Photoshop Tutorial : Accurate selection and Selective Color using a layer mask ...

[TRE_]

<FONT SIZE="4">Photoshop Tutorial- Selective Color Technique.</FONT> Before: After: There are a handful of ways to do this "technique" but I'm going to describe what I've found to work the best. Please feel free to add input as you see fit. You'll need Photoshop to do this and a basic understanding of its tools. Lets Begin... Open up the image you want manipulate. I recommend editing at the largest size possible then down-sizing later, but you don't necessarily have to be working on a high res image. First thing to do is duplicate your 'Background' layer. Press Command J (or CTRL J on your PC)... alternatively you can right-click on the BG layer and click Duplicate Layer. You Layer's pallette should look something like this: At this point we're ready to select the portion of the photo that will remain in color. Select the Magnetic Lasso Tool from the tools palette, location indicated below. Once you've got the Lasso tool selected check the tool's settings, displayed below' The settings I used seem to be a happy median but adjust the 'Contrast' and 'Frequency' numbers as you see fit. Basically what the Magnetic Lasso does is samples the area you're outlining and automatically snaps to the main subject based on different contrast in the surronding area. So sometimes you can loosly trace the subject and be fine, but it does take some fine tuning. On your TOP layer, Loosly go around the subject that will stay in color with the Magnetic lasso. Once you've got your basic Selection: (shown above) ....You can refine it a bit. To do so, get out the regular Lasso or Poly-Lasso(or keep the mag-lasso). If there is an area that you want to ADD to your selection hold the SHIFT key and outline that area. If there is an area you do not want in your selection hold the ALT/OPTION key and select the undesired area and it will be removed. Spending a little extra time on getting the selection clean makes a big difference but it doesnt need to be perfect. With the Subject selected, Save your selection so you can get it back easily incase you make a mistake. To do this, go to Select &gt; Save Selection ... Pictured below: The name is whatever you want it to be. Press Command D (CTRL D for PC) to deslect your selection. Now you can Desaturate your top layer. With top layer selected(probably called Background copy or Layer 1) Go to Image &gt; Adjustments &gt; Desaturate ( I prefer to use the channel mixer and if you've got CS3 use the "Black & White" feature instead of desat.) Now we can add a layer mask. With your top layer active, click the Add Layer Mask button, shown below: (You'll see a little white box come up on your top layer in the pallete, thats your "mask".) Now go to your Channel's Pallete. Its location varies depending on your PS version but if you dont see it go to Window &gt; Channels. You should see your saved selection from earlier with whatever name you gave it, shown below: While holding the Command(CTRL for PC) key click the little thumbnail of your outline. This will make your selection active again. Now go back to your layers pallette, make sure your top layer is active and click on the white box in your top layer pallete. This makes the mask active. Shown below: Press D on your keyboard to get the default Black and White colors active in your colors pallete, then press X on your keyboard to make sure that your foreground color pallete is WHITE. Now hit B on your keyboard or select your brush from your tools. Size it accordingly and begin painting within your selection. You should see the bottom layer start to come through. White REVALS the bottom layer and paint black HIDES the bottom layer. So if you accidently bring too much back from your bottom layer, simply switch to black and paint the top layer back in. Painting mask in progress: If you want the background of the picture to be blurred, select your bottom layer and go to Filter &gt; Blur &gt; Gaussian Blur.... but becareful, too much blur action looks pretty corny. Here's the selective color with a slight BG blur: Well I hope that some people find this useful.... I've been sippin on some Crown&Coke while writing this up so if anything is a skew please let me know

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[Genuine Rolla]

wow, nice write up bro..!

[Tinh Ngo]

great tutoring for all the new ppls that need to learn. good job, and write up.

[awang]

pen tool > lasso tool

[steeeeveweeezy]

dude thanks alot for that write up helped me out alot.i use to do it by desaturating than using the history brush but the colors sometimes came out tooo dark than it actuallly was.

thanks alot again

[JakeB.]

Great tutorial Trevor... I'll add a link in the FAQ thread

[vc]

Nice! i tried it and it came out pretty cool!

[fejai]

cheers to a great write up

[TRE_]

Thanks everyone !

Originally Posted by vc

Nice! i tried it and it came out pretty cool!

Good to hear.... there are times when I'm horrible at keeping my processes/thoughts organized and understandable so its reassuring to hear that someone was able to follow along! haha!.

[Miracle]

Good shit Trev... I do it a little different... but this works too... good shit.

[Genuine Rolla]

My favorite so far

[RedStarGsr]

great to see different ways to do this mod, thanks for a great write up!

[Gus]

You could probably do this quicker by pathing out the car with the pen tool. Just dupe the layer, path the car out, make a selection of the path, then invert the selection and make a mask on the top layer, then desaturate the bottom layer.

Though the pen tool can be kind of tricky to use if you're not used to it. It has the advantage of not adding another channel to the image which will increase the size of the file. It also makes a nice clean edge and if you use the selection from it to make a mask, you can go in to the mask and blur the edges if you need to soften them.

Excellent and detailed write up! Very well done!

[A's 94 GSR]

or you could just make a selection, inverse it and then desaturate. heck of a lot quicker.

[TRE_]

Originally Posted by A’s 94 GSR

or you could just make a selection, inverse it and then desaturate. heck of a lot quicker.

Yea, like I said....

Originally Posted by TRE_

There are a handful of ways to do this "technique" but I'm going to describe what I've found to work the best.

[A's 94 GSR]

How is this way better? It looks like you are doing the same process, but just more steps.

[Genuine Rolla]

I think this is better because if you make a mistake, you can just switch colors and go back over the area.

[TRE_]

Originally Posted by A’s 94 GSR

How is this way better? It looks like you are doing the same process, but just more steps.

I never said it was better or quicker, only that it was what I found to work best.... for ME.

The tutorial's main purpose is actually to demonstrate what a layer mask is and how to use one, and if you've ever used Photoshop for more than resizing your myspace pictures you'll know that being able to edit layers in a non-destructive manner can be very beneficial in a number of situations. Additionally, knowing how to correctly use the lasso tools proves to be helpful for quite a few things.

If you really think this tutorial sucks that bad why dont you stop biitching about it and write your own..?

[A's 94 GSR]

Originally Posted by TRE_

I never said it was better or quicker, only that it was what I found to work best.... for ME.

The tutorial's main purpose is actually to demonstrate what a layer mask is and how to use one, and if you've ever used Photoshop for more than resizing your myspace pictures you'll know that being able to edit layers in a non-destructive manner can be very beneficial in a number of situations. Additionally, knowing how to correctly use the lasso tools proves to be helpful for quite a few things.

If you really think this tutorial sucks that bad why dont you stop biitching about it and write your own..?

I was being serious as to why this one is best for you. I mean, yeah its an alternative, but to me it looks just like what I mentioned. And, yes, I've used photoshop, I use it all the time.

BTW, I wasn't bitching and I do not think this tutorial is bad, I was honestly trying to have an conversation about the pros and cons of this tutorial, seeing as you like this way the best and I think the other is best for me. Chill out, it is a great thread.

[TRE_]

I am chill, just don't quite understand the reasoning behind you debating what is "better".

The process you described is effective and easy, no question. But knowing how to utilize a layer mask and saved selections is useful in a number of situations which is why I chose to get more involved with the program as opposed going about it in the most simplistic manner.. If that were the case my thread would be more appropriately named as "Quick and easy selective color" instead of "Accurate Selection / Using a layer mask.."