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Adding Color to a Black & White Photo

July 19, 2007 by Carrie Castillo

Have you ever seen those black and white photos where just one area is colored? I fell in love with this technique and use it all the time. I think it adds such a special touch to the photos. Here are some super easy instructions to try this technique. This method will work in both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.

*Start out with a color photo.

*Do a save as and save it as a separate file (as a rule of thumb, I always do this so I have a 'safe' original incase something goes wrong!).

*Do a CTRL+J to make a layer copy.

*In the Image menu, go to 'Adjustments'remove the color from the new layer by selecting 'desaturate' (I believe in Photoshop Elements the command is called 'Remove Color').

*This is where you would want to work with Curves or the Channel Mixer if you want your black and white areas to be a higher contrast. If this part is all greek to you, DON'T STRESS! Your photos will still be awesome without this step.

*Begin the erasing process. Select the eraser tool from your tool palette and choose the brush size you would like to erase from the brushes palette. Begin erasing where you would like to see color.
This is a good time to zoom in on the area so you can see what you're erasing. I choose a bigger eraser to start with and then switch to a smaller size to finish up the edges. I typically start in the middle of the area that I want to 'recolor' and work my way out.

Give it a try and tell me what you think! Here are some samples I did from a wedding that I shot:

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Resources » Photography

Adding Color to a Black & White Photo