Usually, color photographs are taken in black and white to create a mysterious effect or to achieve artistic goals. But sometimes it becomes necessary to add color to a black and white photograph, for example, an old one. To do this, usually use a bitmap editor Photoshop.
Necessary
- - Photoshop program
- - black and white photography
Instructions
Step 1
If your black and white photo is one of those stored in old albums, then you will have to digitize it first. To do this, scan a photo at a high resolution, usually 600 dpi.
Step 2
Download Photoshop and open the image file in it. Going to the "Image" (Image) - "Mode" (Mode), make sure that the checkbox is opposite the RGB mode, if not, put it there. If the grayscale mode is on, you will not be able to work with colors.
Step 3
Switch to quick mask mode by clicking on the "Edit in quick mask mode" button on the toolbar. A temporary alpha channel will be created, where the selection will be written as a mask. Adjust the hardness of the brush, for example, for working with human skin, you can set it to about 80% or a little more. Choose black as the main color and begin to carefully highlight areas of the skin with it - face and body. Adjust the brush size as needed.
Step 4
Black masks and white erases this mask. Therefore, if you accidentally paint over excess areas, go over them with a white brush. On the border, for example, between hair and skin, reduce the hardness of the brush to the minimum values or to zero so that the border does not look sharp.
Step 5
Press the quick mask button again to return to normal editing mode. The temporary alpha channel is removed and the mask becomes a selection.
Step 6
Duplicate the layer. Go to "Edit" (Edit) and click "Cut" (Cut). This will create a new layer with a selected part of the image. Select it in the layers palette and hit "Image" (Image) - "Adjustment" (Adjustment) - "Hue / Saturation" (Hue / Saturation). Adjust the slider in the Hue box to find the skin tone you want. You can also slightly tweak the saturation. Check the box next to "Toning".
Step 7
Go back to the Background layer again. Turn on the quick mask mode and select the hair with a low stiff brush. Repeat the same sequence of actions as in the previous steps.
Step 8
Besides the settings in Hue / Saturation, you can also use Color balance and Color replacement, Curves. In the "Replace Color" check the box next to the "Image" option, use the eyedropper to select the darkest color on the skin or other area that you are editing. Then move the Brightness sliders to adjust the saturation of the hue. Experiment with the Spread slider.
Step 9
Do the same for all areas of the photo that need to be painted in different colors. Finally merge the layers and save the image in the desired format.
