Tip for quickly selecting contrasting colours?

K
Posted By
KyleDJ
Jan 7, 2009
Views
501
Replies
9
Status
Closed
Hello,

I have a custom brush defined of my signature that I put on my photos. As I want the signature to be subtle so it doesn’t detract from the photo, I use a colour that almost blends with the colours in that corner of the photo. The signature is visible, yet it doesn’t attract attention.

As examples, the signature would be a shade of green over grass, blue over ocean, grey over asphalt, etc.

Selecting the color to use is trial-and-error, tweaking it several times so it isn’t too bright, too dark, or too contrasting with the background. As each photo needs a different colour, this becomes time consuming after hundreds of images.

Is there a tool or other way in PS (either CS2 or CS4) to select a colour like this more quickly? Perhaps one that picks an "average" colour from the area for the signature, and then tunes it a bit brighter or darker so it will show up?

At the moment I an experimenting with using the Eye Dropper, set to 101×101 sample averaging (the largest available). So with the signature brush selected, I Alt-click to get this average colour. But then I still need to make the colour lighter or darker, otherwise the signature blends in too well, almost invisible. Is their a shortcut key way to lighten or darken the selected foreground colour?

Thanks,
KDJ
Related Tags
color select tip

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.

JR
John_R_Nielsen
Jan 7, 2009
Try using the various blend modes for the brush, up in the Option Bar. Luminosity might be a good choice.
H
Ho
Jan 7, 2009
<http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html>

There is an Action avaiable for this but I can’t seem to find it.
JM
J_Maloney
Jan 7, 2009
Sig brush to new layer, select that layer trans, hide layer, copy merged, paste. Set layer to multiply/screen/opacity/etc to taste, copy merged, paste, select layers trans, blur average. All actionable. Drop in sig in any color and run action.
K
KyleDJ
Jan 7, 2009
Thanks all!

I hoped changing the brush or layer blends modes alone might do it. On more-or-less gradual background tones, it sometimes works okay. However on busier backgrounds (like grass!), the signature becomes very speckled as almost each pixel takes on a different colour. Unfortunately the effect makes the sig simultaneously both very conspicuous and impossible to read 😀

Ho, interesting tool, though not sure how it fits in within PS to select colour based on one area of the image.

J Maloney, I tried following your steps, though not sure I understand what you meant. For "select thay layer trans", unpainted areas of my layers are transparent by default. Do you mean set Opacity to 0%? Or select the transparent areas of the layer, by ctrl-click the layer icon and then Invert Selection? And what do I select for your second Copy Merged? And why two Copy Merges? Can the blending be set on the first layer instead, and skip one?

The Blur Average step might help with the pixelation mentioned above.

I can see this is going to take some experimenting to make fire-and-forget-automated…, variables such as the starting colour, blend type, etc., need to be robust enough so that a single setting works for all images.

Thanks,
KDJ
K
KatWoman
Jan 7, 2009
I use a layer style that looks like glass

you can download Laurie’s glass from Studio Exchange or make your own

make the text in blocky letters sans serif
set fill to ZERO
this will seem tomake thet ext disappear
then go to layer effects and choose bevel emboss
gives a nice transparent text
JM
J_Maloney
Jan 7, 2009
Create a new layer at the top of your layer stack. Paint your signature on it where you want it placed. Don’t worry about what color brush you use. Now create a new action and start recording. Name the [current] top layer "sig". Select sig’s transparency. Hide layer sig and copy merged, then paste. Load current layer’s (above sig) transparency and run blur-average (now’s where you create two actions: multiply for light backgrounds, screen for dark). Then set the current layer to multiply and set it at 75% opacity. Now copy merged again and paste. Now select that layer’s transparency (two above sig) and blur average. Now use the command alt-[ to move 1 layer down and delete current layer. Delete current layer again (sig). Now you can name the current layer "sig" again. Record another action with screen instead of multiply.
K
KyleDJ
Jan 7, 2009
Hi J Maloney,

Many thanks for the detailed instructions. Apologies, but I still have the same question on the jargon—what do you mean by select a layer’s "transparency"? Do you mean select only the transparent (i.e., unpainted) portions of that layer? (by for example CTRL-clicking the layer icon and then CTRL-SHIFT-I to invert the selection). I would assume instead that you want to select the painted portion, by simply CTRL-click on the layer icon.

Also, you mentioned two actions, one for light backgrounds, one dark. I’m looking for one solution for any background (if possible), as the sig/watermark may itself staddle both light and dark colours.

Thanks again,
KDJ
JM
J_Maloney
Jan 7, 2009
CTRL-clicking the layer icon

Yes. Or load selection…

I’m looking for one solution for any background (if possible), as the sig/watermark may itself staddle both light and dark colours.

I would still make two or more actions and experiment when applying your sig. You might also put a stop in the action and set the layer blend yourself based on the sig area. But either way, you’ve got to be darker or lighter than the darkest or lightest color…
K
KyleDJ
Jan 8, 2009
Thanks J, trying it now. It runs pretty slick once the actions are set. If I don’t like the result, I just trash the layer and try again.

I’ll see how it stands up over a run of images. Depending on the background I’ve seen it either stand out too much, or blend in too well. Multiply/screen, being nonlinear, are going to behave that way. Grass still gives it problems. But even when I do grass manually, just a lighter or darker average colour usually didn’t work—I had to use an entirely different colour, like yellow or red-brown, to make the sig remotely visible.

Thanks!
KDJ

How to Improve Photoshop Performance

Learn how to optimize Photoshop for maximum speed, troubleshoot common issues, and keep your projects organized so that you can work faster than ever before!

Related Discussion Topics

Nice and short text about related topics in discussion sections