How to make my picture part color and part B&W?

[jenny1328]

I know I create a layer, but what do I do next. Which layer do I erase? I have done this once before, but it was long ago, and I never wrote down the directions and I can't remember how to do it now. Anyone feeling like giving me direction? TIA!

[MikeH]

Hi Jenny,

One way to do this is to:


Add a Hue / Saturation Adjustment layer over the colour layer.
Drag the Saturation slider all the way to the left to remove the colour.
Press D to set your foreground colour to black.
Choose the brush tool and paint on the adjustment layer mask to reveal the colour.
If you reveal too much colour, press X to set the foreground colour to white and paint on the mask to hide the colour.Hope this helps :)

Mike

[Shane Sitter]

Jenny... I just presented the same question on a different thread here. Look at the thread... 'Please...need some help real quick'.

[Ward Grant]

This question was posted in another forum this week and I have copied/edited the answers (didn't want to take credit for something I did not write).

Mike, looks like we were typing at the same time.

Larry L 2:

Try the layers method. Make a "layer via copy" and use the "remove color" tool on the top layer. Then you can use an eraser tool to remove what parts you want and the color from the bottom layer shows through. You can also use one of the selection tools and delete but don't forget to clean up the edges. Hope this helps.

Codebreaker (Colin):

An alternate method that's a little more controlable if you make an error is as follows:-

1. Add a Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer above the image layer.

2. Drag the Saturation Slider fully to the left. Your image will now be grayscale.

3. On the Adjustment Layer you will see an Icon for the Image and next to it a Mask Icon.

4. Set the Foreground Colour to Black and Background to White (shortcut is D ).

5. Select a Soft Edge Brush (shortcut is and paint over the areas of your image you want to return to Colour. If you make a mistake change Foreground to White (shortcut is X to swap Fore/Background )and paint over mistake...it will revert to grayscale.


Mark Kenwright:

Larry's method is great if you are experienced and have a steady hand. Its also quite possibly the quickest.

However Colin's method is more suited to novices to this process of 'colour popping'.

With Larry's method, if you erase too much of the top layer and end up revealing too much of the background layer, you can't easily replace those pixels at a later date. Sure you can use the undo command, but if you don't notice the error until much further down the line, you are going to be stuck and may need to start over.

With Colin's method, the beauty of using an adjustment layer in this manner is its very flexibility. If you erase too many pixels, you simply change the forground colour and paint back over the image to restore the 'mask'. You can keep doing this over and over without altering your original image at all.

The only thing that I would add is: don't forget that you can zoom into an image to ensure that you get really accurate results. If the eraser tool is active, press Ctrl + SpaceBar (an icon of a magnifying glass with a plus sign appears) & click to zoom in. And press Alt + SpaceBar (an icon of a magnifying glass with a minus sign appears) & click to zoom back out.

[jenny1328]

I am off to try whatever I think I can figure out easier! LOL! I appreciate ALL of your input!! Thank you thank you thank you!

[MikeH]

Jenny,

The method I posted is straightforward and flexible - you can go back and make changes at any time.

If you need any help just let me know:)

Mike

[jenny1328]

Now, I did it, but what do I do next? Do I just flatten layers? Or is this wrong? How do I finalize it is what I am wondering. I don't want to screw it up! BTW-can ya'll tell I never work with layers? I am what we would call a rookie!! :)

[MikeH]

Jenny,

What are you going to do with the image..? You should at least save it as a layered psd file in case you want to change it later. If you save it as a jpeg, the image will be flattened automatically.

Mike

[jenny1328]

I didn't do it to the original file. I just flattened it and saved it as a jpeg file. I think this will work, as I am just going to print it and then erase it as soon as it is printed (the picture is for me to scrapbook). Thanks!!