Bring black-and-white footage back to life
Old family tapes, archival clips, vintage films — most of them are stuck in black and white. AI video colorization changes that: it analyses each frame and adds realistic, natural colour, so a grandparent's wedding video or a 1950s street scene finally looks the way it felt. This guide shows you how to colorize video online in 2026, including a way to preview the result for free before you commit.
Can you colorize video online for free?
Fully colorizing a whole video is genuinely expensive to compute — every frame is processed by an AI model on a GPU. That's why most "free" tools either watermark heavily, cap you at a few seconds, or quietly upload your footage for training. Pixelift takes a more honest approach:
- Free colorized preview. Upload your black-and-white clip and we colorize a representative frame with our best engine — watermarked, no account needed — so you can judge the quality on your own footage before paying anything.
- Paid full video. When you're happy with the preview, sign up and colorize the entire clip in full quality, no watermark.
You see real results first, then decide. No surprise paywall after a long upload.
How AI video colorization works
Modern colorization models are trained on millions of colour images and videos. For each grayscale frame, the model predicts plausible colours for skin, sky, foliage, clothing and objects, then keeps those choices consistent from frame to frame so the video doesn't flicker. The result is far beyond the old "tinting" filters — it's a learned reconstruction of how the scene most likely looked.
How to colorize your video on Pixelift (step by step)
- Open the tool. Go to AI Video Colorize.
- Upload your black-and-white clip. MP4, MOV, WebM and more are supported (up to 35 MB, 5 minutes).
- Get your free preview. Click "Free colorized preview" — within seconds you'll see one frame of your video in colour (watermarked).
- Colorize the full video. Sign up for free credits, then run the full clip. You'll get an email when it's ready and the file lands in your dashboard.
Tips for the best colorization results
- Start with the cleanest source you have. Heavy grain, scratches or compression make colour prediction harder. If your footage is damaged, restore or denoise it first.
- Good contrast helps. Well-exposed black-and-white footage (clear separation between light and dark) colorizes more accurately than flat, washed-out clips.
- Shorter clips, higher quality. For precious footage, colorize in shorter segments at the highest quality setting rather than one long low-quality pass.
- Upscale afterwards. Colorized an old low-resolution clip? Run it through video upscaling to sharpen and enlarge it.
What kind of video can you colorize?
Family memories (weddings, birthdays, home movies), historical and archival footage, old documentaries, vintage music videos, film-school projects — anything in black and white. The free preview means you can test any clip risk-free before deciding it's worth colorizing in full.
Frequently asked questions
Is the colorized video watermarked?
Only the free preview frame is watermarked. The full colorized video you download after signing up has no watermark.
How long does it take?
The free frame preview is near-instant. A full clip typically takes around 15–20 minutes depending on length and quality — you'll get an email when it's done, so you can close the tab.
Will the colors be historically accurate?
AI predicts the most plausible colours, not guaranteed historical fact. For most footage the results look natural and convincing; for specific known colours (a particular uniform or flag), treat the output as a realistic interpretation.
Is my footage private?
Your uploads are used only to produce your result. We don't sell or train public models on your private footage.
Try it on your own footage
The fastest way to see whether AI colorization is worth it for your video is to watch it work on your clip. Upload a black-and-white video and get a free colorized preview now: Colorize a video →