Colorizing Images in Adobe Photoshop
Step 1
1. Find the picture you would like to play around with.
2. Copy the photo by choosing All, from the
Select drop-down menu using your original.
From the Edit drop-down menu choose, Copy.
3. From the File drop-down menu choose New, and the correct size will already be there for
you, just click OK.
4. From the Edit drop-down menu, choose Paste, then from the Layers drop-down,
select Flatten your image. You will have just one layer at this point.
You should have two images that are identical.
Step 2
Next, you are going to grayscale your new image, by choosing Mode,
then Grayscale from the Image drop-down menu.
NOTE:
Save the image as whatever you want to name it, then go back and redo the step you just completed, but choose the RGB Color (Image> Mode >>RGB Color).
Your image should remain a black & white image. The reason for doing this is because
when you add your color layers, if the image is still grayscale, the color will not show.
Step 3
Next, you are going to select which part or parts of your black & white
photo you would like to have color on.
From your Tools, select the Lasso. You can see it highlighted in the
image.
This next part may take some practice if you have a bit of a shaky hand.
1. You are going
to draw on the original color photo, around the outside edge of the
color segment you want to have show on your black & white photo. You
can see in the image, I have chosen the yellow flower part of
this Bird of Paradise. I usually feather my lasso at 2 pixels, as a margin
for error. You'll find this on your options bar.
2. Once you are satisfied with your outline,
select Copy from your Edit drop-down menu.
Step 4
Now, you're going to click on your black & white photo and choose Paste
from your Edit drop-down menu. On your tool bar you are going to choose your mover tool,
and move the segment to the place on the picture until it fits perfectly.
Repeat these last few steps with the lasso tool,
copying & pasting back and forth until you
have completed as much color placement as you like.
In my case, I additionally chose one green
leaf at the edge, and two small spots of yellow
towards the bottom.
Step 5
Opacity
Perhaps you are not quite happy with the opacity or brightness of some of your colors.
If you click the
Layers tab on your History box, you'll see there is an
Opacity and fill option.
As you can see in the image
I highlighted Layer 1, and reduced the opacity from 100% to
50%.
This gives the image a whole new look. You can change each layer,
only some layers, or none. It is only a matter of your personal
preference.
Another example of opacity is demonstrated in these two examples:
Merge or Flatten
If you are happy with all your layers after making whatever adjustments, the only thing left
to do is merge your visible layers or if you like you may flatten your image. You're done!
Your Colorized Images Gallery
"I tried this tutorial out tonight on a picture of my niece Phoebe. My brother took the picture, and I just loved it. I decided to try colorization on it, and I thought it turned out really cute.
I used PSP 7 instead of Photoshop, but the tutorial still made sense to me."
Michelle 2Flower
"I used the colorizing tutorial. Here is my result."
megumi
"Once more, I found myself playing with my crayons.This can become rather addictive (Thanks meg) since I especially have a fondness for black and white images. Colorizing them gives a bit of a splash of color without becoming overwhelming."
Arcadian-expressions
Do you have a colorized image to share? Leave a link to your image in
the blog comments.
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BY LYNN ROCKWELL
