Photo Restoration | I Restored 26 Presidents With Photoshop, Here's Why!

[@MakeSomething]

My goodness. Absolutely incredible.

[@dannonshowtv1509]

I agree, this is fabulous.

[@fridayyy.2102]

yessir

[@heartland96a]

Thank You for take these ghosts and bringing them back to life , so they can live on forever as restored American History

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you, that's very kind indeed of you to say! :)

[@mrmr_zoomie]

You really captured how constantly stressed and tired Abraham Lincoln was with giving insane detail to his wrinkles and bags.

[@scorpiiiondude3327]

WHFJEJJFJFJF WHY'S THIS SO FUNNY TO ME

[@fiddleriddlediddlediddle]

"This colorization allowed commenters to see Lincoln as a fully real human for the first time." *paints Lincoln blue*

[@damiyoflapies8473]

Ig that's just a marking for the real color

[@Flowerbarrel]

Yondu Udonta's Earth ancestor.

[@YAYa-jx2kx]

I'm blue daba dee daba

[@EB_musik]

@@damiyoflapies8473 no duh

[@Etheral101]

Lincoln, the famous Smurf President

[@blockygamer1]

Dude, using the engraving of Andrew Jackson as a bottom layer was genius

[@Shadydoesit]

Oh no did he paint you blue too

[@billding9820]

Calvin Coolidge is my favorite to this date so it was nice seeing him get the recognition that he deserves.

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you. I really enjoyed working on his picture and researching him! :)

[@Herbyvore]

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?

[@JBColourisation]

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? :)

[@Herbyvore]

@@JBColourisation Ooh I'm not sure! I think that I would like to see something really obscure like people who worked in victorian circuses?

[@Georgeth-kb6rg]

@@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 !

[@lucasjustice]

@@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!

[@nyfyre3768]

@@JBColourisation could you do war scenes? Like the Civil war, WWI or WWII

[@kjamison5951]

Your painstaking work in this field has given a new depth to the Presidents. Thank you for your dedication to your art.

[@LaBarge]

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.

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you very much indeed! I'd recommend also checking out History Colored's KZbin channel if you want to see more videos of this type. :)

[@thepoiklez61]

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!

[@Subhuman_Filth]

This guy is doing those well made videos about colorization purely for us and not for views, thanks man!

[@JBColourisation]

You're very welcome, I enjoy making them! Although I won't complain if I also happen to get more views ha ha.

[@abdulrashid2143]

Working over 4 years as a photo restorer I know how much time and hardwork you have put to the photos respect

[@Natalia-pc7fm]

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 ;-)

[@JBColourisation]

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)

[@mikeburch2998]

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.

[@VincentGonzalezVeg]

Lincoln looks like he's ready for us to shout "Grandpa!" & run up to his arms

[@GabrielleTollerson]

IKR 🥺💖

[@VincentGonzalezVeg]

@@Xanderboof weird flex, okay

[@opportunegrace6660]

What do u mean?

[@VincentGonzalezVeg]

@@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

[@opportunegrace6660]

@@VincentGonzalezVeg our grandparents really love us. Our thoughts , these emotions you’re expressing shows that they are emotionally active in our lives

[@TheMarkSasuke64]

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.

[@JBColourisation]

REDBUBBLE STORE: www.redbubble.com/people/JBColourisation/shop Hi, thanks for watching! If you'd like to learn about America's secret one day President click Here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5mlY6GqgqhqldU

[@MrDXRamirez]

Can you do Karl Marx?

[@lysandroabelcher2592]

I've noticed the color picture finally broke it's way with FDR. Yet he covered many years in history. How about colorizing some young FDR pictures? Would you do it?

[@oldplucker1]

I am curious how you know what exact colour the fabrics were and what colour the hair was? But great results they should be on display in all the History museums. Have you contacted any museums? Thanks for showing us your wonderful work.

[@notasleepwalker6286]

Absolutely amazing work, to be able to bring color to something that has always been seeing black and white it actually helps you to connect to that time.

[@Nico-vs9gq]

But The damage Foto by Andrew Jackson so You didnt have TO use that. Theres IS a Pictures from Andrew Jackson Frontfacing And Not black white

[@HistoryColored]

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!

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you very much indeed! The same to you :)

[@whalebranchearlycollegehig7965]

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!

[@michaelmayer9933]

Once I began watching, I simply could not stop! Fascinating... Thank you for sharing!

[@wezacker6482]

I am so ignorant and unskilled as to how this is done, it might as well be magic. Hell, it IS magic. Amazing work!

[@JBColourisation]

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. :)

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.

[@Eigil_Skovgaard]

A really excellent result. The colors are very well chosen and balanced. This should have been an obvious task for historians in America.

[@JBColourisation]

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! :)

[@vipture.]

It really is incredible how humanizing it is to see these men in color

[@drummerlovesbookworm9738]

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

[@JBColourisation]

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?

[@drummerlovesbookworm9738]

@@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. 🤫

[@drummerlovesbookworm9738]

Thanks for the part you play in bringing history so alive.

[@SuperMakki]

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

[@JBColourisation]

That's such a nice comment thank you! :)

[@Raspyx]

the fact he colorized them manually instead of using AI is impressive

[@commenturthegreat2915]

It is, but it's also kind of useless now

[@ploopy8780]

AI is ass too be honest. I restore photos as a hobby and AI doesnt compare at all to what you can do manually.

[@veggiet2009]

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.

[@sciamilol6167]

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!

[@JBColourisation]

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. :)

[@shaneingalls8792]

Honus Wagner in color for example? Alright, count me in

[@kbretro64]

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.

[@timcross2510]

Excellent work. You are the best interpolator of black and white to color I have seen. Close to awesome.

[@TheOminousBlade]

You’re doing gods work by restoring these historical presidents of this country.

[@Jebbtube]

It is weird an amazing to see these guys as close to life as we'll ever get.

[@dalepowers534]

Good job! Truly amazing transformations!

[@silverstar8868]

As a history buff, this is amazing

[@Pomegranate44]

This reminded me of the time when i was a child and thought the entire world used to be in black and white

[@stuartwalden6425]

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.

[@JBColourisation]

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 :).

[@topazblahblah]

👊 *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.*

[@alexrebel1916]

How does this only have 11k views. Amazing work thank you for sharing

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you! I also feel you brought good luck to the video as it started getting a boost just after this comment ha ha! :)

[@UnitedStates17]

@@JBColourisation 140k views, I'm glad this is getting more attention than before

[@krisgrenz8653]

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.

[@SaidAhmad]

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...

[@JBColourisation]

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! :)

[@mikemathews9277]

WoW you do great Work I greatly appreciate the time you spent restoring history.

[@MorbidMindedManiac]

This is absolutely amazing, this channel deserves much more

[@Bookit9254]

This is wonderful! Thank you!

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you very much! :)

[@T0myTune]

Great video, stunning work! top notch content all around. Thanks a lot!

[@Boredman567]

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.

[@benheckendorn2696]

It’s just awesome what you did! I wish I could do such!

[@YODAMAN5]

Very nice, lots of work, very detailed and time.

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you! :)

[@toringaming723]

Damn it’s crazy to think how high resolution these photos are.

[@Austin8thGenTexan]

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... 🌷🌷🌷

[@coryshook9634]

You are one talented individual. Great job!!

[@mikonatt]

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!.

[@housetopranch]

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!!!

[@dalefmurphy]

Brilliant!! You are an artist!

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you, that's very, very kind of you to say! :)

[@jeffhiggins541]

Unbelievable! Great work!

[@StuffandThings_]

Uploaded July 4th, I see what you did there... subtle yet a nice touch

[@gbush8237]

In this thing called life, it is made up transitions known as time. Thank you for skillfully taking the to and using that time to create stunning works of these men. May the mastery of your craft take you to heights you have not imagined.

[@elizabethsemarge4800]

Thank you so much for doing this. This had to have been a labor of love 💘

[@nikkiswenson54]

Awesome work...so remarkable and valuable to history!!

[@michaellyne8773]

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

[@DrMonty-ng5fo]

These are fantastic! I hope these are added into textbooks one day.

[@amybarnett9622]

Enjoyed this video. Loved looking closely at our former Presidents

[@JBColourisation]

Thanks! :)

[@charlessands3458]

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.

[@EdwardSargeant]

This is fascinating! Thanks for taking the time to share your journey on this project.

[@JBColourisation]

That's kind of you to say! Thank you for leaving a comment :)

[@bwfitz]

Great work. Thanks for sharing.

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you very much! :)

[@someguystudios23]

You're doing good for the future of education. God bless you!

[@kansasvmax94]

So cool, thanks so much for sharing this.

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you for the lovely comment! :)

[@JohnCBurzynski]

Beautiful work!

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you very much! :)

[@bogertie12345]

I'd like to see the photo of the Duke of Wellington restored and colorized.

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you very much for the suggestion! :)

[@snow.flower]

Lincoln looks like my grandpa. I miss him so much

[@ghosthunter5100]

amazing work

[@gaiusjuliuscaesar9296]

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.

[@TariTheBluejay25]

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

[@Herobox-ju4zd]

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.

[@DustyB]

These are absolutely incredible

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you! :)

[@ACHistory]

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?

[@TeresaTrimm]

What do you do for blown out areas? Use the Patch tool, maybe?

[@JBColourisation]

That depends a bit on the image. what i'll sometimes do it use the Burn tool on a duplicate of the original layer, that way I can bring down the exposure on just a few places. Otherwise, and this is probably the method i use the most, I make brightness adjustments to the overall image, using an adjustment layer such as Curves, and I then use the 'Blend-If Tool' in the blending options menu to have that exposure lowering adjustment only affect the brightest parts of the image. :)

[@harrygreenfeld4964]

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.

[@abrahamlincoln5177]

Nice job for making me look good

[@googleuser4720]

0:27 The guy sitting down on the left at the front is Finn (FN-2187) from Star Wars

[@GeorgePlaysGTA]

This is incredible JB

[@JBColourisation]

Thanks a lot George! :)

[@americancountryball2077]

Oh my god this is incredible thank you so much 🙏🏼

[@shahnawazali2005]

Exactly my reason for loving your work. 👍🏽

[@jmudiappa94]

superbly done. magnificent...

[@jetcitysinatra7300]

Thank you for this upload. I am an artist and would love to learn how to do this.

[@Tari004]

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.

[@f1r3hunt3rz5]

You have some magical hands, dude.

[@joshmcq4180]

This is absolutely incredible...

[@thisjust-in7061]

Coloring book expert mode

[@teedahbluedee]

probably one of my favorites is william mckinley because he is in in our family tree i’m not capping he is

[@sirruadhri3316]

How so? Are you a distant cousin of his?

[@teedahbluedee]

@@sirruadhri3316 i’m not very sure because i didn’t get to know a lot about him yet. i just recently knew about this, all i know is that i’m related to him in some way, maybe a distant relative

[@jfmezei]

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).

[@thisjust-in7061]

You're a very talented artist sir

[@JBColourisation]

Thank you very much! :)

[@greysonmiller9407]

Wow this is beautiful, this video makes me kind of emotional and I dont know why.

[@andrewwanner6829]

Have you considered doing this to previous First Ladies photos? Would LOVE to see the very young Frances Cleveland, Dolley Madison (the first one photographed), Harriet Lane and Grace Coolidge.

[@in2sinwme]

Love your work 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

[@indigoace261]

Awesome video. Thanks for sharing.

[@SupaflyChimichanga]

These are amazing, ever considering sending it to someone I’m Washington who could print them out and display them perhaps at the Smithsonian?

[@nikolajmadsen1002]

Great video, really interesting!

[@RLKmedic0315]

How do you know what skin tone to use? Obviously you know they are caucasian, but what led you to decide on the specific amount of "sun exposure" (for lack of a better phrase) or just a darker shade of caucasian skin? This is absolutely not a criticism, your work is incredible and you are obviously exceptionally talented and focused on the details, I am just curious.

[@technaheed6239]

Woww amazing i appreciate you