Changing color of black and white image

JH
Posted By
Jim_Heisig
Feb 3, 2008
Views
503
Replies
19
Status
Closed
In Indesign, if I click on a black-and-white image with the white arrow, I can go to "swatches" and change it to any color I want. (The black arrow changes the background color, the white arrow the image itself.) But I have no idea how to do this in Photoshop. I have fumbled through the help files to no avail. It must be even simpler in Photoshop if it works so simply in InDesign. (I have CS3 for both of them)

How to Master Sharpening in Photoshop

Give your photos a professional finish with sharpening in Photoshop. Learn to enhance details, create contrast, and prepare your images for print, web, and social media.

JJ
John_Joslin
Feb 3, 2008
Your question is not very clear. Do you want to fill the black and white image area with a colour overlay, turn black lines to coloured ones or fill certain areas with colour?

What kind of image is it? Upload a copy to <http://www.pixentral.com> and post the code here if you like.
JH
Jim_Heisig
Feb 3, 2008
Sorry, what I meant was to turn black lines to colored ones. The whole image is a black-on-white drawing, and I want to replace the black with another color. That’s all.
JJ
John_Joslin
Feb 3, 2008
Select the white background with the Magic Wand Tool, making sure it is not set to Contiguous or Anti-alias.

Invert the selection (Ctrl+Shift+I).

Make the foreground in the Tool Box the colour you want and press Alt+Backspace to fill with the colour.

If the drawing has shading, you may need another technique.
JH
Jim_Heisig
Feb 3, 2008
Yes, there is some shading. And the magic wand does not really work with all the fine lines. I tried that. But how can it be that it is soooooo simple (and the results are perfect) in InDesign and the specialized program Photoshop cannot handle it?
JJ
John_Joslin
Feb 3, 2008
magic wand does not really work with all the fine lines

You should reduce the default tolerance to a minimum.

What format is the original file?

Exactly how are you doing it in InDesign?
BL
Bob Levine
Feb 3, 2008
You could just use a color overlay layer effect. You may have to experiment a bit with that.

Bob
JJ
John_Joslin
Feb 3, 2008
Yes, Bob’s idea works well – a Solid Color adjustment layer, set to overlay mode and reduced in opacity to taste.
JH
Jim_Heisig
Feb 3, 2008
How do I go it in InDesign. I click on the image with the white arrow and then open the "swatches" palette and click on a color. Presto.
I have experimented with all sorts of things in Photoshop, so I someone could just hold my hand step by step through this, I would appreciate it.
But I repeat, why should this be so difficult? It seems like the simplest and most ordinary of tasks.
MD
Michael_D_Sullivan
Feb 4, 2008
InDesign is a vector program. When you pick a vector image or group of vector images, you won’t be picking anything else. In a pixel program, that way doesn’t work, because a pixel selection may include some "partial" pixels — which are partly color X and partly background or transparent. If you turn antialiasing off, you just opt out of picking the partial pixels, leaving them in existence in the background.
JJ
John_Joslin
Feb 4, 2008
If someone could just hold my hand step by step through this, I would appreciate it.

See #7

"…a Solid Color adjustment layer, set to overlay mode and reduced in opacity to taste."

Do you want that broken down further?
JH
Jim_Heisig
Feb 4, 2008
Sorry, but I really would appreciate a further breakdown.
JJ
John_Joslin
Feb 4, 2008
With the image open in Photoshop:

Go to Layer > New Fill Layer > Solid Color… and click OK in the dialog.

The Color Picker pops up – pick a colour and click OK.

Now go to the Layers Palette and set the blending mode (drop-down menu top left) to Overlay.

Adjust the Opacity slider (top left) to taste.

You can experiment with different blending modes other than Overlay just for fun (and learning!)
JJ
John_Joslin
Feb 4, 2008
Afterthought.

If your image mode is grayscale, change it to RGB.
JH
Jim_Heisig
Feb 5, 2008
I tried what you said, but the overlay color hardly shows up at all and does not in fact overwrite the black. I want to eliminate the black (original color) altogether. Is there a trick to this. (Thanks for the kind help!)
JJ
John_Joslin
Feb 5, 2008
You must be doing something wrong!

I did this in one minute using the method described:

<http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/2312/borkhaus2gb8.jpg>

Maybe you could show us your image?
JH
Jim_Heisig
Feb 5, 2008
< http://www.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/sounds/AFS%20cover%20mas k%20(no%20background)%20overlay.zip>

The above link will give you a ZIPped version of the file I am working with. I wonder where I went wrong…
JJ
John_Joslin
Feb 5, 2008
OK – in your case a better result was achieved by using the mode "Lighter Color" instead of "Overlay".

Always be ready to experiment!

<http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/6233/masksgj3.jpg>

Note: You could also lighten the original with the Hue/Saturation dialog before using the overlay method I first recommended.
JH
Jim_Heisig
Feb 5, 2008
I am beginning to get the knack of this. I didn’t realize that "overlay" meant "transparent" but now that I tried the other options, I see what you mean. Thanks for the help. It was indeed a simple process–once there is someone kind enough to lead you through it.
JJ
John_Joslin
Feb 5, 2008
Glad to help.

You’ll learn a lot by experimenting!

Master Retouching Hair

Learn how to rescue details, remove flyaways, add volume, and enhance the definition of hair in any photo. We break down every tool and technique in Photoshop to get picture-perfect hair, every time.

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections