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(adapted from the book "Hands On Photoshop 7: Tutorial Workshops"
by Stan Shire, 2002. Reproduced with permission.)
Hand-Coloring a Grayscale Photograph:
Three Techniques to Add Color
to a Grayscale Image
by Stan Shire
Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop
© 2002-2003 Stan Shire
Introduction
Photographers and other artists have used the technique of coloring
a grayscale photograph with dyes or pigmented oil colors for many
years. Originally, this was done because no color photographic
process existed. Later, color photographs were more expensive than
"black and white," and during WWII, color film and paper were not
available to the general public, so hand-coloring continued as a way
to make "color" photographs. Today hand-coloring exists as both
an art form and as a technique in photographic restoration. This
exercise will allow you to explore three methods for adding color to
a grayscale photograph.
The first two techniques use a blank layer for each color that will
be applied to the image. The "Color" calculation mode is applied to
the layer. This layer mode allows the underlying image detail and
tonality to show through the color. A color is selected and painted
in the blank layer. Finally, the layer transparency is adjusted to
control the color's appearance. The main difference between the
two methods is that one uses a selection to precisely define an area
to receive the color, while the color is brushed on "freehand" in the
other.
The third technique that you will explore uses a Hue/Saturation
adjustment layer on a selection to visually place the hue, saturation,
and brightness of the color.
Preparing the Image and Applying a Base Tint
Hand colorists would often tone the photographic print in a liquid chemical to
give an overall warm tone to the image. In this way, neutral areas would have
some color and would not have to be colored with oils or colored pencils. Even
though these areas are neutral in color, they would not "blend" well with the
colored areas if a slight tint or color tone was not added.
1. Open a Grayscale image (or if you have my book's companion CD, open the file "Silversmith Grayscale.psd" found in the "Hand Color" folder; see book link above or bio contact below for information about the book/CD). Use the color "after" image above as a guide.
2. In order to add color to the grayscale image, the mode must be converted to
RGB. Select Image>Mode>RGB Color (Note: this is my standard notation to indicate a sequence of menu items).
3. Create a Solid Color fill layer with Layer>New Fill Layer>Solid Color. Name this
layer "Overall Tint," change the mode to Color, and click OK:
4. The Color Picker will open. Click on the "R" radio button to set the Red value
to 50. Click the Green radio button and set the value to 25. Set the Blue to 0.
Click OK.
5. Lower the layer opacity for the "Overall tint" fill layer to 30%:
6. You can choose your own colors for this assignment or use my predefined set
of color swatches (you can download a free copy of this swatch set here). To use my or another color swatch set, choose Window>Swatches. Click on the drop down menu triangle at the top right of the Swatches palette and choose "Replace Swatches." Load the appropriate .aco file (mine is called "silversmithswatches.aco">"Small List").
Coloring the Vest
The vest will be colored using the "select and fill" technique.
1. Select the vest using any of the selection techniques that you have learned to
this point.
2. Alt-click (Mac: Option click) the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers
palette. In the dialog box, name this new blank layer, "Vest" and change the mode to
"Color." (You may have to scroll down the list to find the Color mode.)
3. Choose your own color by clicking on the Foreground color icon in the toolbox (as a starting point, try: R=0, G=102, B=51) or click on the "Vest" color in the Swatches palette.
4. Fill the still-active selection with the foreground color with Alt-Delete (Mac: Option Delete):
Lower the "vest" layer opacity to about 15%:
5. Deselect the vest selection.
6. Save the image as "Silversmith working.psd" and put it in a new Working Folder on your hard drive.
Coloring the Face and Hands
The skin tones will be colored with a freehand painting technique. Since you will be creating a separate layer for the face and hands, don't worry if your painting goes outside the lines. You can use the eraser to cleanup the edges. This is one major advantage of placing each color on its own layer. The other advantage is the ability to control each element's layer opacity individually
without affecting other layers.
1. Choose your own color by clicking on the Foreground color icon in the
toolbox...
(try using R=204, G=153, B=153) or click on the "Fleshtone" color in the Swatches palette.
2. Alt-click (Mac: Option click) the New Layer icon at the bottom of the
Layers palette. In the dialog box, name this new layer, "Fleshtone" and
change the mode to "Color."
3. Choose the paintbrush tool and make the edge hardness about 75% (Window>Brushes>Brush Tip Shape>Hardness).
Tip: When the brush tool is active, the size and edge hardness can be changed
from the keyboard. The right square bracket key "]" will increase the brush size
and the left square bracket key "[" will decrease the size. Holding the shift key while using the square bracket keys will increase or decrease edge hardness in these steps: 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%.
4. Paint the face and hands with the Fleshtone color. When you are done, clean up
any unwanted color with the Eraser tool. Pay particular attention to edge of
the hair and the tool in the silversmith's hand:
Also, remove the color from the whites of the silversmith's eyes.
5. Change the layer opacity of the "Fleshtone" layer to 60%.
6. Save the image as "Silversmith working.psd" in your Working Folder.
Coloring the Hair
A different hand-coloring technique will be used on the hair. Instead of creating
a new, blank layer in Color mode, a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer will be
used here. Magnifying the image will allow you to be more accurate with the
hair selection. If you are at high magnification, holding the space bar while in
any tool will allow you to move around the image with the hand tool. Releasing
the space bar will return you to the tool that you were using.
1. Use the freehand lasso or the Polygonal lasso to
make a selection of the hair (see above left). The selection should be fairly accurate. To slightly soften the edge of the
selection, go to the Select menu. Choose Feather and
apply a 2-pixel feather radius. If necessary, fix the
selection in Quick Mask.
2. Choose Layer>New Adjustment Layer>Hue/
Saturation. Name the layer "Hair." The mode will remain at Normal.
3. In the Hue/Saturation dialog box, click the
"Colorize" checkbox. The saturation slider will
move to 25%. Drag the Hue slider until the hair color is satisfactory. You can
also make minor corrections to the Saturation or lower that layer's opacity (see above right). You will not want to adjust the Brightness slider as this will emphasize the selection edges.
4. Save the image as "Silversmith working.psd" in your Working Folder.
Adding Sky Color to the Window
The window in the silversmith's shop (below left) has no detail due to the extreme brightness range of this image. Sky color, in nature, is generally lighter near the
horizon and gets darker as you look higher. To simulate this, a graduated "sky"
will be added to the window (below right).
1. Click on the Background layer to make it active.
2. Choose the Magic Wand tool and set the tolerance to 50. Set the option to "Add
to selection"...
3. Click in each window pane to select all of them.
4. Click on the layer at the top of the layer stack then Alt-click (Mac: Option click)
the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. In the dialog box, name
this new layer, "Sky gradient." Leave the mode at "Normal."
5. Click in the Swatches palette on "Sky 1;" this will make this color the
foreground color (or use these values: R=28, G=117, B=251).
6. Control-click (Mac: Command click) in the Swatches palette on "Sky 2;" this
will assign this as the background color (or use these values: R=142, G=185, B=250).
7. Select the Gradient tool.
8. In the tool's options bar, click on the Linear Gradient icon:
9. Hold the Shift key and drag the gradient tool icon from the top of the window
to the bottom. The Shift key constrains the drag to a vertical (or horizontal)
line. Release the Shift key.
10. Lower the "Sky Gradient" layer's opacity to about 35%.
11. Deselect the window selection. (Choose Select>Deselect or Control-D)
12. Save the image as "Silversmith working.psd" in your Working Folder.
Continuing With the Other Image Elements
Using the color "after" image at the beginning of this tutorial as a guide, color other elements in
this image. Use any of the techniques that you have practiced.
If you are using my swatch set, color swatches have been provided for:
• The brass and copper pieces in front of the silversmith (brass: R=171, G=141, B=99; copper: R=188, G=128, B=99)
• The red glass cup on the table (R=194, G=57, B=27)
• Various wooden elements such as tool handles and the table on top of the
chest in the background (R=63, G=31, B=5)
• The shirt (R=248, G=222, B=188)
Use these swatches or select your own colors, using the above values as starting points.
When you have finished, save the image as "Silversmith Done.psd" in your working
folder. Also, save the file on a CD or ZIP disk.
Stan Shire is an Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop and a beta-tester for Photoshop 6.0 and 7.0. He is Department Chair and Associate Professor of Photographic Imaging at Community College of Philadelphia. For information about his book or companion CD, you can e-mail Stan at sshire@ccp.edu or visit his website: www.stanshire.com.
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