Sunday, January 10, 2010

Photoshop Elements 6 - Photo Tinting a Black and White Picture

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After having Photoshop Elements for a year, I've finally figured out several techniques that I enjoy!  Here is a photo of my daughter that I've made look old and tinted, similar to those cards you see at the store.  How did I do it?  It's simple. 

Here is the original photo:


Here is the finished product:

Here are the steps you need to take:
1) From the top menu, select Layer/New/Layer Via Copy
2) Also from the top menu select Enhance/Adjust Color/Remove Color
3) Now click on the eraser icon and up at the top, select the brush mode and 20% opacity. This opacity will allow some color to shine through the black and white layer, but still give it an old look.  Use your left and right bracket keys on your keyboard to make your circle smaller or larger.  Then hold down your left mouse button and drag it over each area you want to remove the black and white coloring, showing the actual color through.  I used it over the streamers, her eyes, hair, and lips.  Now select a 10% opacity and a larger brush size, eraser some of the black and white in the cheeks to reveal some color.
4) The last step I did was to blur the background to make her face stand out.  To do this, click on the Quick Selection tool icon on the left, hold down your mouse button, and drag it to select the entire background. You can let go and select a different area of background if you need to.  If you need to deselect an area, simply select the "Subract from Selection" button in the top/left.  Once all the areas are selected, you can now go to Filter/Blur/Gaussian Blur.  I like to use between a 4-7 radius.  Just play around with it and see what looks best. 

Enjoy!  Let me know if you have any questions!
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1 comment:

Kandi said...

Wow, thanks for the tutorial! I'm going to have to try this. I've had Photoshop 6 for awhile, but I don't know how to do anything fun in it yet.