Preserved Topic: Colours

I have read the photoshop manual , I have even read the Idiots guide and I still don't get it. What I am trying to do is change the colour of something. I have a photograph of someone wearing a white t-shirt and I want to change the colour, any colour will do. I go to adjust andreplace colour and shown in the book but it doesn't work. I know this is a skill that is used to good effect in the industry for example cars that are really blue but appear in print in every other colour under the sun. I also tried to change a photo of my cat from and black and white to pink and blue but no luck.

I would appreciate an idiot's guide on how to do this as my current job is a pile of poo and knowing stuff like this would help me get out.

Thanks in advance

Thicky

The secret here is selections or masks. You must select the area that you want to change.
1) Duplicate your T-Shirt layer (ctrl+J/cmd+j).
2) Switch to Quick Mask mode. (Q)
3) Activate your paintbrush. (B)
4) Make sure that black is your forground color. (D)
5) Paint all over the T-shirt. You don't have to be perfect, but get as close as you can. (The picture will turn transparent red where you paint...that is good.)
6) Switch back to Standard Mode (Q). A selection will form where you did NOT paint.
7) Use your lasso tool (L) with Alt and Shift to clean up the edges of your selection.
8) Save selection. (Select-->Save Selection)
9) Use your paintbrush, blur/levels, or any other method to further perfect your selection.
10) Use the selection to define what areas turn color and what areas do not. Use adjustment layer Hue/Saturation with Colorize checked to change the color.

The real tricky part is making your selection/mask. There are lots and lots of tricks to getting the fine edges and all of the details perfect. Seems like everybody has their own way. Try a couple different methods until you find something you like. Just remember that what ever you do on your new channel will happen to your selection. This is really powerful stuff.
Good luck.

mobrul



[This message has been edited by mobrul (edited 07-10-2001).]

TUTS on colour
found these tuts on the net. Hope this helps.

The best thing that works for me (quickest way and especially for low resolution images) is to use the "Polygon Lasso" tool (otherwise the pen tool), select what i want changed and then go to Image, Adjust, Hue and Saturation (CTRL+U as a shortcut)

The amount of hue changes the specific colour, the amount of saturation determines the amount of colour (bright or greyed out) and the lightness (black to white).

If you click on the colourize option the entire image becomes a duotone (various shades of the colour)...even black and white gets changed according to the lightness check out the penguins as an idea.






The person born with a talent they are meant to use, will find their greatest happiness in using it.

[This message has been edited by Minkies (edited 07-10-2001).]

thank you so much it worked i have printed all the info out for future reference

not quite so thicky now

no such thing as being "thicky".... takes a while to get used to it...thats all

Iv'e done this for 3 years (only web graphics - and due to work i don't have much time to play with PS) --> i'm still learning.
Must be honest - I use a lot of shortcuts instead of doing it from scratch, the end result is almost the same if, like i said before, you use low res images.

Good Luck Babe



The person born with a talent they are meant to use, will find their greatest happiness in using it.