noob needs help with cs3!!

[romeo26]

how do i change the color of the background of a picture?
ex: people are in color and background is black and white.
i got as far as selecting the people with the laso tool then got confused on what to do next.

how do you use the blur tool?

[Nightstalker]

In your example the simplest way would be -

Select the people
Inverse Selection : Select - Inverse
Desaturate the (now selected) background : Image - Adjustments - Hue/Saturation

There are better (non-destructive) ways to do this e.g duplicate layer, desaturate using channels, select people and apply layer mask but just have a play - it's the easiest way to learn.

[dennytang]

Try using the extract tool (Filter> Extract). You can get more information about it by pressing F1 for help and searching "Extract filter".

Once the person is extracted, you can create a layer below it and put anything you want in that layer (ex. color of your choice or another photo).

[romeo26]

thanks...i decided to try dennytang's way and it worked very well!
take a look:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c67/romeo26/new%20camera/20070628_0002copy.jpg

i even made an action so i can put my name on all of my pictures!

[B3SEO]

Yep.. You got it. And then some!

[goforphoto]

Ther is a easier way to do this form of selective coloring. In cs3 you can add a BW layer adjustment layer then paint back in the area you want in color using black color and a soft brush . The only time you need to use a selection tool is when you need to replace the background.