BW to Color..

[lasa]

BW to Color..using selective color and hue / saturation.
Loving it.

The original I took off the internet...BW is simply desaturated...Lasa is colorized from the BW..I find it more natural then the over-saturated original.

I'm enjoying this big time.

Lasa

[pixel8]

It's amazing how much better just a simple desat improves a colour photo.

[staciecd]

I like your version better as well. The skin tone is much softer and the blue in her nail isn't there, distracting the eye. Great job.

Stacie

[lasa]

Latest colorized photo...
Lasa

[lasa]

New BW to color..:})
Lasa

[staciecd]

Great job with the B&W conversion. Was the blue in the girl's hat difficult to do with the white light?

[lasa]

Actually it looks like its blue, it's grey from the BW....it's weird you can leave eyes in greyscale and they will also look blue against the other colors.
Lasa

[staciecd]

That's really neat! One critique - in the bottom, left corner, it looks like her shirt is two different shades.

[lasa]

Over looked it..thanks.
There are so many adjustment layers jumping around that if I'm not paying attention they'll over lay in a heart beat.
Lasa

[LOD]

Lovely work, Lasa!!!

[karin]

lovely work, I like it very much - would like to try some myself
do you work in rgb or cmyk?

what kind of techniques do you personally use?
karin

[lasa]

I work it in RGB...use Vartiations to set the original tint...(or you can use Hue and Satruaration set to colorize) to get a tan toned skin.
then I select the hair with any selection tool mostly the polygonal tool, and add a Selective Color Adjustment and with a black brush remove everything I do not want colored...I switch between the selective color and hue / saturation.

Lasa

[Dewayne]

Great job on the colorization. I do quite a bit of those myself, and have learned (only recently) that reducing the saturation makes them look more realistic than increasing the saturation. That is the one complaint I have about my older work, and thanks for bringing up that point.

[IceBoxDesign]

lasa,

are you using only hue and sat adjustment layers?

[lasa]

Use both "Selective Color" and "Hue / Saturation"...
I tend to use the Selective Color more because of the simple contols and black slider..you can set the color change to a particular color or to neutral grey or just the black its a very nice tool.

They are all pretty similar I guess its just what feels better...a couple of weeks ago I didn't even know the Selective color existed, I over looked it big time...now its my main tool.


Lasa

[IceBoxDesign]

well i've been workin with this silly program for about 6 years and i've never seen that.... anywho...

could you post a psd file where you use a selective color adjustment layer... or maybe even just explain it a little more.

Thanks in advance :)

[lasa]

Sure...to do this hair...
first I'd work the BW in Variation maybe adding more: red, red, yellow, cyan, red something like that...(you can do the same in hue / saturation colorize)
then with the lasso tool I would make a general selection of all the hair.
then create a new adjustment layer, pick "Selective color"..it's opens on the red color..enter: Cyan:+10, Magenta -19, Yellow +20, Black -10..some sort of blonde color....then with a soft black brush erase the blonde over color in the mask.

or same difference.

Fill the adjustment mask with black and paint in the blonde hair with a white brush.

Hope it makes some sense...

(Ft. Lauderdale, FL... I'm down in Miami, are we having a rough winter or what 70 degrees :))

Lasa

[lasa]

Here's a super small ultra low res..psd file.
Hope it helps,
Lasa

[karin]

hi

love the effect - beautifully done.
what techniques did you use?
would love to experiment with this myself

karin

[karin]

sorry, lasa - being an idiot.
what I mean is, please explain the variations command some more.
also, why rgb?

k

[lasa]

Sorry but there really isn't much I can add...Image / Adjustment / Variations.
(example...Add more: red, red, yellow, cyan, red) it is a matter of experimenting and your personal taste. If you don't like how its turning out simply click the original image on the left and it return to option one. You can do the same thing by using Hue / Saturation Colorize.

Why rgb?...I like having all the filters etc if needed. they all work in RGB.

This is what is in PS help on Variations: Good luck.

"Choose Image > Adjustments > Variations.
The two thumbnails at the top of the dialog box show the original selection (Original) and the selection with its currently selected adjustments (Current Pick). When you first open the dialog box, these two images are the same. As you make adjustments, the Current Pick image changes to reflect your choices.

Select the Show Clipping option if you want to display a neon preview of areas in the image that will be clipped--converted to pure white or pure black-- by the adjustment. Clipping can result in undesirable color shifts, as distinct colors in the original image are mapped to the same color. Clipping does not occur when you adjust midtones.
Note: Clipped colors are not the same as out-of-gamut colors.

Select what to adjust in the image:
Shadows, Midtones, or Highlights to indicate whether you want to adjust the dark, middle, or light areas.
Saturation to change the degree of hue in the image. If you exceed the maximum saturation for a color, it may be clipped.
Drag the Fine/Coarse slider to determine the amount of each adjustment. Moving the slider one tick mark doubles the adjustment amount.
Adjust the color and brightness:
To add a color to the image, click the appropriate color thumbnail.
To subtract a color, click the thumbnail for its opposite color. (See Using the Color Balance command (Photoshop).) For example, to subtract cyan, click the More Red thumbnail.
To adjust brightness, click a thumbnail on the right side of the dialog box.
The effects of clicking the thumbnails are cumulative. For example, clicking the More Red thumbnail twice will apply the adjustment twice. Each time you click a thumbnail, the other thumbnails change. The three Current Pick thumbnails always reflect the current choices."

Lasa