Change color in Photoshop. Changing the color of objects in Photoshop. Changing colors on contrasting objects

Hello again, my dear readers. Today I would like to tell you how to replace a color in Photoshop with another in a separate area and even in the entire picture. After all, you probably have often had the desire to repaint something just to see how it would look. But in order not to make a mistake, it is better to first do this on some kind of layout or photograph. Then you will already know how and what it looks like. Let's see how to change the color of an object to a specific one using the example of repainting the car in the picture.

First way. Color replacement

Let's look at the simplest case, when our background is completely different from the object itself, i.e. cars.

So, upload a photo, picture or drawing into our editor and now go to the familiar “Image” menu. Next, select “Correction”, and then “Replace Color”.
A color replacement window opened in front of us. What are we doing here? First, let's make sure that the active tool in this window is a regular eyedropper (without signs). Now just left-click somewhere on the hood of the car.
As you can see, we have a small drawing in the window. What is colored light shows us which area will undergo a color change. Now start dragging the Hue slider. Do you see? Some of the color starts to change as you move that tone. Don't be upset that not the whole car is painted over. We'll fix it.
To begin, hold down the left mouse button on the “Scatter” slider and drag it towards the larger side. Just try to make sure that the car is painted over as much as possible, while the background remains untouched. In this case, there are no yellow tints in the background, which allows me to set the maximum spread to 200.
Has the desired object changed almost all its color, but not completely? Again, no problem. Activate the internal tool “Pipette+” and left-click on those areas of the car where there are unpainted areas in the drawing.
Voila!) As you can see, everything worked out and even our background was not damaged. And by the way, you can also move the “Hue”, “Saturation”, “Brightness” sliders to achieve the desired shade.

Look. It looks like it should be. And this function can be used in different areas, for example, to replace the color of clothes, or to give an unusual but specific shade to vegetables or fruits. In! Try making a blue watermelon. I assure you. It's easy, very interesting and useful for consolidation.

Correcting Misunderstandings

Let's look at a slightly more complicated case. Let’s say I again want to change the color of the car, but this time it’s different. As you can see, the color of the car is the same as in the background. Well then? Let's do everything the same as above and see what we get.

But we’re doing a bad job, the background is so similar to the color of the car that neither the “Pipette-” nor reducing the spread helps. If we want ours to be purple, then our mountains will also be similar. What to do?

In such difficult situations, you will have to do a little manual work. There's really nothing wrong with this. You'll just have to use the one you know. Yes, yes. We erase unsuccessfully painted objects or backgrounds with pens, thereby leaving only the object itself with a certain color, i.e. in our case a car.

Even better, before you start changing the color, duplicate the layer and perform all the actions on the created copy. And unnecessary details can be erased with regular . This will be better if you suddenly want to change the color later.

Second way. Blend Mode

Well, since we’re talking about repainting a car in Photoshop, I can’t help but mention another good way to carry out this action. True, here you will also have to work with your hands, since you will have to change and paint over everything. But we can easily replace the color in Photoshop with any other.

Let me load the same car as above.

Let's take and how we would like to paint this car. Well, let’s say I want to see it green, then I’ll choose this specific color.
Now create a new layer by pressing the keyboard shortcut SHIFT+CTRL+N. And then take a look at the Layers panel. Do you see any blending modes there? The default is normal, but open the drop-down list and select “Color” (By the way, the “Color Tone” mode is also suitable, so you can select that too). Great. Well done.
Now choose the size, shape and hardness of the brush, and go ahead! We paint the car. Just be careful not to touch too much. Well, if you hit it, then use an eraser to correct it, no big deal.
And now, if you want to change the color that you sculpted, you need to go to our again familiar “Image” menu and select “Correction” there - "Hue/Saturation". But I advise you to immediately use a simple key combination CTRL+U.
Well, in the newly opened window, you can also move the hue, saturation and brightness sliders to change the hue. It's simple.

Well, how do you like the lesson? Was everything clear and interesting? I hope so. Personally, when I learned about changing the color of an object in Adobe Photoshop, I was simply delighted. If, of course, something is unclear, you can always clarify or ask. I will be glad to help as much as possible.

I would also advise you to look cool video course on photoshop. The video lessons are simply awesome, the course goes from easy to complex, everything is told in human language, nothing is missed and at the same time there is no unnecessary “water”. Everything is spot on. So be sure to check it out.

Well, I say goodbye to you today. I will be glad to see you in my other articles. Well, in order not to get lost, be sure to subscribe to my blog updates. I won’t spam - everything is just to the point, honestly. Well, you practice. See you in other lessons. Bye bye!

Best regards, Dmitry Kostin.

Actually exists many ways to change the color of an object in Photoshop. Previously, we already looked at how to do this using, and also learned how to change hair color in Photoshop using.

These are not all methods, today I will show two very simple ones, and in future articles I will talk about a couple more methods using other adjustment layers.

Method No. 1

I will briefly talk about the application of this method. Open the image and create a new layer (I remind you of all the techniques).

Then change the blending mode of this layer by selecting Hue from the drop-down list at the top of the Layers palette (located at the bottom of the list).

After that, select by pressing the B key, click on the foreground color indicator, in the palette dialog box that appears, select a shade and click on the OK button. Having previously selected a new layer, draw on top of the object.

If you paint over the excess, you can temporarily select the Eraser tool by pressing and holding the E key. You can prevent such situations in advance by adding a layer mask to the new layer and hiding the areas that do not need to be changed with black.

Note

If the area you are repainting is surrounded by black, white and gray, you can safely paint over the latter and they will not change at all. This is because in the Hue blend mode, areas filled with color only affect those areas of the underlying layer that already contain color.

Method No. 2

Remember the menu command? Similar menu command Replace color can be used to highlight one shade and replace it with another. This command works very well if the color that needs to be replaced is more or less uniform and concentrated in a certain area, like the car body in the picture above.

Selecting the command from the menu Image - Correction - Replace Color, you will see a dialog box of the same name.

It already has the Eyedropper tool selected, so click on the shade in the image that you want to replace. It will appear in a square with the inscription Color in the control group Selection at the top of the dialog box.

In the control group Replacement at the bottom of the dialog box, click on the square located above the inscription Result to select a new shade. When you click the OK button. If you need to adjust the selected shade, you can use the sliders Color tone, Saturation And Brightness(also found in the Selection control group). Here's what happened:

Please note that in addition to the ordinary pipette, there are pipettes with small “+” (plus) and “-” (minus) icons nearby. Use them to expand/narrow the range of shades that need to be changed.

As you can see, I overdid it a little and my car wheels also turned purple. This suggests that this method may not always be useful.

If you notice an error in the text, select it and press Ctrl + Enter. Thank you!

Changing colors in Photoshop is a simple but fun process. In this lesson we will learn how to change the color of various objects in pictures.

We will change the colors of objects in three different ways. In the first two we use special functions of the program, and in the third we paint the desired areas manually.

Method 1: Simple replacement

The first way to replace color is to use a ready-made function in Photoshop "Replace color" or "Replace Color" in English. It shows the best results on monochromatic objects. For example, let's take an icon and open it in Photoshop. Next, we will replace the color with any other one that interests us.

So we changed one color to another.

Method 2: Color Range

The second method, according to the scheme of work, can be said to be identical to the first. But we will look at it in a more difficult image. For example, we chose a photo with a car.

As in the first case, we need to indicate what color we will replace. To do this, you can create a selection using the color range function. In other words, highlight an image by color.

The result has been achieved. If there are areas of the original color left in the image, the procedure can be repeated.

The brilliant developers of Adobe's pearl probably had no idea that the Color Replacement tool in Photoshop would become, among other functions, one of the leaders in frequency of use.

Recolor brush

You will find a brush called “Color Replacement” in the “Brush” tool group (in Photoshop CS3 and earlier). This tool is good for its simplicity (you can do without time-consuming selection to recolor objects), but at the same time it is not entirely predictable.

Essentially, this color replacer, with its circle-and-X cursor, works like a regular brush, painting an area first while preserving the textural and structural features of the image, but with some caveats.

Firstly, unlike a normal brush, in its settings, in addition to the size and hardness, you can set the intervals (when moving), the angle of inclination and the shape of the print, and also adjust the pen pressure (when using graphics tablets).

During the painting process, the program continuously analyzes the paint within the brush mark, replacing it with the specified primary color in accordance with the selected mode.

The default mode is "Chroma", which changes the color and saturation, but the brightness remains the same, and the new hue, of course, will not exactly match the selected color.

In Brightness mode, the original tone is maintained, but the brightness changes.

In the "Color Tone" mode, the color will change tonally to the declared paint, but the original brightness and saturation will be preserved.

By selecting the "Color" option, we will also change the saturation, maintaining the brightness of the original paint.

Saturation mode maintains brightness but changes the hue and saturation of the original color.

To the right of the mode window in the settings panel at the top there are three sample selection options.

By selecting the first ("Continuous"), we instruct the program to continuously scan the color in the area of the brush mark while we hold down the button, painting the object.

If we specify "One time", the color sample selected on the first click will be used as a sample. This option is suitable for uniformly colored areas.

In the third option (“Background Sample”), only areas related to the background color will be repainted.

The Constraints setting determines the extension of the substituted color as stated in the hover tooltip.

The “All pixels” option provides for the replacement of all pixels in the “cursor-sight” area of the brush. By selecting "Adjacent Pixels" (the default), we will paint within the brush mark only those that are adjacent to the color pixels directly below the cross. Edge Enhance mode will recolor all pixels in the sample, but with an emphasis on the edges.

In principle, by choosing the appropriate brush size, you can confidently repaint in the boundary zones of the object, even accidentally getting into a different color, if only the “Tolerance” parameter is selected correctly, which determines the error in choosing relative colors, as the hint says. As the tolerance increases, the range of tones to be replaced expands, and vice versa.

Thus, we can conclude that the “Color Replacement” brush in Photoshop is a fairly flexible tool, and, despite its “straightforwardness,” it can do a lot of “mischief” in the right hands.

All commands that can radically change the color without destructive consequences for the image are in the "Correction" list in the "Image" menu. These functions include Color Balance, Hue/Saturation, Selective Color Correction, and Replace Color.

In the "Color tone" mode - the "chameleon" object

Another unfairly rarely mentioned and infrequently used method of color transformation lies in the modest “Color Tone” blend mode. Selecting the “Color” adjustment layer and specifying the desired paint, then change the blending mode on this layer to “Hue.” The object, of course, will not be repainted exactly the given color, but the hue will change. If you then double-click on the adjustment layer's fill thumbnail, a color picker will open and you can cycle through the options, observing the chameleon effect on the canvas.

The excess is erased with a soft black brush on the adjustment layer mask, which is good for it.

With variegated objects, of course, there will be more fuss, so it is better to repaint objects that are more or less uniform in color this way.

You can create a new layer instead of an adjustment layer, change its blending mode to “Color Tone” and, having selected the desired color, paint over the object with a brush, then correcting the flaws with an eraser.

A little about color balance

By selecting "Color Balance", we can pre-color the selected object using the "Cyan - Red", "Magenta - Green" and "Yellow - Blue" color pair sliders. Tonal balance is adjusted in shadows, highlights and midtones.

Hue and saturation

The hue correction and saturation adjustment functions are very often used for tasks such as color replacement in Photoshop.

The algorithm for changing color in the dialog box called up by the "Hue/Saturation" command is based on adjusting the hue, saturation and brightness parameters. Here we can shift the overall color scheme of a picture or a selected fragment (object) and adjust colors individually in different parts of the color range by selecting the desired tone with an eyedropper.

In the list of ranges below (under "Style"), where the default is "All", there are six more color ranges that can be processed simultaneously, but with separate parameters.

Given the power of the tool in terms of color correction, recoloring the selected object here will not be difficult.

Selective color correction

This feature allows you to change colors using a CMYK model rather than an HSB (hue, saturation, brightness) model, controlling the amount of cyan, magenta, yellow and black in the selected color. Having selected the object to be repainted in the image, select the required color group in the “Colors” window and use the sliders to adjust its composition.

Sometimes, instead of the Selective Color command in the Image > Adjustments menu, it is better to use an adjustment layer of the same name (Layers > New Adjustment Layer or the button in the Layers panel at the bottom). In this case, it becomes possible to correct the effect on the adjustment layer mask by removing all excess with a black brush.

Replacing white and black

When changing the color using the correction functions, you may have noticed that white does not lend itself to recoloring in this way. Replacing the white color in Photoshop is very simple: if you first select this area, and then, after removing it, repaint it.

However, this drastic decision is destructive. It is justified only when it is not the original drawing itself that is important, but its color. And if you just want to give the white color a different shade, try converting the image to CMYK mode and using the Selective Color Correction function, and then returning to the RGB color space.

Depending on the uniformity of the color, you can use any tool from the extensive arsenal of Photoshop tools to select “Quick Selection”, “Background Eraser”, “Magic Eraser”, etc.), but the best option most often turns out to be “Color Range” in the “Color Range” menu Selection". And how the new color takes root in place of the removed white directly depends on the quality of the selection.

By the way, if a replacement is needed in Photoshop, all the arguments regarding repainting white are also valid for this case.

Replace color

This command from the Adjustments list in the Image menu (or its corresponding adjustment layer) is easier to use than Hue/Saturation, and its results are more predictable.

In the dialog box, use pipettes to select the colors to be changed. Using the Hue, Saturation and Brightness sliders we achieve the desired effect. To control the selection, it is better to select the “Selected area” checkbox (the image will be shown as a mask). The Scatter slider is used to correct scattering outside the selected area.

This color replacement method is most effective for contrasting and not very variegated images.

Recoloring in Lab mode

One of the most efficient and relatively simple ways to recolor objects is to replace colors in Photoshop using the Lab color mode, although to effectively use this method it is advisable to have at least some understanding of the Lab color space.

Thus, the L coordinate specifies the brightness (lightness) value, defined in the range from 0 (the darkest) to 100 (the lightest), and the color parameters are given by the coordinates A (color in the range from green to red) and B (color in the range from blue to yellow).

Thus, in Lab, the brightness value is separated from the chromatic color parameters, making it possible to influence the brightness, contrast and color of the image separately. It is this circumstance that sometimes makes it possible to speed up image processing, for example, if it is necessary to replace colors.

True, this option is not suitable for repainting motley multi-colored objects and objects with complex contours (hair, fur). Let's say you need to change the color of a passenger car. In Lab, replacing color in Photoshop involves, first of all, transferring the image to this mode.

We switch the image to Lab mode (Image > Mode > Lab), then select the desired color from the libraries by going to them by double-clicking on the main color in the toolbar, and remember the values of the L, A and B channels.

In the "Pipette" tool group, select "Color Reference" and place a mark (control point) in a representative area of the car color to be replaced, thereby calling up the "Info" panel.

Now add a “Curves” adjustment layer and for each channel we find the position of the curve in accordance with the fixed values, checking the “Info” palette.

The curves of channels A and B must necessarily intersect the center of the graph, and the curve of the brightness channel L must necessarily maintain the angle of inclination.

Now double-click on the image layer to open the “Layer Style, Blending Options” window. Let's move our attention to its lower part ("Overlay if"). Here, by manipulating the sliders for each parameter (L, A and B), we separate the car from the background or other objects.

We repaint everything

Having mastered the above methods of color replacement, you can repaint almost any object. Depending on its complexity, one method or another may be preferable. For example, changing hair color in Photoshop is easily done using the “Hue/Saturation” and “Color Balance” adjustment functions, but here the main task is to qualitatively highlight an object with such a complex (usually) contour.

Most often, a quick mask is used for selection (the button with a dotted ring at the very bottom). Then the selection is completed using the special capabilities of the “Refine Edge” command in the “Selection” menu.

The selected area is usually copied to a new layer (Ctrl+J), then the above-mentioned painting tools are applied to it.

And such simple tasks as changing eye color in Photoshop, which uses standard selection tools, are generally solved in no time. The eye can be selected by selecting the "Lasso" or "Oval Area" (for the pupils), then, as in the previous case, replace the color by applying the Hue/Saturation correction.

The Color Replacement brush also works well for this task.

Everything is the same with color

Most user requests related to recoloring objects in Photoshop, as a rule, do not specify the specific version of the editor, and if they do, then changing colors in Photoshop CS6 is of interest much more often than others.

This may be due to a more significant update of the program compared to the previous version than happened before. Changes have been made to the background save and autosave functions, selection tools, cropping tools, Magic Wand and Eyedropper, brush options, some filters, fill functions, layer editing, interface colors and much more.

There are new possibilities for working with RAW files in the new version of Camera RAW7, gradient filling, artistic image stylization, video editing, searching for the desired layer in multi-layer documents, as well as a new color correction Color Lookup, etc.

However, the corrective functions in the “Correction” list in the “Image” menu have not undergone any significant changes in the process of modernizing the program, so repainting objects, for example, in CS2, and replacing colors in “Photoshop CS6” are practically no different in essence. for those owners of earlier versions who believe that the new modifications have more options for changing colors.

11.02.2015 27.01.2018

In this lesson I will tell you in detail about ways to change colors in Photoshop. I will describe all the steps in detail, accompany them with pictures to make it clear and clearly explain where and what function can be used.

1 way

The first way to replace a color is to use the ready-made function in Photoshop “Replace Color” or Replace Color in English.

I will show you with a simple example, a simple picture. Let's take the icon and open it in Photoshop.

Trowel on a yellow icon. We will replace yellow with any other color that interests us. To do this, go to the menu Image – Correction – Replace Color (Image – Adjustments – Replace Color)

The Color Replacement Function dialog box appears. Now we must indicate what color we will change; to do this, activate the Eyedropper tool (see arrow) and click on the trowel with it. You'll see this color appear in the dialog box at the top, which is labeled Highlight.

At the bottom is the Replacement heading - there you can change the selected color. But first, you can set the Scatter in the selection parameter. The larger the parameter, the more colors it will capture. In this case, you can set it to maximum. It will capture all the yellow in the image.

Set the Color Replacement settings to the color you want to see instead of the one being replaced. I made it green by setting the Hue, Saturation and Brightness parameters.

When you're ready to change the color, click OK.

So we changed one color to another.

Method 2

The second method in terms of operation can be said to be identical to the first. But we will look at it in a more difficult image.

For example, I chose a photo with a car. Now I will show you how to replace the color of a car in Photoshop.

As always, we need to indicate what color we will replace. To do this, you can create a selection using the color range function. In other words, select an image by color.

To do this, go to the menu Selection – Color Range (Select – Color Range)

Next, all you have to do is click on the red color of the car and we will see the function that defined it - coloring it white in the preview window. The white color shows which part of the image is highlighted. The spread in this case can be adjusted to the maximum value. Click OK.

After you click OK, you will see how the selection has been created:

Now you can change the color of the selected image. To do this, use the function – Image – Correction – Hue/Saturation (Image – Adjustments – Hue/Saturation)

A dialog box will appear.

Immediately check the Toning option (bottom right). Now using the Hue, Saturation and Brightness parameters you can adjust the color. I adjusted the color blue.

All. The color has changed.

It was - it became: