How to convert a black and white photo to color in Photoshop? Methods for converting to black and white

HOW TO MAKE A BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO IN COLOR IN PHOTOSHOP

Today we will learn how to turn a non-color photo into a color one. I’ll make a reservation right away, for those who are looking for the “make photo in color” button in this article. Alas, such a button has not yet been invented. You can desaturate a photo with one click, but you can’t colorize it with the same click, because a black and white photo has no color information. So we'll have to work with our hands and fill our black and white image color information in the truest sense. Some plugins for Photoshop do a good job of colorizing photos, but now we will not discuss any plugins that we don’t understand where to get. Let's talk about what is available for colorization in Photoshop itself. And there is a lot in it.

The method of coloring a photo is simple and primitive. A five-year-old child can master it in 10 minutes. I will tell you about all the ways to colorize a photo, and also show how this simple operation can be brought to a new more professional level. So let's get started.

THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE A PHOTO COLORED (blend color)

To colorize a photo you will need to be able to use the tool brush tool, as well as have an idea about the work of other Photoshop tools. The ability to select areas of the photo and initial knowledge about layers and masks, which you can learn from my article Masks in Photoshop. In this lesson, you will see in practice how you can automate work in Photoshop using masks, and have full control to color settings.

I borrowed a photo from the collection of a photographer friend of mine. Black and white photographs look mysterious and conceptual, but what happens if we lightly colorize it? Create a new layer on top of the photo Layer > New > Layer or click on the little layer icon in the layers palette Windows > Layers

Now select a tool brush tool, a brush with soft edges, make it bigger and move the mouse over a new layer with some red. The natural result is a red daub on a masterfully taken photograph. It doesn't suit us. In order for the red color to be painted, you need to change the settings of the layer itself. These settings are called overlay settings. Color Mode. You can only find them in the layers palette. Layers, above the layers themselves. Click on this drop down menu and you will see a whole list of different blend modes. The point is that by changing the blending mode of a color, we establish new rules by which the color of the layer interacts with the colors of the layers below. The blend mode we need is called color, and its meaning is simple - it colors the image in the color we need, while maintaining the naturalness of the colors. Install Let's Decide color, choose the color you need, and decorate the girl's hair.

That's all. Quite simple isn't it? Save me the trouble of stretching this process out over 10 pages and demonstrating how I will step by step paint the skin, gloves, eyes, and so on. Coloring depends on your imagination, and realism, on the quality of work and the naturalness of the selected colors. Work with the brush, choose the size, adjust the invisibility opasity and fill, which you will find in the brush settings menu Windows > Options

This is the “mask” my wife sketched for a few minutes of work. Note that the layer blending mode is Normal. I hope you are convinced that making a color photo in Photoshop is very simple.

And this is what happens if you change the layer blending settings to color.

COLORING A PHOTO THROUGH LAYER STYLES (layer style)

And now let's start to go deeper and complicate the process. Complication, it is not to make work more difficult, but to make work easier. You know, all these kali mali on one layer are fine, of course, but they are more suitable for creative personalities, for those who like to sit and wind up for hours clay pot on a wheelchair. Smearing one color and another on this layer is perhaps convenient for artists from the academy who are banned from Google, so they still have not heard about Photoshop. Alas, even cartoons are drawn on a computer, 1000 drawings on paper, which are then quickly flipped over, remained in the 20th century. Personally, as a designer, I would like to have more control over color and settings. I would like to effectively and quickly tweak the colors through the menu, rather than redrawing the layer.

How can we bring more control over the image? To begin with, it would be nice to divide one layer into several layers. Let's create
really many layers. And each layer will be responsible for its own area. Create a layer "hair", layer "eyes", "gloves", "nails" and others. I started coloring the photo myself, creating thematic layers for this. Now the control process is more manageable, at least the coloring is not on the same layer. Any part of the coloring can be muted, turned off, in other words, do everything with it that can be done with a layer. Other coloring layers will remain untouched.

But it still doesn't make much sense. The color of all layers is still arbitrary. On the layer "Hair" you can paint as before with both blue and red. In other words, as before, Kali Mali, but more manageable Kali Mali, divided into sectors. And I would like to control the color. I want to change the entire color with one click, and not sculpt with a brush, constantly reworking the result with my hands. I'll show you how to do it with layer styles. layer style.

Create a layer and name it "Hair". Decorate your hair with any color, even green. Go to the layers palette and set the fill Fill on the 0% Thus, what you have drawn will become invisible.

Roughly speaking, we create some kind of raster area, turn off the filling fill and apply layer styles to the area. The area itself does not become invisible, as is the case with Opasity. The content of the region becomes invisible, but not the region itself. Therefore, the applied layer styles will be visible. But if we set the Opasity to 0%, the entire layer would become invisible along with the styles. We will give the area a certain style, but since we still need to apply layer blending to colorize, the original color must be removed by setting Fill to 0%, otherwise it will become translucent when blending and we will not get the desired result.

Now let's add a style to the layer. Layer > Layer Style > Color Overlay In the blend menu blend mode set the mode color. And in the box with the color, set the color we need.

If you forgot to set the fill to 0%, then this can be done in the same window, in the blending settings tab Blending Options. If you did it in the layers palette Layers, then the fill will already be set as it should.

Now we have full control over the color. Give each layer its own style. Double-clicking on the layer will automatically bring up Layer Styles, where you can change the color of the hair with one click. You don't have to smear everything 100 times, the color changes in one second, while you see the result in on-line mode. Choosing a color just got a whole lot easier.

That's what I call color control. Now let's go even deeper.

COLORING PHOTOS THROUGH FILL LAYERS (fill lyers)

You know what I think. These attempts to control the image are certainly cool, but somehow difficult. What if you need to change the color? You have to constantly click on the layer, call the style window, go to the tab color overlay and change something. Not such a fast process if you want to quickly change the colors of the layers. Of course, if we have 2 layers, this is not difficult, but what if we had 102 layers? We need to make this process even easier. This is where the real work with layers comes in. Now I'll show you how to make a photo color using fill layers.

Create a new fill layer Layers > New Fill Layers > Solid Color The fill layer completely covers the photo, filling the entire work surface. We just don't need this. As you can see from the layers palette, the fill layer is created with an empty mask ready. We need to turn the white mask into a black mask in order to hide the entire fill layer entirely. You can click on the mask icon and select Delete.

Or select the mask icon and do the same from the menu Layer > Layer Mask > Delete. Now create a mask from scratch, but not empty, but hiding. We did this in my article "Masks in Photoshop". Select Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All

And you can go the other way. The mask is the same working surface as the layer itself. The mask can be drawn by hand with any drawing tools. For example with a brush brush tool. Only unlike the layer, the mask is created in gradation from black to white, where white is the visible part, and black is the hiding part. Click on the mask icon in the layer palette. The mask must be selected so that you can draw on it. Then select the fill bucket Paint Bucket Toll and black color. Click on the work surface. The empty mask has become a concealing mask.

Now choose a regular brush brush tool and white color. Create a hair mask by painting on top of the mask exactly as you did.
draw on a layer. You can enjoy all the benefits of brush settings. Make it transparent, resize, soft edges. All this will only affect how visible our mask is. And of course don't forget to set it to blend mode. color to immediately see the result of painting. We could go the other way. For example, leave the mask white, and paint over the entire area around the hair with black. But you must admit, it is somewhat tedious to gloss over 70% working area. And of course don't forget to work on the mask, the mask must be selected. This can be done by simply clicking on its icon in the layers palette.

As a result, you should get a fill layer, with a hair mask. The advantage of this method is that you do not have to dig into the color settings every time, which is not clear where. One simple click on the fill of the layer brings up a window with a choice of color.

Paint other areas of the photo in the same way. In some areas where color does not tolerate soft transitions, you will need to create selection areas. For example, in the case of nails, I created selections with the tool Magic WandTool and Polygonal Lasso Toll. In other cases, I managed to change the size of the brush and switch between soft edges and hard edges.

Once you've created all the photo area layers, you'll be able to create other tint layers that create hair tones, shimmers, and other lighting effects. This is the professional result. And now let's look at alternative options for coloring a photo.

MAKE PHOTO COLOR THROUGH CORRECTION LAYERS (adjustments layers)

Here's another way to color your photo. Use color correction settings adjustments. I already imagine how you open familiar to everyone Image > Adjustments, highlight the area and apply the effects. No, we certainly won't do that. We will get the same kalya mala. Of course, selecting an area, applying color correction, selecting a new area, applying color correction again is an option. Only this option is dull, without any possibility to tweak and change the results.

Therefore, we will use color-correcting layers. Layer > New Adjustment Layer. The color correction layer is the same color correction, only it is not applied to the graphics layer, but is a layer itself. Imagine that the photo is our layer. And on top we put red glass, which changed the color of the photo. The red glass is the color correction layer. You can remove it, make it invisible, apply layers, mask and more.

Which of the color corrections are suitable for coloring? In my opinion, color correction works best. Photo Filter. Select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter Or create a color correction layer via the layers palette menu Layers.

Now I want you to do all the things I described for coloring photos through fill layers. Create a mask, fill it with black and with a regular brush apply a filter to the area you need. Here is what you should get:

At the same time, you can reconfigure the filter color, change the color and adjust the mask at any time. Just click on the color correction layer and in the palette adjustments adjust the color. If you don't know where this palette is located, open it via Windows > Ajustments. You'll see for yourself that it's as easy to colorize a photo through color correction as it is through fill layers, but I personally like the latter.

I hope that there is no need to demonstrate phased coloring. You already understood that in a similar way you need to colorize all areas of the photo. I will give the final version of the photo coloring and wish you successful experiments in Photoshop. Now you know how to make a photo in color.

You can step over the edges, it's even better to do it. After you have painted over all areas of the skin without missing a single pixel, press the "Quick Mask" button again. A selection should appear. Make sure all the skin gets into it:

• Go to the top menu "Layers", select "New Layer Fill", then "Color", you can give the layer a name. Select the mode "Soft light", press "OK" - a palette appears where you need to choose a color:

• With skin, this is not easy, you need to look for yellow and pink shades. If you can’t find a natural color in any way, then choose the tone that best suits your skin color, we’ll try to correct it later. Click OK.
• We go to the "Layers" window and see that a new fill layer has appeared there, consisting of two parts. Click on the second part in the form of a black square, a white frame should appear around it.

• In the tools, we should still have the "Brush" active with the same settings. The main color on the toolbar should be black - this is important. Now the brush will work like an eraser. We remove everything superfluous - what we painted over by accident, leaving the color only on the skin. We try to do it carefully:

So, we have painted the skin to correct its color, go to the "Layers" window, select the fill layer and make a duplicate of it.

Now in the new layer, double-click on the colored square - a palette appears. Select another color that will be superimposed on the first layer and blended with it. You can mix pink and yellow shades, then you get a natural tone:

Now go to the "Background copy" layer, click again " Quick mask” and continue to paint, creating new fill layers. Do not forget to return to the main layer every time, otherwise nothing will work.

In the example, we dyed the hair in Brown color, then lips in red:

And the iris of the eyes is painted green. Next, make the clothes purple:

Then a blue background, since our model is sitting by the water. and painted separately green trees, reflected in the water, as well as the boards on which she sits, although they are almost imperceptible. Details are always important. Result:

It is especially interesting to colorize retrophotos. if you have family archives with rare photographs, now they do not need to be carried to the workshop, but can be digitized and made in color on their own.

Having mastered this technique, you can also do color on black and white in Photoshop. This is a rather original solution, you have probably seen such photos.

For example, in the image below, we gave the girl red lips and turquoise eyes, leaving everything else in black and white:

In exactly the same way, you can change the tones in color photos, for example, change the color of hair, clothing, background, and so on.

Looking through photos in fashion magazines or in social networks, you can be sure that black and white photography does not lose its relevance over time and is always popular. With the advent of digital cameras, one very important change has taken place. In the era of film photography, we shot on a special black and white film, but now, using digital cameras, we convert a color photograph into black and white using graphic editors.

In this article, you will get acquainted with the most common and widely used methods for converting a color photo to black and white, learn about the pros and cons of each of them. All transformations are carried out in Photoshop CS and Elements.

Digital conversion to black and white photography has many advantages over film. In film cameras, the conversion process occurs directly during shooting, and if you want to somehow change the properties of black and white, then you need to apply color filters (for example, a red filter to make blue sky darker).

FROM digital photography everything has become much easier - you control the entire translation process, and, knowing the basics, you can easily, for example, darken some part of a photo in a few mouse clicks.

Shoot in RAW, it saves more information and gives you more options during the conversion process. We also recommend converting the file to 16-bit Tiff format, as 16-bit files store more information than 8-bit ones.

Almost all digital cameras have a black and white photography mode, i.e. the camera itself converts the image from color to black and white, the result, as a rule, is of poor quality, so we advise you to forget about this mode and use the techniques below.

Methods for converting to black and white

With some techniques of converting to b/w, it is impossible to correct certain parameters during or after conversion. The only way to change anything in this case is to undo the entire action.

But there are also methods that allow you to make changes in the process and after the conversion using adjustment layers. All manipulations are saved on a new layer, while the original image remains untouched. Then when everything necessary changes already added, you flatten all the visible layers into one image, then it's impossible to do anything. But before merging the image, you can at any time adjust the necessary conversion parameters by simply clicking the adjustment layer icon.

Naturally, translation methods that retain the possibility of corrections are more preferable. We've worked in Photoshop Elements and Photoshop CS3, but these techniques apply to other versions of the program as well.

1. Translating with Grayscale

This is perhaps the easiest method of translation in black and white. But all information about the color, unfortunately, is lost as a result.

1. Image> Mode> Grayscale (Image> Mode> Grayscale)
2. Click ‘Discard’

In Photoshop Elements:

1. Image > Mode > Grayscale
2. Click ‘OK’

pros A: Fast and very easy.

Minuses: Color information is lost.

2. Translation using Hue / Saturation Tool (Tool Hue / Saturation)

This technique gives exactly the same result as Grayscale. The only advantage is the ability to create an adjustment layer.

1. Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Hue / Saturation (Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Hue / Saturation).
2. Click ‘OK’.
3. Move the slider responsible for saturation (Saturation) to the left to -100 and click OK.

Pros: Quick and easy, it can be applied as an adjustment layer in both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

Minuses: The translation process is not controlled.

3. Translation method with LAB color

As part of this method, the photo is transferred from RGB mode to LAB mode, in which different channels are responsible for color and brightness.

1. In Photoshop CS3:
2. Image> Mode> Lab Color (Image> Mode> Lab Color)
3. Go to the Channels window and select the Brightness channel.
4. Image> Mode> Grayscale (Image> Mode> Grayscale)
5. Click OK

Pros: This method gives top scores than all of the above.

Minuses: During the conversion process, it is not possible to influence individual parameters.

4. Translation with Gradient Map

The Gradient Map tool works based on the brightness values ​​of your photo. Dark areas turn to black or dark gray, and light areas turn to white or light gray.

In Photoshop and Elements:

1. Hold down the D key to set black and white colors as the main ones.

1. Go to Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Gradient Map (Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Gradient Map).
2. Click OK

Pros: Fast and easy process, color information is saved.

Minuses: Lack of control over the conversion process.

5. Use the Channel Mixer (Channelmixer)

This method exploits the full potential of the color information that an image contains, which makes it different from the above methods. Color photographs contain three color channels: red, green and blue, their combinations produce millions of different colors and shades.

With the Channel Mixer tool, you can adjust the ratio between red, green and blue channels during the conversion process. The Channel Mixer works based on the brightness values ​​of the image. As you move the slider for a channel, areas of the image that are close to the color of the channel on the color wheel become lighter, while areas that are opposite on the color wheel become darker. For example, by increasing the value of the red channel, you make areas of the image close to red in color lighter and blue areas darker.

The Channel Mixing section can be called the digital analogue of color filters used by photographers. Setting the red channel brightness to 100% in the editor gives the same effect as using a red filter and black and white film.

1. Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Channel Mixer (Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Channel Mixing)
2. Put a tick in front of Monochrome (Monochrome)
3. Move the sliders in the Red, Green and Blue channels to make areas of the image lighter or darker. Remember that the sum of the values ​​of all channels must be equal to 100, otherwise various defects appear.
4. Click OK.

Original photo:

Red 80%, Green 10%, Blue 10%. Thanks to 80% red, we darkened the blue sky and made it red balloon lighter:

Red 20%, Green 40%, Blue 40%. And with 20% red, we made the blue sky lighter and the balloon darker:

Pros: This method gives you control over the conversion process.

Minuses: Takes a long time.

6. Convert to B&W to toolElements

This tool is a simplified version of the Channel Mixer described earlier and is only available in Photoshop Elements. There is no way to create an adjustment layer.

1. Enhance> Convert to Black and White (Enhance> Convert to B/W)
2. Move the sliders to the right or left to lighten or darken the respective hues. To compensate for changes in contrast, use the Contrast slider. You can also select one of the presets already set by the program in the menu on the left.
3. After all the manipulations, click on the OK button.

Pros: Pretty flexible conversion system using color channels.

Minuses: There is no way to create an adjustment layer.

7. Double use of the Hue/Saturation tool

This technique uses two Hue/Saturation adjustment layers. The top layer is directly responsible for the conversion, and the bottom layer is responsible for the changes in the color of the original photo, which naturally affect the shades of brightness in the black and white version. Using this technique gives you good control over the conversion process.

In Photoshop CS and Elements:

1. Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Hue / Saturation (Layer> New Adjustment Layer>
2. Move the slider Saturation (Saturation) all the way to the left (-100) and click OK.
3. Activate the background by clicking on the background layer.
4. Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Hue / Saturation (Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Hue / Saturation), click OK.
5. Change the blending mode of the lower adjustment layer to Color (Color).
6. Double click on the bottom Hue/Saturation layer icon.
7. Move the slider Hue (Color tone) and see how the brightness of the image changes. You can also experiment with the Saturation and Lightness sliders.
8. We press OK.

Original photo:

Hue +81, Saturation +22:

Hue +68, Saturation +56:

Pros: Control over the process of translation into b/w.

Minuses: None.

8. Adjustment layerBlack&White

This method gives you complete control over the process of converting a photo to black and white, it involves mixing channels and changing saturation and hue, and you have 6 sliders at your disposal, each of which is responsible for a separate color.

1. Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Black and White (Layer> New Adjustment Layer> Black and White)
2. We press OK. The adjustment layer window pops up:

1. Move the sliders to the right or left, depending on whether you want to darken or lighten an area whose color is close to the six listed. You can also select one of the presets in the Preset menu.
2. Move the cursor over the photo and hold down the left mouse button. The cursor has changed, thus activating the point adjustment tool, which allows you to select a specific area of ​​the image. While holding the left mouse button, move the cursor to the left or right, the selected areas will become darker or lighter, respectively.
3. We press OK.

Original photo:

Red 70, Yellow 60, Green 40, Cyan 60, Blues 20, Magenta 80:

Red 27, Yellow 244, Green 40, Cyan 101, Blue 146, Magenta -144:

Pros: The most flexible way, giving the most control over the process.

Minuses: Not available in earlier versions of Photoshop.

Conclusion

So, you got acquainted with the most common methods for converting a color image to black and white. It is worth paying attention to each of them and choosing the most suitable for you, because all Photoshop users have different requirements and goals.

Today. Almost everyone has a digital camera in one form or another. And photography, in itself, has become a truly mass hobby. Digital technology is developing so rapidly that now, in order to get high-quality photographs, it is not at all necessary to have an expensive, professional camera. After all, today, even cameras on phones have learned to take good pictures. For example, the same iPhone, now shoots no worse than a full-fledged digital camera. What can we say about semi-professional or professional mirrors.

But until recently, cameras were exclusively film, and photographs were mostly black and white. And the process of developing photographs was a whole mystery. Now we remember all this with a smile, and some, in a nostalgic impulse, even acquire or restore old photographic equipment, trying to repeat the unforgettable experience of obtaining analog photographs.

But it's one thing to apply the effects of an old photo to an already finished picture, and quite another to restore an old photo to the state of a new one, or colorize photo in photoshop.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible to completely eliminate all the defects of old photographs, because. it all depends on general condition photos, as well as such factors as:

• Photo age
• Color fade in photo
• Scratches and microcracks on the front surface of the photo
• Irreversible loss of some snapshot elements

In most cases, an old photograph can be significantly improved, or even completely restored to its original characteristics. And you can do even better than the original source. About one of these operations, namely, how to turn a black and white photo into color, we will talk in today's material.

Color matching

It will be more difficult to make a photo in color in Photoshop than to carry out the reverse operation, where the whole process can be reduced to literally a few mouse clicks. This will require painstaking handmade in the graphic editor Adobe Photoshop. Therefore, in order to turn a black and white photo into color, it will be necessary hand colorize the image. At the same time, for some parts of the image, it will be possible to show imagination, and arbitrarily color them, choosing individual colors.

For example, the black-and-white photo shows a portrait of a man in a Quid suit. Let's say we don't know the original color of the suit, so we can color it however we like, for example, beige. The color of other elements of the image can be determined by one or another, obvious signs. It goes without saying that we will paint the sky predominantly blue, and the clouds gray-white. Definitely, the grass and foliage on the trees should be dyed green.

But still, in most cases, the original colors of some elements of the image will remain unknown, and they will need to be selected in order to get a photo image that is natural in color.

Therefore, before making a color photo out of a black and white photo, you must first decide on the color design of all elements of the photograph. If you are at a loss with the selection of colors, then you can look at the color analogues of photographs that are similar in structure, or ask for help from people who understand this, for example, from photographers or graphic designers.

Color fill

After the colors are selected, we proceed directly to the process of coloring a black and white photograph. ways colorize photo with photoshop, there are several. We will consider one of them, namely - color fill method for individual adjustment layers. For this we need:

1. original photo file

2. Graphic editor Adobe Photoshop

3. Layout with selected colors for filling (remember, we had to define it in advance)

4. Time and a little patience, because the operation is quite laborious.

In order to make a black and white photo color, we perform the following steps in stages:

1) Uploading a photo to Adobe Photoshop
2) In order to always return to the original file if our experiments go too far, we create in Photoshop duplicate layer
3) In the layers palette, click on the icon New adjustment layer", and in the proposed options for creating a layer, select - Color or Chroma (solid color)

After that, a color palette will appear, in which you need to select the color closest to the color of the part of the photo image that we intend to fill. For example, if it is grass, then choose green color, if the sky, then blue, if the sun, then accordingly yellow. Again, based on the layout of colors that we made earlier, before starting to turn a black and white photo into color.

Let's say we decide to start coloring our photo from the face. Accordingly, select in the color palette of the new adjustment layer, a dark beige color ( closest to the color structure of the face, in our case).

So, the color for the face is selected, but now it completely fills our entire photo. To exclude this, in the layers palette, select from the drop-down list of options - Color or Chroma. By default, it is set to - Blend mode and this needs to be changed.

Excellent! Now the adjustment layer only affects the color of the bottom layer, and we see our photo with a tint of the color chosen for the face. Now our task is to leave this color only on the part of the photo image for which it is intended. In our case, this is the face. To do this, click on the icon Layer mask, after which an outline will appear on the layer thumbnail.

Now select in the Photoshop tool palette - " Eraser", and erase everything except the face.

Attention! As you can see in our example, the neck and part of the chest have a similar color characteristic to the face. But we will also erase them, and create for them separate adjustment layer. This is explained by the fact that the color shade between the face and neck is still quite different. And, later, these differences will be possible to emphasize only on different layers.

The more adjustment layers we create, the better it will be to color a black and white photo into color later.

Editing the finished layout with adjustment layers

So, we filled it with a color similar in color, our first element is the face. The same is to be done with all other elements of the photographic image. Those. simply repeat the above operation for other elements of the photo, taking into account their color features. Don't worry that the colors will be hyper-exaggerated and unnatural. We will fix this a little later by editing each adjustment layer. Now the main thing is to fill in the main elements of the photo image colors similar in color. Moreover, the more elements will be selected in a separate adjustment layer, the better!

After we have worked out all the elements of the photographic image, it will be much easier for us to cope with the task of making a color photograph from black and white. Of course, now the colors look artificial, but, nevertheless, we have a ready-made layout with different layers that are available for processing separately, which will give us undeniable manufacturing advantages. color photo through photoshop. Actually, we will now proceed to this processing.

Let's go in order, and start with the first layer. We need to correct the color scheme of the face. As you can see in your original version, the skin tone is hyper-exaggerated and certainly doesn't look natural. Let's try to fix this.

4) Double click on the layer thumbnail in the layers palette and experiment with the adjustment layer settings. It is necessary to work with the existing color, so you do not need to touch the tone settings, but operate with the sliders responsible for the brightness and color saturation of the edited area. We need to achieve the most natural color reproduction by controlling the changes in color parameters in live preview mode.

Well, that's a completely different matter. We do the same with the rest of the layers. That is, we just double-click on the thumbnail of each layer, and in the settings we change the color parameters to the most natural colors. This is very convenient, because working with many layers, we are able to convey color shades much more accurately than in the case of manually painting over individual elements of the image, described in most of the methods that teach how to make black and white photos colored.

At the very last stage, we change the corrective color of the background and eyes. For a more harmonious visual effect, you can choose colors for the background to match the color of the eyes, or vice versa, the color of the eyes to match the background color ( unless of course it contradicts general concept snapshot).

When creating an adjustment layer for small elements of the image, for example, for the same eyes, you need to erase the entire image with an eraser, except for the iris itself. This is a rather painstaking operation, so in case of an error, just switch to the mode - Brush, and repaint the area where you erased the excess. At the same time, it is recommended to set the brush strength to 50% .

You will need

• To perform the operations of this instruction, it is desirable that you be at least basicly familiar with Adobe Photoshop: you know what layers and layer masks are, you know how to use a brush and other basic tools of this program.

Instruction

To add color to an image - the color of a black and white or faded photograph, to color or recolor a pencil drawing or a solid color, etc. – special technical costs and complex operations not required. It is enough to open the original image in Adobe Photoshop, create a new layer on top of the base image and, setting it to Color mode, apply fragmentary areas of the required colors to it. You can do this with a brush or other program tools. Original image in right places get the desired color scheme.
Of course, the hardest part is actually getting the color layer right, especially if you want to achieve the most photorealistic image.

To begin with, let's analyze: we will study the original image and mentally try to divide it into more or less large fragments, the color inside of which should be fairly uniform. These are, for example, objects made of the same material, or objects that have a completely predictable combination of colors, solid arrays - foliage, grass, walls, floors, etc. The main thing is that the colors inside such a fragment obey a single simple law: dark, shadow areas tend to one color, areas of medium illumination have their own approximately the same shade, and light areas have their own.
For each such homogeneous fragment, you can create your own color layer that describes the necessary pattern.
First of all, let's create a layer mask so that the coloring action only applies to the desired fragment of the original image. For example, let's trace the outline of an object with the Lasso tool. After finishing the selection, create a new Gradient Map layer (Menu Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Gradient Map). In the layers panel, set the blend mode switch of the created layer to Color.
Let's start creating a spectrum. On the left in the gradient there will be colors responsible for the dark areas of the image, on the right - for the light ones. If you have a good visual memory and artistic taste, colors can be chosen "by eye", however, a pre-prepared photograph will greatly facilitate the work, the nature of the image in which is similar to the one being recreated. In this sample, already ready-made the main combinations of colors will be presented, therefore, the colors of the gradient can simply be typed with an eyedropper tool from the sample. One way or another, we select the color and location of the markers on the gradient, visually controlling how plausible the result is.

You can create as many layers as you need. Each layer in the layer list above can overlap layers below it, and if the layer masks overlap, then the top layer will be critical in rendering the color cast. Therefore, you can go initially from painting large spaces, to the subsequent creation of smaller color fragments, overlaying new color combinations on smaller and smaller details, creating new and new layers on top.
Of course, layer masks can be created not only by tracing objects along the path. The mask can simply be painted with a black or white brush, respectively, adding or excluding the areas of effect of the color layer. In order to “draw on the mask”, you must first click the cursor on the rectangle on the right - a schematic representation of the mask - in the line of the desired layer on the Layers panel (Layers).
It is very convenient that each created layer can be re-edited at any time, change the colors of the spectrum - just double-click on the line of the layer in the list of the layer in the list of the Layers panel (Layers), and proceed to modify the gradient. Also, the mask of each layer can be erased, corrected, painted over, or even re-created.

Having painted large homogeneous areas of the image in this way, we proceed to the next stage - the stage of manual finishing. This requires observation and logic. The fact is that even identically painted surfaces that have a completely uniform color never look uniform in real optical conditions. Light falls on each surface: direct - from light sources, reflected - from nearby surfaces, in addition, when the observer looks at different angles, the same color tone looks different. Therefore, in addition to color gradients - tending to "flatten" surfaces, because with this method of coloring, the volume and location in space are not taken into account - we will create additional color layers that correct them.
For example, in the proposed picture, the color of the light column in the upper part will gravitate towards blue, because next to it is a large blue wall, the reflected cold color of which will surely fall on the column and illuminate it, changing the color shade. Bottom part columns closer to the floor will take on the reflected tones of orange highlights from the parquet.
To show this in our work, just above the Gradient Map layer that defines the base color of the column, create a new clean layer (Layer>New Layer menu), and set it to Color blend mode. On it with a soft translucent brush, carefully apply the necessary spots - a cold shade at the top, a warm orange at the bottom. You can also play along with brown reflexes from a nearby walnut table. By adjusting the parameter Opacity (Transparency) of the created layer, you can reduce and increase the influence of the adjustment layer on the image.
Another law, where there is less illumination - the colors are more faded, where there is more light, in addition to the actual brightness of the image, the color saturation itself will be an order of magnitude higher. This, for example, must be taken into account when giving color to the floor: in the proposed illustration, in the shady areas, the reddish color of the parquet will look more faded. And in the darkest places, the colors of all surfaces can have an almost indistinguishable color tone from each other.
FROM special attention should be taken into account human skin. First of all, the skin absorbs glare very well, therefore, for example, for a standing character, the side of the face that faces the column will be of a much colder shade than the one on which the light from the red curtain falls. In addition, the skin itself is rarely even in color - the cheeks are usually a warmer shade than the skin around the eyes, the open areas are tanned, through thin skin blood vessels will be visible, etc. Therefore, work on skin color is always very painstaking, but with sufficient observation, with a little practice, you can easily achieve a completely plausible result.

It is recommended to save the final image in two different formats. Firstly, in the format of the Abode Photoshop program, where information about all created layers will be saved, which will make it possible to further modify and supplement the image. And secondly, in a commonly used format, such as JPEG, for quick viewing, and other operations with the file, in which there is no need for layer-by-layer editing. This can be done through the File>Save As menu, specifying the file format, its name and storage location on disk. And in a format suitable for transport on the Internet, it is easy to save the image through the File>Save for Web menu.

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• how to make black and white photography in 2019

A black and white photo can be turned into a color image in full or in part using the tools of the Photoshop editor. The most obvious way to do this is to paint parts of the photo with a brush.

You will need

• - Photoshop program;
• - black and white image.