Photoshop Elements: Colorizing a Photo in photoshop updates

There are different ways to colorize a photo; that is, to add color to isolated areas of a black and white or sepia toned image and over the coming weeks I’ll show you how to do this in various ways. This tutorial however shows you how to remove the color from a colored photo, and then colorize an area of that photo. This is a great technique for highlighting areas of a photo or adding an “old world” feel to your photo.
Note: This tutorial is for Photoshop Elements 6 but the steps are probably similar in other versions.
1. The first step is to download the image and then open the photo in Photoshop Elements.
2. Duplicate the image. Right click on the layer in the Layer Pallette and select Duplicate Layer.

Click ok. You should now have two layers with the same image.

3. Click on the copied layer in the Layers Palette which is the one on top of the original, to select and highlight it.

4. Now you need to remove the color from the photo. You can do this in a number of ways. From the Main Menu, select Enhance, then Convert to Black and White, which turns the image into a black and white image. Or my favorite, select Photographic Effects from the Effects Pallette.

5. Double click on the Sepia Tone in the Effects Palette. This will change the color of the image in the top layer to sepia tones. Alternatively you could select any of the colors in the Photographic Effects by double clicking the color.

6. Select the Eraser Tool

7. Select Basic Brushes from the Brushes Drop Down Menu …

… and select size 60. You may need to adjust this size if you have resized your image.

8. Zoom in close to the image so you can easily see what you’re doing and begin erasing the areas where you want the color to show through. In this demonstration I’m colorizing the main flower and leaving the background in sepia tones.

You may need to zoom in a little closer and reduce the size of your eraser if you’re erasing small areas.

You can also remove areas using the Selection Brush Tool, Quick Selection Tool or the Magic Wand Tool.

9. Once you’ve finished colorizing, you can reduce the intensity of the color by selecting the bottom layer in the Layers Palette and adjusting the opacity slider until you’re happy with the depth of color.

10. Once you’re happy with your results, flatten the image by merging the two layers together. Right click on the top layer and select Flatten Image.

This combines both layers into one. Then save your file.

How very easy was that? And look how beautiful the little flower is.
 

sr:i-m