Brunette to Blond?

[coverbeck]

Are there any techniques to change black hair to blond? The video tip, "Change Color", which is also in the Kelby book under "Colorizing Hair" seems to work well if you starting with light colored hair, but doesn't seem to work as well if you are starting with black hair. Or maybe I'm just not very good at picking the right Hue/Saturation.

If anybody has any ideas, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,

Charles

[Chuck S.]

Charles, the problem is that the underlying tones (shades of gray)of the dark hair are too dark, and when you add color with hue and saturation controls, it doesn't change that underlying tone. You might try selecting the hair, then adjusting the lightness slider when you have the hue saturation layer on shadows; not sure how well it will work but that's directionally what's needed.

Chuck

[Wendy]

I have just been playing with this ... but I don't know if it will be OK for what you want.

Select the hair and copy it to a new layer.
Don't deselect ... so you still have the hair on the new layer selected.
Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Invert

It turns dark hair white

Another way is to select the hair and lighten it using Levels (middle slider seems to work best).

Let us know how you go on


Wendy

Chuck ... you must be quicker at typing than I am :)

[Chuck S.]

Wendy, re the invert to turn dark to light - what a great idea!
:D

[Wendy]

Chuck,

I remembered using it on the Bear Challenge ... I found it by accident when I was trying to turn it from brown to white.


Wendy

[Wendy]

I have just found a better way of doing it:

Select the hair and copy it to a new layer.
Image>Adjustments>Invert

Doing it that way means you don't have to have an adjustment layer which could cause problems if you want to change the colour ...


Wendy

[coverbeck]

Chuck and Wendy,

Thanks for the replies. It definitely does work a lot better that way.

I still need to figure how to tweak it some more though. I guess because it was black a lot of the detail is lost, so when I invert it it's almost a solid white. So it looks a little fake when I colorize it -- it just an almost solid color, and doesn't look too much like hair. Does that make sense?

I'll keep poking around and just playing with it, but if you have any more great ideas, that would be nice too!

Thanks!

Charles

[Wendy]

Charles,

You could cheat ... find an image of someone with a similar hairstyle in a lighter shade then copy it onto your image.

Changing peoples hair can be fun !!! ...


Wendy

[FJBrad]

Try a levels adjustment combined with a blend mode like Screen, Overlay, or Lighten.
You could also use the brush set to Screen or Lighten Blend mode selecting a pale Yellow as your foreground color.
Might work, might not.

[ClassicDums]

I have a question. I just purchased elements 3.0 and have been reading on here for days learning new tricks!! Anyway, how do you just select the hair? Do you use the selection tools like the lasso?

Thanks so much

Christina

[Wendy]

Christina,

Yes just use one of the selection tools ... try the lasso to being with and zoom in very close to make your selection, but you can use any of the other selection tools if you wish.

I guess you are you trying out changing the colour of hair ... its a good fun project :)

Hope it goes OK


Wendy

[ClassicDums]

Thanks Wendy,
I am still trying to get the hang of that lasso tool...LOL. Sometimes it ends up all over the picture, getting better though.

Thanks again

Christina

[Wendy]

Christina,

When you first start using the selection tools it can be a bit difficult ... but stick with it and it will get easier :)


Wendy