This is likely one of the most popular Photo effects you’ll see in the commercial market. This effect is used on websites, in advertising, and most commonly by wedding photographers. I am going to walk you through how to turn a full color photograph into a black and white one with a touch of color “spotlighting” something in the photo.
Feel free to download the images I am using for this tutorial or grab one of our own.
With the file open go to Image > Adjustments > Desaturate. This will remove all of the color from the image. Don’t panic it is supposed to! (note: do not change the image mode at all, it should remain RGB for this tutorial to work properly)
Step 2:
Select the History Brush and give it the following settings: Brush Size: 10px, Hardness: 100%.
Step 3:
With the History Brush selected all you need to do is “paint” over the areas you want to reveal the color.
Original Image:
Image In Progress:
Final Image:
Here are a few tips to remember when doing this:
- Take your time!
- Zoom as necessary, close for intricate spots
- Trace around the outside of the image first (if necessary reduce your brush size for those tight spots)
- Take your time!
- Make sure to unclick every now and then so that if you make any mistakes you do not have to start all over.
- When your outline is complete, increase the brush size so you can “paint” the inside faster.
- Did I mention to take your time?
That is all there is to it!
I did another one for the holiday season just to show the impact it can have on any photo.
Before:
After:
Have fun and enjoy this technique.
All images used for this tutorial were obtained at www.sxc.hu.
Update: This method is a good method, however it does alter the original image (which could be really bad especially if you haven’t kept a back up copy of it). In the coming days I will share with you the preferred way to create this effect.
See also: Just a Touch of Color - Method 2
February 17th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
[…] As promised in an earlier tutorial, here is the second method for highlighting or silouetting a little color from a full color photograph. This is a better method in my opinion for two reasons. First it leaves the original photo untouched (which is a prefered method by professionals). Secondly, it can allow you to further manipulate the photo later. […]
April 9th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
[…] This is another method to produce the same effect as these two earlier tutorials. This is my prefered method as it leaves the image untouched, you don’t have to duplicate the image layer, and you can very easily edit which part of the image is ‘highlighted’ later on, if you change your mind. […]