Change color with Replace Color


You've just spent several hours searching through your photo files for a close-up shot of a flashlight you want to use for a sales presentation. It's perfectexcept for the color. The flashlight is yellow, and you need a green one, as shown in Figure A. What do you do? Why not try a great editing feature included with Photoshop called the Replace Color command? By using the Replace Color command, you can easily and quickly substitute one color for another, turning a yellow flashlight to green or whatever other color you desire.


Figure A.


Determine the color replacement color

Photoshop's Replace Color command is one of the easier commands to use because you work within only one dialog box. The command creates a mask around specific colors and then replaces those colors in the image.

To begin:

1.

Open the image you wish to work with in Photoshop.

2.

Select Image Adjustments Replace Color. The Replace Color dialog box opens, as shown in Figure B.


3.

Select the Preview check box on the right side of the dialog box so you can see your results as you go. On the left side of the dialog box you'll see two panes: Selection and Replacement.

4.

Set the Selection values. The Selection settings determine which color values you want to replace. Choose from:

  • Fuzziness. By moving this slider, you adjust the tolerance setting of the replace color mask. You can set the value by either entering a numeric value in the Fuzziness text box or by adjusting the Fuzziness slider.

  • Image. By selecting this or the Selection option button, you determine the method for selecting the color value you want to replace. The Image option button displays your image in the preview box, and when you move your mouse pointer inside the preview box, an Eyedropper icon appears, as shown in Figure C1, allowing you to select the replacement color value.


    Figure C1.


  • Selection. By selecting this option button, you display the color mask in the preview window. When you move your mouse pointer to this area, an Eyedropper icon appears, as shown in Figure C2, allowing you to create the replace color mask. Masked areas are in black, unmasked areas are in white, and partially masked areas appear in shades of gray, depending upon their opacity.


    Figure C2.


5.

Set the color hue, the amount of saturation, and the lightness with which to replace it by adjusting the Hue, Saturation, and Lightness as follows:

  • Hue. This refers to the color value setting of the replacement color. As you adjust the hue value to a color, the replacement color changes along the range, as shown in Figure D. You can set the value by either entering a numeric value in the Hue text box or by adjusting the Hue slider.


    Figure D.


  • Saturation. This refers to the gray mixture value setting of the replacement color. As you adjust the gray mixture value to a color, the replacement color varies from an entirely unsaturated gray value to an entirely saturated pure value, as shown in Figure E. You can set the value by entering a numeric value in the Saturation text box or by adjusting the Saturation slider.


    Figure E.


  • Lightness. This refers to the brightness value setting of the replacement color. As you adjust the brightness value to a color, it ranges from black to white, as shown in Figure F. You can set the value by either entering a numeric value in the Lightness text box or by adjusting the Lightness slider.


    Figure F.


Replacing color in your photo

1.

Select the Selection option button to choose the color values you want to change. You can use the Image option button, but it doesn't give you a good sense of the entire area you've chosen. Since the Selection option button does show the area masked by the color replacement mask, select it.

2.

Move your pointer into the Preview box and an Eyedropper icon appears. In our example, the yellow color of the flashlight varies from a highlight on top to a shadow along the side.

3.

Move the pointer to a middle point, click on it, and check the results, as shown in Figure G. The key to understanding what's happening in the Preview box is in understanding what a mask does. A mask protects an image from an effect that you apply to it. In Figure G, the black and dark gray areas are the masked, or protected, areas. These areas will be protected from having color values replaced. The white and light gray areas are the unmasked, or unprotected, areas. These areas will have the color values replaced.


Figure G.


4.

To include additional color areas, increase the value tolerance by moving the Fuzziness slider to the right. As you move it, notice more and more areas become selected. In our example, we moved the slider to a value of about 80, as shown in Figure H1.


Figure H1.


5.

You can select additional areas, if needed, with the mouse pointer by either pressing [Ctrl][Shift] ([shift] on the Mac) or by selecting the Add To Simple icon (Eyedropper Plus icon on the Mac) in the Replace Color dialog box. We used the Add To Sample icon to move our mouse pointer into the Preview box and select additional areas until we had selected what's needed, as shown in Figure H2.


Figure H2.


Selecting the replacement color

1.

Adjust the hue values to set the replacement color. For our example, we wanted to change the color of the flashlight to green, so we chose a Hue value of about +85. At this point, the yellow areas in the flashlight change to green, including the reflection from the table it sits on, as shown in Figure I.


Figure I.


2.

Desaturate the color, if needed, by adjusting the Saturation value. For our example, we used a Saturation value of about -10.

3.

Check the Lightness value and make any appropriate adjustments.

4.

Click OK. Our yellow flashlight has become a bright, shiny green.

Sweet and simple

Photoshop's Replace Color command is one of the easiest adjustments you can make to an image. It's precise, versatile, and produces a great-looking result. Just think of the endless possibilities for subjects that may not have been that perfect color before! Take this new-found ability and utilize it wherever you pleaseturn red roses pink, green bananas yellow, and gray skies blue!



Get the Image You Want(c) Essential Photoshop Editing Techniques 2005
Get the Image You Want(c) Essential Photoshop Editing Techniques 2005
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2004
Pages: 105

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