Basics of working in Adobe Photoshop CS5. Replace color in Photoshop

11.02.2015 27.01.2018

In this lesson I will tell you in detail about ways to change colors in Photoshop. I will describe all the steps in detail, accompany them with pictures to make it clear and clearly explain where and what function can be used.

1 way

The first way to replace a color is to use the ready-made function in Photoshop “Replace Color” or Replace Color in English.

I will show you with a simple example, a simple picture. Let's take the icon and open it in Photoshop.

Trowel on a yellow icon. We will replace yellow with any other color that interests us. To do this, go to the menu Image – Correction – Replace Color (Image – Adjustments – Replace Color)

The Color Replacement Function dialog box appears. Now we must indicate what color we will change; to do this, activate the Eyedropper tool (see arrow) and click on the trowel with it. You'll see this color appear in the dialog box at the top, which is labeled Highlight.

At the bottom is the Replacement heading - there you can change the selected color. But first, you can set the Scatter in the selection parameter. The larger the parameter, the more colors it will capture. In this case, you can set it to maximum. It will capture all the yellow in the image.

Configure the Color Replacement settings - with the color you want to see instead of the one being replaced. I made it green by setting the Hue, Saturation and Brightness parameters.

When you're ready to change the color, click OK.

So we changed one color to another.

2 way

The second method in terms of operation can be said to be identical to the first. But we will look at it in a more difficult image.

For example, I chose a photo with a car. Now I will show you how to replace the color of a car in Photoshop.

As always, we need to indicate what color we will replace. To do this, you can create a selection using the color range function. In other words, select an image by color.

To do this, go to the menu Selection – Color Range (Select – Color Range)

Next, all you have to do is click on the red color of the car and we will see the function that defined it - coloring it white in the preview window. The white color shows which part of the image is highlighted. The spread in this case can be adjusted to the maximum value. Click OK.

After you click OK, you will see how the selection has been created:

Now you can change the color of the selected image. To do this, use the function – Image – Correction – Hue/Saturation (Image – Adjustments – Hue/Saturation)

A dialog box will appear.

Immediately check the Toning option (bottom right). Now using the Hue, Saturation and Brightness parameters you can adjust the color. I adjusted the color blue.

All. The color has changed.

It was - it became:

Today we will talk about another way to replace color on an object, namely the command “ Replace color"((Replace color), Image - Correction - Replace color).

Let's look at the dialog box.

At the top " Selection" there is a tab from the "Color range".

Using an eyedropper, a sample of the color that needs to be changed is marked on the picture sample. The plus pipette adds an area, the minus pipette subtracts.

Setting the parameter " Scatter"(Fuzziness).
Using the slider, you define the boundaries within which the color shades will change. With maximum variation, the replacement will include almost all shades of the selected color present in the image. With minimal scatter, only those pixels that exactly match the sample will be replaced.

PS4 now has an additional option LocalizedColorClusters, designed to define areas of the same color. Its use allows you to more accurately highlight the color in the image.

In the lower part " Replacement" of the "Replace Color" dialog box, there is a tab from " Hue/Saturation", with the help of which, based on the name, the color and shade for replacement are selected.

Let's look at color replacement using a specific example.

Step 1. Open the image in Photoshop. We immediately create a duplicate of the main layer.

Step 2. Let's go to Image - Correction - Replace Color. I want to change the color of my T-shirt.

Step 3. If you have CS4, then immediately check the box next to LocalizedColorClusters. I increase Scatter to the maximum value. Using an eyedropper, mark an area on the image. Next, I choose the color I want to change to. I click on the colored square labeled “Result” and select the shade I need.

It can be seen that in the shadow area the color is not highlighted enough. I choose Pipette "+" and click on the image in the fold area of ​​the T-shirt.

The T-shirt was completely dyed, but at the same time, unnecessary areas, for example, the face, were dyed. I choose Pipette "-" and click on her face.

As you can see in the image itself, the lips and ears are still painted; this defect can be corrected with the help of an eraser.

This color changing method works most successfully on contrasting images. Also in images where there are few related shades to the color being changed.

And finally, one more piece of advice. If the image still contains several areas of the same color, and only one of them needs to be changed, for example, then before using the command Replace color, you should highlight the area that requires color replacement. Any selection tool can help you with this.

Beginners often think that Photoshop’s “smart” tools are designed to make their life easier by eliminating tedious manual work. This is partly true, but only partly.

Most of these tools ( "Magic wand", "Quick Selection", various correction tools, for example, tool "Replace color") require a professional approach and are absolutely not suitable for beginners. It is necessary to understand in what situation such a tool can be used and how to configure it correctly, and this comes with experience.

Today we'll talk about the tool "Replace color" from the menu "Image - Correction".

This tool allows you to manually replace a certain shade of an image with any other. Its effect is similar to that of an adjustment layer "Hue/Saturation".

The tool window looks like this:

This window consists of two blocks: "Selection" And "Replacement".

Selection

1. Tools for taking a shade sample. They look like buttons with eyedroppers and have the following purposes (from left to right): main test, adding a shade to the set for replacement, excluding a shade from the set.

2. Slider "Scatter" determines how many levels (adjacent shades) are to be replaced.

Replacement

This block includes sliders Hue, Saturation, and Brightness. Actually, the purpose of each slider is determined by its name.

Practice

Let's replace one of the gradient fill shades with this circle:

1. Activate the tool and click with the eyedropper on any part of the circle. A white area will immediately appear in the preview window. It is the white areas that need to be replaced. At the top of the window we will see the selected shade.

2. Let's go to the block "Replacement", click on the color box and set the color with which you want to replace the sample.

3. Slider "Scatter" adjust the range of shades to replace.

4. Sliders from the block "Replacement" finely adjust the shade.

This completes the manipulation of the tool.

Nuances

As already mentioned at the beginning of the article, the tool does not always work correctly. As part of preparing materials for the lesson, several experiments were carried out on replacing colors in various images - from complex (clothing, cars, flowers) to simple (one-color logos, etc.).

The results turned out to be very contradictory. On complex objects (as well as on simple ones), you can fine-tune the shade and area of ​​application of the tool, but after selection and replacement you have to manually modify the image (eliminating halos of the original shade, removing the effect on unwanted areas). This moment negates all the advantages that a “smart” tool provides, such as speed and simplicity. In this case, it is easier to do all the work manually than to redo it using a program.

Things are better with simple objects. Halos and unwanted areas, of course, remain, but are eliminated more easily and quickly.

The ideal use of the tool is to replace the color of an area surrounded by a different shade.

Based on all of the above, one conclusion can be drawn: it’s up to you to decide whether to use this tool or not. It worked well on some flowers...

Namely about the team Replace color. This tool is located in the menu.

Let's look at the dialog box.

At the top Selection There is a tab from the “Color range”.

Using an eyedropper, a sample of the color that needs to be changed is marked on the picture sample. Pipette with plus adds an area pipette with minus- subtracts.

Setting the parameter Fuzziness.

Using the slider, you define the boundaries within which the color shades will change. With maximum variation, the replacement will include almost all shades of the selected color present in the image. With minimal scatter, only those pixels that exactly match the sample will be replaced.

An additional option has been added to Photoshop CS4 Localized Color Clusters, designed to define areas of the same color. Its use allows you to more accurately highlight the color in the image.

In the lower part Replacement In the “Replace Color” dialog box, there is a tab called “Hue/Saturation”, with the help of which, based on the name, you select the color and shade to replace.

Let's look at color replacement using a specific example.

Step 1.

Open the image in Photoshop. We immediately create a duplicate of the main layer.

Step 2.

Step 3.

If you have CS4, then immediately put a tick opposite Localized Color Clusters. I increase the Scatter to the maximum value. Using an eyedropper, mark an area on the image. Next, I choose the color I want to change to. I click on the colored square labeled “Result” and select the shade I need.

It can be seen that in the shadow area the color is not highlighted enough. I select the Eyedropper “+” and click on the image in the area of ​​the folds on the T-shirt.

The T-shirt was completely dyed, but at the same time, unnecessary areas, for example, the face, were dyed. I select the Eyedropper “-” and click it in the face area.

As you can see in the image itself, the lips and ears are still painted; this defect can be corrected with the help of an eraser.

This color changing method works most successfully on contrasting images. Also in images where there are few related shades to the color being changed.

And finally, one more piece of advice. If the image still contains several areas of the same color, and only one of them needs to be changed, for example, then before using the command Replace color, you should highlight the area that requires color replacement. Any selection tool can help you with this.

I wish you success!
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I greet you as always, dear friends. I am very glad to see you on my blog. Do you draw any pictures? Otherwise, this week I’m going to publish lessons on drawing tools. The topic is also quite important for Photoshop, so you shouldn’t miss it. Therefore, you desperately need to know how to choose a brush color in Photoshop. Without this, it will be difficult further.

Look at the color choice itself. Did you notice that there are two colors (default black and white)? Why do you think? If you hover your mouse over a color, you will see that the foreground is called the foreground, and the back is called the background. The background color is usually used for erasers, gradients, etc., but in a brush plan it will work as an additional color.

The point is that when working with brushes, the main color can be changed with the background color. To do this, you need to press the key X(Latin). This way you will always have two quick-changing colors at hand.

But I will not deviate from the topic. To change the color (no matter the main or background) you just need to left-click on it. After this, a selection window will open for you, i.e. Color palette. This is where we will choose what to paint our future masterpieces with. But we can choose color in two ways. So watch and remember.

First way

On the left side you will see a large square space, and a little to the right there is a vertical stripe with flowers. So you choose the color itself from just the vertical strip, and from the large square - shades of this color. But this only works on the color model H.S.B., and the dot should be near the letter H. If you place a dot in any other place, the entire palette will change. So when choosing a color, it’s better to put the dot there.

To select a color, hold down the left mouse button on the vertical bar slider, and without releasing the mouse button, drag up and down until you find the desired color and the desired shade palette. Now choose a shade. To do this, move the small circle to the place in the square space where the ideal shade of a given color is located for you.

At the same time, you will see how your new chosen color will look compared to the current one.

That's the gist of it. Feel free to draw.

Second way

Remember in one of the first lessons I talked about? So the second method will be based on selecting colors from a specific color panel. Here you go RGB, And CMYK, And H.S.B., And LAB. Do you remember how each of these models works?

In general, to choose a color, you need to select a specific model and enter three values ​​that correspond to this model.

Let's, for example, I'll select the color red in the model RGB. To do this, I put the required values ​​in the required cells, that is, in cell R - 255, and in cells G and B with zeros. So how? Have we chosen the color we need? See for yourself.

Well, if you noticed, just below the RGB colors there is a special cell for setting the html color code. Those. when on any site a fragment (for example, text) is highlighted in any color (except for links), then rest assured that their color is specified by this hexadecimal code. There is no need to be afraid of this, it just can be very useful.

Such codes operate according to the principle RGB, i.e. The first 2 symbols mean the color red, the middle 2 symbols mean the color green, and the last 2 symbols mean the color blue. 0 is the minimum color value (white), F is the maximum color value (black). It turns out that ff0000 is the same as 255,0,0 in regular RGB, i.e. red.

Well, if you really want to return everything as it was, i.e. so that the colors become default (main - black, background - white), just press the key D. It's that simple.

I would also like to tell you about another color selection tool, namely about . But then I decided that this tool still deserves a separate article, since it has its own nuances and the color is chosen in a slightly different way.

Well, be sure to check it out Photoshop course for beginners. Everything is explained in detail, and in absolutely human language. So, thanks to these video tutorials, you can easily learn this wonderful graphic editor in a couple of weeks. Be sure to check it out.

Well, I say goodbye to you. I hope that you don’t have any questions with this topic. I wish you good luck and good mood. Don't forget to subscribe to my blog updates, then you will be happy. See you in other articles. Bye bye!

Best regards, Dmitry Kostin.