Black and White to color..

[dburg30]

OK, so we were at the beach last week and had some pictures taken. This is a person that is doing this for a hobby. The day after he took the pics, he came back with a CD with sepia and B&W and color. And we were like 'cool'. But then we realized it appears he actually took the pictures in sepia or B&W through his camera. So there are a couple of pics that we like more but they arent color. The good news is that we have 'almost' the same pic in color as he took them right after each other. Is there a way to 'transfer' the colors from one to the B&W using PSCS3? I see a replace color thing, but maybe I just dont know how to use it. Any tutorials or how-to's would be great.

 

[Disney*Dreamer]

I would line up the elements of the pic that you want in color on a different layer and then erase the b/w layer to expose the color layer. That would be the easiest way to do it IMO, though I am sure another great mind on here will have a better way.

 

[jann1033]

the replace color is to exchange one color ie blue for another ie green( at least on pse5) not go from b&w to color that didn't exist..i'm guessing he took them in jpg? if he took them in raw he would have the color data in the raw file even if he used the b&w setting. other wise, i think the above post would be the only way unless you basically want to hand color everything which would be mucho work

 

[dburg30]

Maybe I didnt explain it fully, or I just dont understand what you are saying to do It's a family picture with 22 of us, it's in BW and we want the whole pic in color. Not looking for something like making an apple red with all the rest still BW type thing.

 

[dburg30]

the replace color is to exchange one color ie blue for another ie green( at least on pse5) not go from b&w to color that didn't exist..i'm guessing he took them in jpg? if he took them in raw he would have the color data in the raw file even if he used the b&w setting

Yea, since everyone could view them on their computer it's in jpg..

 

[Disney*Dreamer]

Unless the pic is an exact replica, then it is going to be next to impossible to change all of the colors of it. I would just settle on a color one that you like.

 

[jann1033]

with the replace color it changes everything of one color to another color so since it's all grey i don't think it would work... the problem i have run into is the color has to account for all the various shades, ie a green shirt has different shades of green throughout due to shadow , highlight and if you just paint it all green it would be flat green so it would be a lot of work to change it all...

the only way i see to color a photo is to put each color in it's own layer.. but then that would still be a lot to select ie 20 different lip colors...but to do it according to the missing manual for pse5( guessing it would be similar for your photoshop)
1)make sure you photo is in rgb( image>mode>rgb)
2)create a layer in color mode ( layer>new>layer>color)
3) paint on the layer with the brush tool and using a color in the tool box...changing the opacity as needed and color as needed...

they recommend a new layer for each thing so you can change it if you need to...
depending on the opacity it looks kind of like an old fashioned hand tinted one...

 

[Gdad]

I don't think there is any way to take a picture in B&W and colorize it on a computer and make it look anywhere near good even with a similar shot in color. Even if you went back and hand colored every little piece of the picture- which would take forever- I think it would end up looking more like a painting than a photograph.

Just curious- why don't you like the B&W? You may just try tweaking that a little bit- a lot of the right out of camera B&W pictures I have seen look pretty flat- maybe adding a little tone and contrast overall would make it more pleasing.

I have never really had any use for in-camera B&W for this reason- it is so simple to change something from color to B&W in PP why would you limit your options during ths shoot?

 

[Jeanne B]

www.recolored.com

But with 22 people in the picture it would probably be time consuming but it's possible. I started doing it with a b&w photo of DD last year but never got around to finishing it before my free trial expired.

 

[dburg30]

Just curious- why don't you like the B&W? You may just try tweaking that a little bit- a lot of the right out of camera B&W pictures I have seen look pretty flat- maybe adding a little tone and contrast overall would make it more pleasing.

It's not me . It's the Mrs.

www.recolored.com

But with 22 people in the picture it would probably be time consuming but it's possible. I started doing it with a b&w photo of DD last year but never got around to finishing it before my free trial expired.

Funny, I had just ran across that and have downloaded it. Well hopefully my SIL who hired the photographer, passed on the advice to please take colors and offer BW / sepia / other cool stuff.. I mean, it's not going to be a huge fight or anything. But I do hope they let him know that it limits choices..

 

[MICKEY88]

It's not me . It's the Mrs.



Funny, I had just ran across that and have downloaded it. Well hopefully my SIL who hired the photographer, passed on the advice to please take colors and offer BW / sepia / other cool stuff.. I mean, it's not going to be a huge fight or anything. But I do hope they let him know that it limits choices..

contact the photographer, the possibility exists that he shot in raw, and then converted to B&W jpeg...especially if he took them one right after the other, without taking time to change camera settings...

 

[Disney*Dreamer]

If you want to color it, you can go into photoshop, not sure about cs, and pick the airbrush, go to the top, where it says normal, there is a dropdown menu and you go to it and go down to color, and then paint want you want to, it is a great way to change a red shirt to blue, because it colors the element, meaning it colors the shadows and highlights too. But it would still be a huge undertaking, and would never look as good as a photo shot in color.