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ARTISTIC COLOR ISOLATION

In this world of 16.7 million color displays and high megapixel cameras it may seem like a backward step to convert images
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into black and white but, as modern motion pictures like Schindler's List (and more recently, Sin City) have shown us, effective
use of isolated color in monochrome images can be very eye -catching and portray important information & emotions. Password:  

As one can imagine, there are dozens of different ways to accomplish color isolation in Photoshop. To keep things simple, b
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however, I will cover the two different methods that I consider to be the best for this task.
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Method 1: Channel Mixer Adjustment Layers

This method makes extensive use of adjustment layers to make non -destructive changes to an image, and is most suited to Lost Password? || Register
simple shapes and edits. Many thanks go to Bub for the image used below.

Step 1: Open your picture in Photoshop and select Layer > New   
Adjustment Layer > Channel Mixer from the main menu. Check the box
marked ' monochrome' and adjust the brightness percentages to suit your Click Here!
personal tastes. Take your time in this stage balancing the picture.
There is no ideal way to do this, but since this step dictates the overall
look of your final image, experimentation is the key. When you are
happy with your results, press OK.

Step 2: Select the new adjustment layer that you have just created from
the Layers Palette. Now, select a Brush Tool with 100% opacity with a
non -fuzzy brush tip and ensure that the colors in the color swatches are
black&white.

Step 3: Using the black color, carefully brush over the parts of the
image that you want to be in color. You will need to switch to a smaller
brush to isolate the smaller details. If you make a mistake, paint over
the area again in white to restore the monochrome effect. And that's all
there is to it!

Method 2: Color Selection

This alternate method makes destructive changes, but also utilizes color selections to make much more complex selections Printer Friendly Version
possible. Please note that this technique works best on images where there is a great deal of existing color separation (i.e. in
this example, our picture is a red flower set against a greatly green background). Many thanks go to TigerEyes for the image Tell A Friend v2.0
used below.
   
Step 1: Open your picture in Photoshop and immediately duplicate your
layer by selecting Layer > Duplicate Layer from the main menu. Hide Did You Learn Abode
the new layer on the top row of the layers palette, and click on the Photoshop
original layer to reselect it. Author: alexroderick
Posted: Sep 07th, 11:26am
Activity: 3 replies, 14 views

 Hello from Ramla

Author: DBSRamla
Posted: Sep 07th, 9:07am
Activity: 1 replies, 12 views

Looking for some logo design

Author: JasonE
Posted: Sep 06th, 10:34pm
Activity: 3 replies, 30 views

Need HELP! how 2 vector the

photos
Step 2: Desaturate the layer using Image > Adjustments > Author: Happyger
Desaturate . Many people do not like the default 'desaturated' look, so Posted: Sep 06th, 8:19pm
play around with the Levels and Brightness/Contrast until this you are Activity: 3 replies, 33 views
happy with the results.
What happened
Author: turvas
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Activity: 7 replies, 88 views

Creative Cow
Author: stevieg
Posted: Sep 04th, 2:09pm
Activity: 0 replies, 44 views

How do I make Sub-Forums in

PHPBB?
Author: -|Neo| -
Posted: Sep 03rd, 8:35pm
http://www.biorust.com/tutorials/detail/137/en/ Activity: 2 replies, 58 views Page 1 / 3
Step 3: Unhide the top (color) layer and click on it to make it the new
active layer. Now, go to Select > Color Range . This will load up a rarely - How do I know when to put
used and complex feature of Photoshop. To start, click on a color that the HTML tag in a PHP...
 How do I make Sub-Forums in
PHPBB?
Author: -|Neo| -
Posted: Sep 03rd, 8:35pm
Activity: 2 replies, 58 views
Step 3: Unhide the top (color) layer and click on it to make it the new
active layer. Now, go to Select > Color Range . This will load up a rarely - How do I know when to put
used and complex feature of Photoshop. To start, click on a color that the HTML tag in a PHP...
you want to select in the main image using the Eyedropper Tool. As you Author: -|Neo| -
will notice, the Color Selection window will show your selected color as a Posted: Sep 03rd, 8:12pm
mask of white against black (white being the selected area). The Activity: 8 replies, 85 views
Fuzziness slider will adjust the tolerance of your selection (i.e. the bigger
the number, the more colors NEAR your selected color will also be
selected).
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Step 4: Using a mixture of the fuzziness slider and the EyeDropper Tools
(the + and - tools are essential too, to both add and remove colors
from your selection respectively), isolate your image from the
background. Don't worry if little areas become selected against your will,
because we will correct that imminently.

Step 5: When you are happy with your selection, press OK. As you will
now notice, you have an active selection around the colors you chose.
You should now reverse this selection with Select > Invert from the
main menu. Press DELETE on your keyboard, and voila - you have
isolated color against a monochrome background!

Step 6: Using the Eraser Tool , you should now clean up your isolated
color layer as much as possible, to remove areas of color that were
accidentally selected. And that's all there is to it! You can repeat Steps 3
to 5 in more than one layer if you need to isolate radically different
colors - they should stack against the monochrome layer just fine if you
keep it simple.

Alternate Methods
As I mentioned in the introduction there are a great deal of other ways to isolate selections of color. Some people use the
Lasso Tool, others use complex masks. They all work, and have their own individual strengths and weaknesses. My advice is to
just experiment and see which method works best for you.

- Tutorial written by Man1c M0g

Automatic Translations:

LAST 5 USER COMMENTS view entire thread

User:  Risa (#39395)
Post #5 of 5
Date: Thu Mar 15, 2007. 02:19:24

Nice job. Like many others, I've come across tons of similar documentation as well, but what I love about this is the clean
simplicity; it's basic and concise. Thanks for posting.

Reply to this post

User:  saxc (#38487)
Post #4 of 5
Date: Thu Mar 01, 2007. 06:03:13

Totally agree with "ejnf" and all of them folks with similar problem. I also tried to do this, but never found appropriate
tutorial. When I tried to mix -up something myself, never achieved result convincing enough. So, sooo many thanks for this
tut. You are GREATEST!!!

Reply to this post

User:  munchkins89 (#30198)
Post #3 of 5
Date: Thu Jul 20, 2006. 07:26:23

i have seen alot of tutorials on this subject but this one is the simplest tecnique with the best results by far i just love the
way the color pops out at you agianst the back drop of the pic and it nice to have a tutorial that gives you an easier way of
http://www.biorust.com/tutorials/detail/137/en/
understanding the steps thanks so much Page 2 / 3
Reply to this post
 User:  munchkins89 (#30198)
Post #3 of 5
Date: Thu Jul 20, 2006. 07:26:23

i have seen alot of tutorials on this subject but this one is the simplest tecnique with the best results by far i just love the
way the color pops out at you agianst the back drop of the pic and it nice to have a tutorial that gives you an easier way of
understanding the steps thanks so much

Reply to this post

User:  ejnf (#24467)
Post #2 of 5
Date: Fri Feb 24, 2006. 21:50:32

I've been looking for a tutorial on this subject for ages! Thanks! It was so easy to understand and follow the directions. :)

Reply to this post

User:  morning star (#21965)

Post #1 of 5
Date: Tue Dec 27, 2005. 03:37:49

I tried before with the lasso tool but didn't work so well with me, I think the color selection method is great, thanks for
sharing.

Reply to this post

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