Adding color to B&W

[teachfla]

I have a color picture that I converted to B&W beacuse the color contrast was not all that great. How can I add color to a converted B&W picture? I've attached the new B&W. Basically, I'd like to make the bamboo, or any part of the photo for that matter, have a color and stand out.

[Byron Gale]

teachfla,

It is probably easiest to use a technique which preserves the color in a portion of your image, rather than trying to add it back in after the b/w conversion.

One simple way is to place a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer above your color background, then drag the Saturation setting all the way down so the image is grayscale.

Then select the white layer mask associated with the Hue/Sat layer and paint on your image in black, using the brush tool, wherever you'd like the color original to show through. You can paint with white to correct any mistakes you make.

Here's a sample:

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1y2BWIcqNLSll7Ce7EZpUQ9nUsy8t1_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1y2BWIcqNLSll7Ce7EZpUQ9nUsy8t1)

HTH,

Byron

[Codebreaker]

If you start with the B&W add a new layer and set its blending mode to Colour. Then use the paint brush and select any colour you choose and paint away. The Colour Blend mode allows you to keep the texture of the Black and White image while 'colouring' it in.


Colin