Photoshop CS3: Add a Touch Of Color

This guest post was provided by Laura Charon of BeyondMegapixels.com

I love black and white photography. I also love the black and white photos that draw the eye by adding a touch of color to a feature within the photo.

This is the photo I began with. My husband’s favorite beverage, being enjoyed on a patio restaurant in Snowmass Village, Colorado.

First, I created a duplicate layer in Photoshop, using the keyboard command Ctrl-J. Then, I removed the color from the duplicate layer by using the Desaturate command (Image menu/Adjustments/Desaturate).

Next, I added a Layer Mask (bottom of the Layers panel, looks like a white circle inside of a gray square). Then I chose a soft-edged brush and ensured my foreground color was set to black (shortcut – press D on the keyboard). Next I simply “painted” over the area that I wished to bring the color back into:

The cool thing is that if you make a mistake and find yourself “overpainting” and turning areas of the image back into color that you want to remain black and white, you can “erase” the color by pressing X to switch your foreground color to white. Then as you paint over the image it will return that area back to black and white. Just remember to press X again to switch the foreground color back to black when you’re done.

When you’ve got your image looking the way you want it, just flatten it and you’re done! Here’s the finished picture:

(This entry is not an advertisement for, and this website is not affiliated with, Fat Tire Beer or New Belgium Brewery.)
Photo Credits: Laura Charon

For more great articles on photography from Laura Charon head on over to BeyondMegapixels.com

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