Photoshop colored bw

[C_lawgik]

In photoshop I have a colred picture that i have made black and white. If I want to add a small part in color how do I do that?

 

[Big Mike]

Are you familiar with layers in Photoshop? If you are not...learn how to use them...they are best & most powerful tools for editing images.

That being said. In simple terms...make a duplicate layer of the background (original color version of the photo). Now convert the new layer to B&W. Now on the b&w layer, simply erase the parts that you want to be in color. The color layer below will show through the parts that you have erased.

 

[Rob]

Another way of doing it which may be of use is to use the magic wand or lasso tool to select the area you wish to remain colour. Then invert the selection and desaturate the image. The above method is probably better through.

 

[Patrick]

I use the brush tool set to "Desaturate" and just brush everything I want to be B&W. Zoom in with a smaller brush to finish it off.

Nice to see there are other ways to do this. I'll have to give them a try.:thumbup:

 

[Rogue Monk]

I like using a hue/saturation adjustment layer. That combined with layer masks makes for ultimate control (very easy to go back without having to redo a bunch of steps--you shouldn't rely on your history pallet to be there).

These might be a little advanced if you're just starting off, but I highly recommend learning them if you want maximum editing power. As an example...If you add a layer, desaturate, and erase the parts you don't need, what would happen if you wanted a different part in colour a week down the road? You'd have to delete the current BW layer, make a new layer, and go through the process again. Using adj. layers and masks, you wouldn't have to delete anything--simply colour in the parts you want to hide/show.

Everyone's methods work, but having had to go back into working files after the fact (one was more than a year old), I'm glad I added this flexibility into my files.

Lastly, it should go without saying that you should never save over your original. Right?

 

[Lorilye]

I found this site http://www.pslover.com/tutorials/Basics/1
There are lots of helpful tips here. Somewhere there is a selective coloring tutor.

 

[Digital Matt]

Don't forget about the channel mixer layer. I'd use that to convert to b&w because you get far more control over the contrast of your photo, and being an adjustment layer, you can go back and change that at any time, and further edit the mask as well.

 

[lazarus219]

desaturate-->history brush tool--> brush the parts you want colored