Selective coloring in Photoshop

Sometimes you might want to set apart an object in an image that might not stand out by itself. This tip demonstrates the most flexible way to convert part of an image to grayscale while allowing selective areas in the image remain in color.

Open the image.

Select File > Open and open the RGB file. In the Channels palette, click on the individual channels to view them. ( Notice that the green channel typically holds most of the detail in an image ). When finished viewing the channels, click the RGB composite channel and make sure that all of the channels are visible. Note: knowing what channel holds the most detail helps make the best conversion from color to grayscale in the next step.

Use the Channel Mixer.

Select Layer > New Adjustment Layerand click OK. In the Channel Mixer dialog box, select the channel with the most detail in it as the Source Channel (in this example, the Green Channel), and check Monochrome. Note: although the image appears to change to grayscale, the Channel Mixer adjustment layer is merely hiding the color that can be brought back later with a mask.

Customizing the conversion.

In the Channel Mixer dialog box, use the sliders to adjust how much of each of the channels will contribute to the new custom grayscale conversion. When finished, click OK.

Revealing color in isolated areas.

The Channel Mixer Adjustment Layer is applied to the entire image by default, but can be masked out of areas by painting in it’s mask with black. From the tool palette, select the Paintbrush and choose black as the foreground color. From the Brushes palette, select a medium sized brush with a soft edge. Begin painting in the adjustment layer’s mask to reveal the color information from the original layer below.

Continue editing the mask.

Continue painting with black until all of the areas that need to have color in them are revealed. If too much of the underlying color image is revealed accidently, change the foreground color to white and paint over the unwanted areas to hide the color.

Variation one.

To lessen the Channel Mixer adjustment layer’s effect and reveal varying degrees of color to the background, in the Layers palette, drag the Opacity slider down. As the opacity is decreased, the color from the original file shows through.

By. Julieanne Kost