Myspace Pictures: Changing a Color Photo into a Black and White Photo with Color Emphasis

I took a graphics design class in high school and ever since, I have spent time just playing with photo editors on my computer. This tutorial will help you create something that took me hours to figure out on my own! Adding specific color to objects in your black and white photos can really give them a classy or fun look. Coloring one object in one color only would be suitable for printing and displaying in your house. Using more colors is a fun way to create neat pictures, that can be used for display on your webpage, myspace page, blog, whatever! Follow these easy directions and take a look at the photos provided for extra help.

1. Open the picture you would like to use in Adobe Photoshop (go to file, open and then find your photo on your computer's hard drive)

2. At the top of the page in the menu bar, click on "Image" (third from the left)

3. Under image, find Adjustments. Hover your mouse pointer over this and find the selection titled "Hue/Saturation". Click on this.

4. Find the saturation pointer in this box. It will be on the second line in the box, labeled as "saturation". Slide the Saturation pointer all the way to the left (this will put the saturation at -100)

5. Click OK

6. Zoom in to 200% (or higher, depending on the size of the object you wish to color. If the object is large, 200% should be appropriate. If you have a smaller object, you can zoom in further and it will be easier to color your object accurately.) by choosing the magnifying glass from your tools bar, and clicking within your photo until you reach the desired magnification

7. Set your foreground color by clicking on the foreground color box in your tools bar and making your color selection and pressing OK

8. Click on your paintbrush tool (Right column, 4^th row of the tools bar). This is how you select the paint brush tool for use.

9. At the top of the page (see picture) click the down arrow next to "mode" and select "color burn" for the mode. Then click the down arrow next to "opacity" and adjust the opacity to your preference. I usually use it at around 30%- you might have to play with it to find what works for your particular photo and colors. If the object you are coloring is a darker object, you will probably have to use a higher opacity for it to really show up.

10. Use your paintbrush tool to color in the object or objects. Try to color as much of your object as possible in each stroke. Coloring over an area in the same stroke will not cause it to color it twice, but releasing your mouse and starting a new stroke can cause your coloring to be uneven if you accidentally go over an already colored area. If you would like to use another color, just click on the foreground color box again and select your other color.

Save it, and you're done! Try playing around with different colors and photos. There are really endless possibilities for this. It's easy and pretty fast to do, but it is fun to spend more time trying different looks. Just make sure to save each time you have a look that you like, because sometimes the "undo" button will only go back for your last few actions. Adding color to an object in a black and white photo adds interest and can really bring out a desired focal point. There are other easy ways to spruce up your photos using Adobe Photoshop...tutorials coming soon!