colorize black and white photos photoshop

COLORIZE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS PHOTOSHOP SKIN

But it’s still possible to do it with the mouse, and you can use a Pen Tool to make selections before applying color. When you add color to the photo, have in mind that a pen tablet makes the process much easier and more precise. All these should be made practically invisible, with opacity under 20%, but they’ll add some nice color variation to the image.

COLORIZE BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOS PHOTOSHOP SKIN

For example, some pink around the eyes, blue around the unshaved beard, yellowish tones on the skin and so on. Keep in mind that adding some color in the specific areas makes the colorization look more realistic.

When you’re done with the skin, apply the same principle to all the other areas: lips, clothes, background, jewelry and so on. You can also adjust the opacity of the layer to tone it down, if necessary. From this point, you can change the color of the Solid Color adjustment layer, as it’s easier to manage the hue when you see it in the image. Switch the brush to black to remove the color from unwanted areas or clear any mistakes. Choose the white color for the brush and start painting over the areas where you want the color to reveal. Now switch to the Brush Tool and adjust the hardness and size, depending on the area you’re working on. Next, select the layer mask next to the Solid Color adjustment layer and fill it with black to clear the color overlay. Alternatively, you can choose a blending mode that will add more vibrancy to the selected hue and adjust the opacity if needed. Set the blending mode to Soft Light, and you’ll notice your entire photo is toned with this color. For example, choose the color of the skin. Start by adding a new Solid Color adjustment layer in the approximate hue of the area you’re working on. This makes the original tones of the image show less if the photo is sepia, and colorizes the darker areas much better.Īfter the first three steps, your image is ready for colorization. When you’re satisfied with the image, Chris suggests converting it to CMYK (Image > Mode > CMYK Color). Then add Levels adjustment layer to fix the contrast, and keep in mind you’ll probably need to darken the shadows quite a lot.

If you’re working with a sepia image, add a Black & White adjustment layer to neutralize the tones. If there are still some scratches and specks of dust left, you can clone them out manually. You can go to Filter > Noise > Dust and scratches, and set the radius to 1-2 pixels and threshold to 20-30 levels. When you open the image in Photoshop, convert it to Smart Object and start by removing the scratches and dust. Chris chose a sepia image of his granddad from WW2 to demonstrate the technique. You can play with some old family photos or use old photos from the Internet.

Colorize black and white photos photoshop