The winner of the Creating Keepsakes subscription giveaway is commenter #5, Kathi Heifner who commented:

I have Photoshop Elements and haven’t learned all the tricks. Thanks for the tip, can’t wait to try.

Congratulations Kathi!

Hey RP fans! Deena Boese from Creating Keepsakes magazine back at the table with another quick and easy Photoshop tutorial! This week’s tip comes from the request of last month’s tutorial reader Melinda. She wrote:

We’ve all seen those stunning black and white photos with a single item highlighted with a bright pop of color. If you’ve ever wondered how to recreate this look yourself, today is your day! There are probably a dozen different ways to add selective color to a black and white image in Photoshop. But today I’m going to show you my favorite quick and easy technique that can take a photo from blah to beautiful in under 5 minutes.

With just a few clicks of the mouse you can transform an ordinary photo from this:

to this:

Wanna learn how simple it is to selectively color a black and white photo? Read on! 

1. Open photo in Photoshop, click on the CREATE NEW FILL OR ADJUSTMENT LAYER icon and select HUE/SATURATION.

2. Adjust the SATURATION slider all the way to the left (-100) to convert the photo to black and white.

3. In the layers panel, you will see a white rectangle beside the Hue/Saturation adjustment. This is the LAYER MASK that will allow you to reveal color from the original photo layer.

4. Select the BRUSH TOOL from the toolbar and press D to ensure the foreground color is set to black and the background is set to white.

5. Using the Brush Preset Picker, select the desired brush size and hardness.

6. Now it’s time for the magic! Use your brush to paint over the photo portion you want to appear in color. The black brush will reveal the color in the underlying layer. Adjust the brush size as needed for large areas and small details. If you make a mistake, simply change your brush color to white and paint over the error to conceal the unwanted color. Remember: Black reveals. White conceals.

And now you know! I hope have fun experimenting with creative ways to add selective coloring to your photos and layouts! It’s a quick and easy technique that has endless uses and options. For easy reference, I’ve included a PDF handout you can download and add to your “Wanna Learn How” library. And as a bonus gift, I’ve also included this 4x6 digital photo overlay you can download for FREE!

As always, we want to hear from you! Have you seen a digital technique that made you say, “Oooh! I wanna learn how to do that!”? Leave a comment to let us know what techniques you want to see here.

I have a free one-year subscription to Creating Keepsakes magazine in my hands that will go to one random (and lucky) commenter. So be sure to drop us a line to be entered in the drawing! Good luck!

 DOWNLOADS

Tutorial:  How To Selectively Color a Black and White Photo
Download:  Digital Photo Overlay

Deena Boese

Deena Boese is a Contributing Writer for Creating Keepsakes magazine and enjoys designing both digital and hybrid projects for each issue. She was first published with Creating Keepsakes in early 2007. Deena has a passion for story-telling and graphic design, and brings these elements into her digital and hybrid scrapbooking.

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Tags: deena boese | Photoshop | Wanna Learn How