HOW TO MAKE A BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO IN COLOR IN PHOTOSHOP

Today we will learn how to turn a non-color photo into a color one. I’ll make a reservation right away, for those who are looking for the “make photo in color” button in this article. Alas, such a button has not yet been invented. You can desaturate a photo with one click, but you can’t colorize it with the same click, because a black and white photo has no color information. So we'll have to work with our hands and fill our black and white image color information in the truest sense. Some plugins for Photoshop do a good job of colorizing photos, but now we will not discuss any plugins that we don’t understand where to get. Let's talk about what is available for colorization in Photoshop itself. And there is a lot in it.

The method of coloring a photo is simple and primitive. A five-year-old child can master it in 10 minutes. I will tell you about all the ways to colorize a photo, and also show how this simple operation can be brought to a new more professional level. So let's get started.

THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE A PHOTO COLORED (blend color)

To colorize a photo you will need to be able to use the tool brush tool, as well as have an idea about the work of other Photoshop tools. The ability to select areas of a photo and the initial knowledge about layers and masks, which you can learn from my article Masks in Photoshop, will not hurt. In this tutorial, you will see in practice how you can automate work in Photoshop using masks, and have full control over the color settings.

I borrowed a photo from the collection of a photographer friend of mine. Black and white photographs look mysterious and conceptual, but what happens if we lightly colorize it? Create a new layer on top of the photo Layer > New > Layer or click on the little layer icon in the layers palette Windows > Layers

Now select a tool brush tool, a brush with soft edges, make it bigger and move the mouse over a new layer with some red. The natural result is a red daub on a masterfully taken photograph. It doesn't suit us. In order for the red color to be painted, you need to change the settings of the layer itself. These settings are called overlay settings. Color Mode. You can only find them in the layers palette. Layers, above the layers themselves. Click this dropdown menu, you will see whole list different blend modes. The point is that by changing the blending mode of a color, we establish new rules by which the color of the layer interacts with the colors of the layers below. The blend mode we need is called color, and its meaning is simple - it colors the image in the color we need, while maintaining the naturalness of the colors. Install Let's Decide color, choose the color you need, and decorate the girl's hair.

That's all. Quite simple isn't it? Save me the trouble of stretching this process out over 10 pages and demonstrating how I will step by step paint the skin, gloves, eyes, and so on. Coloring depends on your imagination, and realism, on the quality of work and the naturalness of the selected colors. Work with the brush, choose the size, adjust the invisibility opasity and fill, which you will find in the brush settings menu Windows > Options

This is the “mask” my wife sketched for a few minutes of work. Note that the layer blending mode is Normal. I hope you are convinced that making a color photo in Photoshop is very simple.

And this is what happens if you change the layer blending settings to color.

COLORING A PHOTO THROUGH LAYER STYLES (layer style)

And now let's start to go deeper and complicate the process. Complication, it is not to make work more difficult, but to make work easier. You know, all these kali mali on one layer are fine, of course, but they are more suitable for creative personalities, for those who like to sit and wind a clay pot on a gurney for hours. Smearing one color and another on this layer is perhaps convenient for artists from the academy who are banned from Google, so they still have not heard about Photoshop. Alas, even cartoons are drawn on a computer, 1000 drawings on paper, which are then quickly flipped over, remained in the 20th century. Personally, as a designer, I would like to have more control over color and settings. I would like to effectively and quickly tweak the colors through the menu, rather than redrawing the layer.

How can we bring more control over the image? To begin with, it would be nice to divide one layer into several layers. Let's create
really many layers. And each layer will be responsible for its own area. Create a layer "hair", layer "eyes", "gloves", "nails" and others. I started coloring the photo myself, creating thematic layers for this. Now the control process is more manageable, at least the coloring is not on the same layer. Any part of the coloring can be muted, turned off, in other words, do everything with it that can be done with a layer. Other coloring layers will remain untouched.

But it still doesn't make much sense. The color of all layers is still arbitrary. On the layer "Hair" you can paint as before with both blue and red. In other words, as before, Kali Mali, but more manageable Kali Mali, divided into sectors. And I would like to control the color. I want to change the entire color with one click, and not sculpt with a brush, constantly reworking the result with my hands. I'll show you how to do it with layer styles. layer style.

Create a layer and name it "Hair". Decorate your hair with any color, even green. Go to the layers palette and set the fill Fill on 0% Thus, what you have drawn will become invisible.

Roughly speaking, we create some kind of raster area, turn off the filling fill and apply layer styles to the area. The area itself does not become invisible, as is the case with Opasity. The content of the region becomes invisible, but not the region itself. Therefore, the applied layer styles will be visible. But if we set the Opasity to 0%, the entire layer would become invisible along with the styles. We will define areas certain style, but since we still have to apply layer blending for coloring, the original color must be removed by setting Fill to 0%, otherwise it will become translucent when blending and we will not get the desired result.

Now let's add a style to the layer. Layer > Layer Style > Color Overlay In the blend menu blend mode set the mode color. And in the box with the color, set the color we need.

If you forgot to set the fill to 0%, then this can be done in the same window, in the blending settings tab Blending Options. If you did it in the layers palette Layers, then the fill will already be set as it should.

Now we have full control over the color. Give each layer its own style. Double-clicking on the layer will automatically bring up Layer Styles, where you can change the color of the hair with one click. You don't have to smear everything 100 times, the color changes in one second, while you see the result in on-line mode. Choosing a color just got a whole lot easier.

That's what I call color control. Now let's go even deeper.

COLORING PHOTOS THROUGH FILL LAYERS (fill lyers)

You know what I think. These attempts to control the image are certainly cool, but somehow difficult. What if you need to change the color? You have to constantly click on the layer, call the style window, go to the tab color overlay and there is something to change. Not so fast process, if you want to quickly change the colors of the layers. Of course, if we have 2 layers, this is not difficult, but what if we had 102 layers? We need to make this process even easier. This is where the real work with layers comes in. Now I'll show you how to make a photo color using fill layers.

Create a new fill layer Layers > New Fill Layers > Solid Color The fill layer completely covers the photo, filling the entire work surface. We just don't need this. As you can see from the layers palette, the fill layer is created with an empty mask ready. We need to turn the white mask into a black mask in order to hide the entire fill layer entirely. You can click on the mask icon and select Delete.

Or select the mask icon and do the same from the menu Layer > Layer Mask > Delete. Now create a mask from scratch, but not empty, but hiding. We did this in my article "Masks in Photoshop". Select Layer > Layer Mask > Hide All

And you can go the other way. The mask is the same working surface as the layer itself. The mask can be drawn by hand with any drawing tools. For example with a brush brush tool. Only unlike the layer, the mask is created in gradation from black to white, where white is the visible part, and black is the hiding part. Click on the mask icon in the layer palette. The mask must be selected so that you can draw on it. Then select the fill bucket Paint Bucket Toll and black color. Click on the work surface. The empty mask has become a concealing mask.

Now choose a regular brush brush tool And White color. Create a hair mask by painting on top of the mask exactly as you did.
draw on a layer. You can enjoy all the benefits of brush settings. Make it transparent, resize, soft edges. All this will only affect how visible our mask is. And of course don't forget to set it to blend mode. color to immediately see the result of painting. We could go the other way. For example, leave the mask white, and paint over the entire area around the hair with black. But you must admit, it is somewhat tedious to gloss over 70% working area. And of course don't forget to work on the mask, the mask must be selected. This can be done by simply clicking on its icon in the layers palette.

As a result, you should get a fill layer, with a hair mask. The advantage of this method is that you do not have to dig into the color settings every time, which is not clear where. One simple click on the fill of the layer brings up a window with a choice of color.

Paint other areas of the photo in the same way. In some areas where color does not tolerate soft transitions, you will need to create selection areas. For example, in the case of nails, I created selections with the tool Magic WandTool And Polygonal Lasso Toll. In other cases, I managed to change the size of the brush and switch between soft edges and hard edges.

Once you've created all the photo area layers, you'll be able to create other tint layers that create hair tones, shimmers, and other lighting effects. This is the professional result. And now let's look at alternative options for coloring a photo.

MAKE PHOTO COLOR THROUGH CORRECTION LAYERS (adjustments layers)

Here's another way to color your photo. Use color correction settings adjustments. I already imagine how you open familiar to everyone Image > Adjustments, highlight the area and apply the effects. No, we certainly won't do that. We will get the same kalya mala. Of course, selecting an area, applying color correction, selecting a new area, applying color correction again is an option. Only this option is dull, without any possibility to tweak and change the results.

Therefore, we will use color-correcting layers. Layer > New Adjustment Layer. The color correction layer is the same color correction, only it is not applied to the graphics layer, but is a layer itself. Imagine that the photo is our layer. And on top we put red glass, which changed the color of the photo. The red glass is the color correction layer. You can remove it, make it invisible, apply layers, mask and more.

Which of the color corrections are suitable for coloring? In my opinion, color correction works best. Photo Filter. Select Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Photo Filter Or create a color correction layer via the layers palette menu Layers.

Now I want you to do all the things I described for coloring photos through fill layers. Create a mask, fill it with black and with a regular brush apply a filter to the area you need. Here is what you should get:

At the same time, you can reconfigure the filter color, change the color and adjust the mask at any time. Just click on the color correction layer and in the palette adjustments adjust the color. If you don't know where this palette is located, open it via Windows > Ajustments. You'll see for yourself that it's as easy to colorize a photo through color correction as it is through fill layers, but I personally like the latter.

I hope that there is no need to demonstrate phased coloring. You already understood that in a similar way you need to colorize all areas of the photo. I will give the final version of the photo coloring and wish you successful experiments in Photoshop. Now you know how to make a photo in color.

For over a century, monochrome photography has been dominant. Until now, black and white shades are popular among professional and amateur photographers. In order to make a color image discolored, it is necessary to remove information about natural colors from it. The popular online services presented in our article can cope with the task.

The big advantage of such sites over software is ease of use. In most cases, they are not suitable for professional purposes, but they will be relevant for solving the task.

Method 1: IMGonline

IMGOnline is an online service for editing images in BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG and TIFF formats. When saving the processed image, you can select the quality and file extension. is the simplest and fast way applying a black and white effect to a photo.


Method 2: Cropper

Online photo editor with support for many effects and operations for image processing. Very handy when using the same tools repeatedly, which are automatically displayed in the Quick Access Toolbar.

  1. Open a tab "Files", then click on the item "Load from disk".

  2. Click "Choose File" on the page that appears.

  3. Select the image to be processed and confirm with the button "Open".

  4. Submit the image to the service by clicking "Download".

  5. Open a tab "Operations", then hover over the item "Edit" and choose an effect "Translate to b/w".

  6. After the previous step, the tool used will appear in the quick access bar at the top. Click on it to apply.

    7. If the effect is successfully superimposed on the picture, it will turn black and white in the preview window. It looks like this:

  7. Open the menu "Files" and press "Save to disk".

  8. Upload the finished image using the button "Download file".

    9. Upon completion of this process, a new mark will appear in the quick download bar:

Method 3: Photoshop Online

A more advanced version of the photo editor, endowed with the main functions of the program. Among them, there is the possibility of detailed adjustment of color tones, brightness, contrast, and so on. You can also work with files uploaded to the cloud or social networks, such as .

  1. In the small window in the center of the main page, select "Upload image from computer".

  2. Select the file on the disk and click "Open".

  3. Open the menu item "Correction" and click on effect "Bleaching".

    4. With a successful application of the tool, your image will acquire black and white shades:

  4. On the top bar select "File", then press "Save".

  5. Set the parameters you need: file name, format, quality, then click "Yes" at the bottom of the window.

  6. Start download by clicking on the button "Save".

Method 4: Holla

Modern popular online image processing service, with support for Pixlr and . IN this method the second option will be considered as it is considered the most convenient. The site has more than a dozen free useful effects in its arsenal.

  1. Click "Choose File" on home page service.

  2. Click on the image to edit and then on the button "Open".

  3. Click item "Download".

  4. Choose from the presented photo editor "Aviary".

  5. In the toolbar, click on the tile that says "Effects".

  6. Scroll to the end of the list to find the right one using the right arrow.

  7. Choose an effect "B&W" by clicking on it with the left mouse button.

    8. If everything went well, your photo will appear in black and white in the preview window:

  8. Confirm the effect overlay with the item "OK".

  9. Finish the image by clicking "Ready".

  10. Click "Download image".

Method 5: Editor.Pho.to

A photo editor that is capable of performing many online image processing operations. The only one of the presented sites where you can adjust the overlay intensity parameter of the selected effect. Able to interact with the cloud service, social networks facebook,

Are you curious to see what black and white photographs from your old albums would look like if they were colorized? Think you need to spend a lot of time in Photoshop for this? It turns out that you can make an image in color using a special online program! But let's talk about everything in order.

Colorize a black and white photo online in one click in Algorithmia

In order to make a picture black and white online, dozens of Internet resources have been created, but only one is provided for the reverse function - Algorithmia. The work of this unusual site is built on practical application neural networks. In addition to the fact that he can convert an image from black and white to color, he can also:

  • determine the area depicted in the photo;
  • to distinguish the faces of people in the pictures;
  • analyze the positive/negative mood of the given text;
  • and much more.

Algorithmia has an English-language interface, but since the section we need - Colorize Photos - implies only one function, working with it does not cause any difficulties.

So, upload your bw photo, which we are going to colorize - this can be done by selecting a picture on a computer or entering a link to its location on the Internet.

If you just want to test how to turn a black and white photo into a color one, you can choose one of the pictures offered here for an example.

The coloring process takes about half a minute. Next, we are offered to evaluate the photo before and after.


Move the purple slider to see the effect of the changes

You can save both a fully colored drawing and the comparison itself - a photo partially in color and partially in b/w. I was a little disappointed with the watermark on the finished picture, but it is quite compact and modestly located in the corner. You can get rid of it by simply cropping the image.

Through several experiments, we found out that the service copes best with painting skin, water and trees. The clearer their boundaries, the better the result.


Let's compare - on the left is the original photo, which we discolored and uploaded to the site, and on the right - its colorized version

As you can see, Algorithmia distinguishes people well and automatically colors the skin in beige tones. True, the service does not feel the borders very well, so the cardigan, just in case, was also made flesh-colored.

In the background behind the girl, the editor "didn't recognize" the Christmas tree, so he left it just a dark spot. But he clearly defined the color of the gift and jeans and did almost everything right, except for the beige leg in the foreground and very blurry borders. The service decided to “revive” the bird in the corner of the picture, so it made it yellowish.

In general, of course, there are certain flaws in the result, but all the same, Algorithmia deserves respect, if only because it is the only site that allows you to turn a black and white photo into color.

How to colorize a picture in Photoshop: a simple guide for beginners

We want to say right away that this method will require much more time than the previous one. Also here you will need minimal skills in Photoshop, and the more of them, the more beautiful the result will be.

Load the image into Photoshop and create a new empty layer. Next, use the "Quick Selection" tool and click on the objects that we are going to convert to one color.


Use the Alt key to deselect unwanted area

Select the tool "Brush", select the appropriate color and sketch the selected fragments.


If you want the shades to be not too saturated, you can reduce the opacity and pressure of the brush.
In order to preserve the presence of shadows and color transitions, change the layer blending mode to "Overlay"
It already looks much more natural.

We repeat the same operations with the rest of the objects in the photo. Recall the sequence:

  • create a new layer;
  • select a fragment;
  • apply the desired color;
  • change the layer's blend mode.

For convenience, it is better to name each new layer in accordance with the fragment being painted.

If the edges are not handled too carefully, then this will definitely be noticeable and the picture will look unnatural. We recommend using the "Gaussian Blur" function with a small radius to smooth out all the imperfections a little.


In the "Filter" section, select "Blur", and then - "Gaussian Blur". Then just control the radius until you achieve an organic result.

Let's see what happened in the end. On the left is the original photo, which we then discolored, on the right is its color version.


In general, the new image looks quite natural, although many shades differ from those in the original version.

Summing up, we can say that making a black and white photo color in Photoshop is much more difficult and longer than using an online service. For comparison, let's say that the whole process took us more than an hour, although in Algorithmia everything would be ready in a few seconds. True, the result in Photoshop is more organic and predictable, and you can control all the moments yourself.

So far, these are all ways to colorize a black and white photo. Therefore, decide what is more important for you - efficiency or quality of the result, and rather use all the advice received in practice!

You can step over the edges, it's even better to do it. After you have painted over all areas of the skin without missing a single pixel, press the "Quick Mask" button again. A selection should appear. Make sure all the skin gets into it:

  • Go to the top menu "Layers", select "New Layer Fill", then "Color", you can give the layer a name. Select the mode "Soft light", press "OK" - a palette appears where you need to choose a color:

  • With skin, this is not easy, you need to look for yellow and pink shades. If you can’t find a natural color in any way, then choose the tone that best suits your skin color, we’ll try to correct it later. Click OK.
  • We go to the "Layers" window and see that a new fill layer has appeared there, consisting of two parts. Click on the second part in the form of a black square, a white frame should appear around it.
  • In the tools, we should still have the "Brush" active with the same settings. The main color on the toolbar should be black - this is important. Now the brush will work like an eraser. We remove everything superfluous - what we painted over by accident, leaving the color only on the skin. We try to do it carefully:

So, we have painted the skin to correct its color, go to the "Layers" window, select the fill layer and make a duplicate of it.

Now in the new layer, double-click on the colored square - a palette appears. Select another color that will be superimposed on the first layer and blended with it. You can mix pink and yellow shades, then you get a natural tone:

Now go to the "Background Copy" layer, click the "Quick Mask" again and continue painting, creating new fill layers. Do not forget to return to the main layer every time, otherwise nothing will work.

In the example, we dyed the hair brown, then the lips red:

And the iris of the eyes is painted green. Next, make the clothes purple:

Then a blue background, since our model is sitting by the water. and painted separately green trees, reflected in the water, as well as the boards on which she sits, although they are almost imperceptible. Details are always important. Result:

It is especially interesting to colorize retrophotos. If you have family archives with rare photographs, now you do not need to take them to the workshop, but you can digitize and color them yourself.

Having mastered this technique, you can also do color on black and white in Photoshop. This is a rather original solution, you have probably seen such photos.

For example, in the image below, we gave the girl red lips and turquoise eyes, leaving everything else in black and white:

In exactly the same way, you can change the tones in color photos, for example, change the color of hair, clothing, background, and so on.

Hi all! With you, as usual, I, Dmitry Kostin. And today we will photoshop again. Remember how we did? Be that as it may, this is not surprising, since it is not difficult to discolor an image. But how to make a black and white photo color? Is that possible?

Of course available. Already entire films are coloring. What is there to make some image color? But it's still very interesting experience. Can you imagine? You can think of the colors you would like to see in this photo. For example, you can set the color of eyes, hair, skin, clothing and much more. This is how I colored old photos. It turned out funny)

Let me not make long introductions. Let's start coloring right now. Open any b/w photo (I chose a photo I found on the Internet).

Just look at what mode the photo is in right away. It's just possible that it is saved in the format "Greyscale", then you just won't be able to work with color.

Change the color mode to RGB. To do this, go to the top menu and select the item "Image" - "Mode". Well, if it's not the RSL, then put it.

Let's look at the first method, namely the familiar one.


Overlay options

Here is another fairly effective trick for coloring photos. The main thing here is to create a separate layer for each element. I took new photo for these needs.


By the way, this was the very first method that I learned about. When I found out about it, I liked it so much that I colored a lot of photos).

Layer mask

Well, the last way of transformation for today is with the help of a layer mask. Let's get straight to the point.


Well, as a result, a beautiful color photograph is obtained and it already looks completely different. Oops, I just screwed up a little. But you can always fix this.

I never cease to be amazed at the power of Photoshop. Indeed, in many cases the same problem can be solved in several ways, and you yourself can choose the method that suits you best. By the way, which one do you like best? Or do you have your own way of how to make a black and white photo color in Photoshop, which I have not described here? Please write in the comments.

If you want to explore the possibilities of Photoshop in the shortest possible time and learn how to work with it, then I strongly recommend that you look great video course. Everything is told in detail in it, everything is told in human language and laid out on the shelves. The material is easy to digest. So I recommend.

Well, I'm done for today. I hope you enjoyed my article. Be sure to subscribe to my blog updates, then you will always be aware of the most relevant information on the blog. I will not spam. I promise). And I wish you good luck in mastering Photoshop. Bye bye!

Sincerely, Dmitry Kostin.