# Outline Colorization through Tandem Adversarial Networks

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1704.08834 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1704.08834/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 28 Apr 2017.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [ColorFlow: Retrieval-Augmented Image Sequence Colorization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.11815/) (2024)
- [GANime: Generating Anime and Manga Character Drawings from Sketches with Deep Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2508.09207/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

When creating digital art, coloring and shading are often time consuming tasks that follow the same general patterns. A solution to automatically colorize raw line art would have many practical applications. We propose a setup utilizing two networks in tandem: a color prediction network based only on outlines, and a shading network conditioned on both outlines and a color scheme. We present processing methods to limit information passed in the color scheme, improving generalization. Finally, we demonstrate natural-looking results when colorizing outlines from scratch, as well as from a messy, user-defined color scheme.