2 Minute Photoshop Tricks

2 Minute Tricks # 24 - Hand Coloring

January 19th, 2006

A look at how to make your color images look like hand colored black and white images.

Note: If you are downloading directly from the web page click here to download. The enhanced AAC version of the show is available in stereo here and includes images of each step along with chapter markers for easy navigation. The AAC version of the show will only work in iTunes.

Thanks to the Hijiyama Project for our closing theme.

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Step-by-step Guide

Step 1: Open up a color image in Photoshop to fake hand color. I find that images with a very specific subject with a larger background often work best with this trick. Also images with striking color in specific areas tend to work well. Once you have an image opened duplicate the background or image layer by dragging it to the little sticky note button at the bottom of the layers pallet.

Step 2: Next create a new hue saturation adjustment layer by clicking on the button at the bottom of the layers pallet that looks like a circle that is half white and half black. Then select the hue/saturation option.

Step 3: A new dialog will pop open with three sliders. Drag the slider marked saturation all the way to the left. This will make your image appear black and white. Click OK.

Step 4: Select your brush tool from the tools pallet and then set your forground color black. You can quickly set your foreground color to black in Photoshop by pushing the “d” to set the default forground and background colors of white and black, and then by pushing the “x” key to swap the forground and background colors.
Make sure your adjustment layer is selected in the layers pallet, and then paint with the brush tool in your image window your objects or subject that you want to colorize. You may need to adjust your brush size and zoom in on your image to paint your object accurately.
You should notice the areas you paint should be returned to their original colors. If you accidentally paint an area you didn’t want colored simply hit the x key on your keyboard to switch your foreground color to white and paint over the area to turn it back to black and white.

Step 5: Now, since most hand colored images are not as intense as real color images, we are going to tone down the colors a bit. Make sure your adjustment layer is selected in the layers pallet and then go to the image menu and select the adjust option then the levels option. A new dialog box will pop open. At the very bottom of this dialog you will see a gradient with too little arrows pointing up at it - one black one and one white one. Drag the black one to the right while keeping an eye on your image. You should notice the parts you painted the color back into getting slightly less intense and the output levels numbers changing. Adjust your image to an intensity that looks good to you then click ok.

Step 6: Now you can add just a hint of color back to the rest of your image by adjusting the opacity of your hue saturation adjustment layer. This step is totally optional and some images will look best if you leave the background completely black and white, while others will look better with a hint of color. To change the opacity of the adjustment layer simply make sure it is selected in the layers pallet and then click the arrow button at the top of the layers pallet just to the right of the word opacity. Drag the pop up slider around while watching your image and pick a value that works for you. I tend to use very high percentages of 95% or more so the difference between the background and subjects is very clear.

Step 7: The final step is also optional, but I think it doing it lends images a slightly more hand done look. So select your copied image layer from the layers pallet and go to the filter menu. Then select artistic then poster edges. A new dialog box will pop open. I set edge thickness to 0 and edge intensity to 0 and posterization to either 3 or 4, but you can experiment with the settings to get results that look good for you. Just keep in mind the preview of this effect is showing your image with out the adjustment layer, so your image will look different once you hit the ok button. Now just save a copy of your image and enjoy.

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