Color replace doesn’t work on black??

WF
Posted By
Walter_F._Smith
Nov 14, 2006
Views
4349
Replies
6
Status
Closed
I frequently have the need to replace one color with another. The Image/Adjustments/Replace Color command works fine for this _if_ the original color is actually a color, and not a pure black or gray.

However, if the original color is black (quite a common occurrence for me), and I try to replace it with, say, red, I instead get gray for the final color.

Can you folks help?
Related Tags
black color replace work

Must-have mockup pack for every graphic designer 🔥🔥🔥

Easy-to-use drag-n-drop Photoshop scene creator with more than 2800 items.

JJ
John Joslin
Nov 14, 2006
The answer is black is not a colour (nor is white).
C
chrisjbirchall
Nov 14, 2006
If you need to replace Black with a colour first select the black using the magic wand then create a "Solid Colour" layer, which will automatically be based upon the selection.

If the "black" contains details (in which case it is not really black) then you’ll need to experiment with the various blending modes to acheive the effect you are after.
WF
Walter_F._Smith
Nov 15, 2006
The problem with using the magic wand is that there are dozens, sometimes hundreds, of separate black areas throughout the image that I need to change to a color. As far as I understand, the magic wand only selects a single contiguous area.
JJ
John Joslin
Nov 15, 2006
Wrong!

Uncheck "Contiguous" in the options bar.

And play with the tolerance.
GD
glen_deman
Nov 15, 2006
On the options bar at the top, uncheck "contiguous."

Edit: Curse these slow, sausage fingers of mine 😀
Y
YrbkMgr
Nov 15, 2006
Some additional points to consider when using the magic wand…

The eyedropper tool sets the sample size that the Wand will use in its tolerance. So setting it to a 5×5 for example, will cause the wand to sample a 5×5 area and average the color, then select based on that.

In the menu, you can also use Select|Grow or Select|Similar. From the help file:

(Photoshop) Choose Select > Grow to include all adjacent pixels falling within the tolerance range specified in the magic wand options.
Choose Select > Similar to include pixels throughout the image, not just adjacent ones, falling within the tolerance range.
To increase the selection in increments, choose either command more than once.

It can be really powerful, if used right, in the right situations.

MacBook Pro 16” Mockups 🔥

– in 4 materials (clay versions included)

– 12 scenes

– 48 MacBook Pro 16″ mockups

– 6000 x 4500 px

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections