B&W w/Color

[rcarlson80]

I have a few pics I would like to attempt to make B&W and leave say one flower or one other Item in the pic In full vibrant color. I have Photoshop 7.0 Could anyone point me in the direction I need to go for this. Any help much appreciated. Thanks, Ron

[rdenney]

I have a few pics I would like to attempt to make B&W and leave say one flower or one other Item in the pic In full vibrant color. I have Photoshop 7.0 Could anyone point me in the direction I need to go for this. Any help much appreciated. Thanks, Ron

Select the area you want to turn to black and white. Then, go to Image>Adjustments>Channel Mixer. Check the Monochrome box. that will turn your selection black and white. Adjust the color sliders to get the tonalities you want (this has the same effect as using color filters on the camera using black and white film). This approach provides much better control than desaturation. Then, invert the selection and make your color adjustments on the flower.

Rick "who never carries any filters except polarizers any more" Denney

[Paul_B]

I think I know what you want to do. I saw this in eDigital magazine.
Did this a few weeks back, here is best I remember.

Copy layer (I copied twice, 1st one didn't do what I wanted).
Make 1 layer B&W.
Then with eraser tool, rubbed out the B&W area I wanted in colour.
I forget which layer I did this on, test it out.
When I was done, flatten image, and you have a B&W photo except that one area/object where you rubbed out the B&W, it will be just as it was, full colour.
You know you have it right when you see your colour appearing as the b&w is being erased.
Sorry for not remembering exactly, but I did get it in just a few minutes doing it this way.

[rcarlson80]

rdenney,
THANKS, This is excatly what I wanted, looks great in just a few steps.

[Sabina]

I do the layer/erase method a lot. I love it. I also get mixed up as to which layer is on top, and which is underneath, so I do a little test erase, to see what appears. If the erased area appears opaque, with no image at all, then I know that I'm erasing the bottom layer, and need to cancel that, and work on the other layer (which I now know is the top layer). I also like to change my brush size for different areas of the erasing process - for larger areas, I choose a larger brush, for the finicky areas, I select a tiny brush, and enlarge my photo on the screen so I don't miss any bits. I love this effect, especially when I have a photograph that doesn't exactly jump out at me. With this effect, it really brings the photograph to life.

[prime80]

Just a suggestion that gives you a bit more control over the final picture. Instead of using a layer and erasing it to show color through, try using a B&W layer mask, and then drawing on it in white. You get a lot more control, and if you mess up, you can just change your brush color to black which effectively "erases" the color back to B&W. Try it out...

[RAitch]

Yes, layer masks are IMPORTANT!!!
There are about 200 ways to select a portion of an image.
Some of the best results come from one of the colour channels. You can look at just the red channel (for example) and copy it to an alpha channel (for selections). From there, you can use the burn and dodge tool to make a mask used for selection. From there, you can copy that selection to a new layer and adjust the colour properties.

Another way to select is with the magic wand... but honestly, that produces harsh edges and doesn't look as nice.

Using one of the channels is the best way because you're using picture information. Sometimes you need to use more than one layer as the best contrast isn't always in 1 channel for all areas. For example, the red channel might show you the best contrast between the flower and the background around the petals, but the green channel might be better for the stem (or visa versa).
If you CTRL-click on an alpha channel, it will be loaded as a selection.

If all else fails, create a layer mask and use the painting tools. Zoom way in to get the best results. If you screw up, switch between black and white and repaint (as was mentioned before).

Post your picture and I'm sure we'll all have a go at it and post specific instructions if you want.

[rcarlson80]

Thank you all, this is one of my favorite effects on a pic and I am sure I will be trying out all the methods above and maybe someday I wont have to look back at my post to see how it was I did things. Ron

[alfa1six4]

I explained my method here, very much similar to RAitch's

B/W with color (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66666)

[RAitch]

Here's a cool tutorial on using channels to select and pull an object off a picture. Instead of moving the picture to another background, you can CTRL-click the channel to load it as a selection then apply whatever colour or saturation changes you want.
Don't forget the burn and dodge tools can be handy... if not overused.
http://www.adobeevangelists.com/pdfs/photoshop/01_09_2002/channel_masks.pdf

Here are some other great techniques
http://www.adobeevangelists.com/pdfs/photoshop/11_01_2001/adv_masking144.pdf

Other tutorials here:
http://www.adobeevangelists.com/photoshop/index.html

(Channels become very important when creating masks... learn to use them)