Photo Editing Tutorial: Adding spot color to black & white photos
When creating black and white images, I have often find myself in a mental state of perplexity. This state of uncertainty also applies to landscapes, architectural images and other forms of photography.
The dilemma: I convert a color image to black and white. So far so good! Then the confusion begins. You see, when you convert a color image to black and white, you lose all the color. That might be acceptable in the majority of cases, however, what can you do if you want to reintroduce some color into your black and white image?
At this point you might be asking yourself, “Why would I want to do that?â€
That’s an easy question to answer. A good case in point is our before and after images that you can see below (click either image for a larger view).  I converted an image of a bride into black and white. Then I realized I lost the whole impact of the image as the bride’s stunning emerald green eyes disappeared.
How good would it be if you could selectively reintroduce different colors to the original color image? The mind boggles with possibilities, but how do we do that?
In this example we will be using PaintShop Pro X2 where you can introduce color easily and quickly.
In my example, I converted my original color photograph to black and white in one of numerous methods, but no doubt, you have your own method. After you have successfully converted the image, the fun begins.
Our first step is to select the area in which we want to colorize. I chose the freehand selection Tool. You will note that in the selection type, I chose Edge Seeker. This is an intelligent process in which the border of the different pixel types are determined. In my case, the Edge Seeker made a distinction between the white and the color of the eyes. In mode, I chose Replace. I Feathered 20 and chose 20 for Smoothing. You will note that the selection will appear a little larger than the area you wanted to select. Don’t worry, the colorization process will only be applied to the area in which you carefully selected. It is an idea to zoom in close to ensure adequate accuracy.
Our second step is the most critical and most amazing step. From the pull down menu select:
- Adjust>Hue and Saturation>Colorize.
- A Dialog box will appear.
- Here is where we select the color and intensity of the color.
- In hue, select your color. This can be done by adding a value ranging from 0 to 255. Every number represents a Hue of color. If you are not certain what color to choose, use the slider and this will give you a live preview of your selection. Ensure to click Preview on Image to see a full representation of your adjustments. In saturation, again select a value ranging from 0 to 255 to determine the intensity of the color. I chose 35.
- Click OK.
That’s it! What an amazing little feature that PaintShop Pro X2 does easily and quickly.
I repeated the process to colorize the lips and flowers to demonstrate the possibilities of this wonderful procedure. Â Imagine capturing your perfect city scape in twilight hours. You convert your image to black and white and then you realize you have lost the impact of the city lights. How good would it be if you add the colors of the lights back in to the original? There are may other situations where a selective reintroduction of color back into your black and white image would be very advantageous.
Have fun.
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