.
Just watched your video on the one lady (where you forgot to make the flowers on head white ;-) and depressed by how much work it is just for the face, but it makes me realie how much work you put into these images.
Out of curiosity, how do you obtain source images for the presidents? What sort of image size/resolution, or do you get the negatives youself from some official library? Or did you just google image search :-) (and how does one scan a glass negative? on a photocopier style scanner? Are there film scanners for large format film? (mine is limited to 35mm).
Wow this is beautiful, this video makes me kind of emotional and I dont know why.
Lincoln looks like my grandpa. I miss him so much
This is incredible JB
Thanks a lot George! :)
These are absolutely incredible
Thank you! :)
Excellent work, but as a photographer I always seem to miss a certain hue in the skin tones in these kind of restorations and I can't quite put my finger on it, but my feeling says it's a touch of blue in the highlights and the shadows.
Very interesting. Thank you!
First, thank you for all the time and work you dedicated to bringing history to life, this project especially.
Second, how do you know, learn or perhaps, not so, simply suss-out for color details in the subject's eyes, hair etc. I understand if the hair in the photo is 'dark' a good starting place is likely 'brown'. But how do you know which shade or tone. Brown is an extremely complex color! I noticed a significant difference between the hair color detail between the Actress & Nurse videos which, I found both brilliant and logical. Bravo!!! So are you using a bit of artistic license on colors you can't specifically discern or is there some other way of selecting your colors.
Great work. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you very much! :)
Great video, really interesting!
That stuff about checking your work on worst case scenario equipment is excellent advice for musicians as well - your mix might sound amazing on your rig running the best DAW with all the best plug ins through your studio headphones, but get a copy and find an old rubbish car stereo or mono transistor radio and test it there. You can't go wrong.
Great video! I had two questions for you. 1) Is it a lot of work to colorize photos? 2) How do you know where and what colors should be placed on a photo?
Excellent work!!
Thank you! :)
Fantastic!♡
Thank you! :)
You have some magical hands, dude.
Excellent work !
Thanks!! :)
Great job!
Cool and intresing video!