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 The next program in the row of black and white coloring programs is Coloriage - a plug-in to a number of image editing programs and a standalone program - issued by Akvis LLC known also by a number of quite useful programs. Coloriage performance is based it seems on the same algorithms as Recolored. At least the workflow is very close and to color an object you don’t need to manipulate your mouse in order to smoothly outline the edge.
Instead you need to make color strokes along the edge.
Coloriage offers a substantial color library for most often occurring objects. Every color is presented as a gradient and you can choose a more or less saturated version of any color with minimum effort. The gradient principle excludes a big share of calls on the color picker.
To color a black and white image in Coloriage you have to roughly outline each of the object areas with strokes of desired color. The pencil size can be regulated, of course. The strokes show the exact color you choose but you can activate a Brightness checkbox on the upper panel and see the color strokes blended with the image with the application of the coloring algorithm in sort of a preview.
The apply button starts the colorization process that is not very long. You can see the process bar above the image.
When the result is satisfactory the user just presses the apply button and returns to the image editor. In case anything is not good for you there’s a Before tab that retains all the strokes. If any of the colors seemed not good it can be replaced by another color by changing the color of the strokes with a special tool. You can change the color of an individual stroke or of all the strokes of a same color.
The stroked image can be saved as a project for later use (in case the work has not been finished or you decided to change something later on).
Coloriage allows the recoloring of colored images as well. For this purpose the program has a Keep Pencil that helps to show areas where original color has to be retained.
The combination of this pencil and the black color can work for partial desaturation. Or you can combine the two methods: recolor part of the image and desaturate the rest of it.
Whatever you do though the main workflow principle is the same – you have to outline the areas you color (or recolor/desaturate) with the strokes of a needed color.
The interface of the program is very simple and user friendly. As it is usual with Akvis programs the main space of the program is taken with the image. The tools are found on the left of the upper bar, the plug-in operating commands - on the right. The right upper corner navigator also serves for zooming purposes. All the colors of the color library and color palette are on a tab on the right. A color picker can be activated by clicking a small icon.
Akvis provides easy and clear tutorials on its site akvis.com. You can purchase Coloriage there for $97 in any configuration. A 10 day trial is also available for download.
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