Selective Colouring

[kdabbagh]

Hey guys

I initially had this question for RMThompson because he posted an example of the kind of edited picture I want to achieve, but I decided to post it here in case others want to learn.

Here is what he did and what I want to achieve

(I asked for permission)

This is the closest I ever came to achieving selective coloring, which doesn't compare to the picture above

What I did:

• Opened picture in PS CS2
• used magnetic lasso to outline image of drummer
• cut the image
• made the remainder of image black and white, then i put it back in RGB mode
• pasted cut image and placed it back in middle

this left me with a sort of white outline around the guy...

maybe i did this too beginnerish....someone please help

 

[EOS_JD]

There are much easier ways.

In photoshop, open your image.

Now press "Control J" to duplicate the original layer.

In the layers tab, select the top layer and make it B&W by whichever way you choose (Channel Mixer works well or the B&W mixer but if you want to desaturate the layer that's fine too) (don't make the image greyscale)! Try Image>Adjustments>Hue Saturation as a starting point and just drag the saturation slider to the far left. Not the best way but pretty easy and you should not change the image from RGB.

Now with the top layer in B&W the original layer below is still in colour. What you want to do is create a hole on the top layer that allows you to see the layer below. To do this create a layer mask. On the layers tab, select the top layer and click on the white circle at the bottom of the layers pallet.

Now you will see your top layer with a white box next to it. Click once on the white box and then select a black soft brush.

Now all you need do is paint over the area you want to reveal as colour. If you make a mistake change the brush to white and it will hide the layer below.

Using layer masks may sound complex but in use is much easier than cutting pasting or deleting.

 

[RMThompson]

EOS said it perfectly. I do the same thing, but I use "The GIMP" for selective coloring, not Photoshop.

I did the same thing here, created a second layer, desaturated the top layer to black and white, and then created a layer mask, and painted over where I wanted color. It's exactly as EOS said; you're creating a hole to view the bottom layer.

Some things to try:

1. Super-saturate the color before you get started on the selective coloring, so the colors seem to pop out more. I did that in the example above, where the "fairies" skin is there is actually NO ink, that's the model's skin color that I edited first.

2. Instead of bringing down the saturation to the point of black and white, bring it down to where it is BARELY black and white, then you can selectively recolor the areas you want INTENSE colors in... neat effect.

 

[JerryPH]

One last point... select a brush with a very definitive edge line, not the ones that "fade" the edges. It will give you better results.

 

[kdabbagh]

Thanks for the help everyone...

ill try it out soon and hopefully have something to show for

 

[Dnohla vopi]

Or, if you're clumsy with brushes in PS as I am, you can try to use quick selection tool (or any other selection method) to select your "color" area, invert the selection and desaturate the selection.

this was made that way, and it came out really nicely.

 

[EOS_JD]

One last point... select a brush with a very definitive edge line, not the ones that "fade" the edges. It will give you better results.

Well I find this bad advice. I always use a soft brush. For the detail areas lower the size of the brush but using a hard brush gives a very hard edge which is not advisable most of the time.

I do use hard brushes at times when required but the majority of mine are done by using an appropriately sized soft brush.

 

[leaving0hio]

I usually use a channel mixer adjustment layer and then I mask out the part I want to keep in color.

But I suppose as with anything else, there's a lot of different ways to do the same thing.

 

[EOS_JD]

I usually use a channel mixer adjustment layer and then I mask out the part I want to keep in color.

But I suppose as with anything else, there's a lot of different ways to do the same thing.

Very similar to my method but one step less..... I like it! I do use adjustment layers at times right enough.