adding a little color to your black & white

I used to use photo markers or colored pencils to fill in those special spots of a black & white print that I wished to highlight. Now with the digital darkroom in photoshop, you can create this same look in no time.

You start with a color photograph:

Go to file — New  — Layer via copy (or Apple J if you have a mac)Select the top layer (probably titled layer 1), and from the menu bar go to Image — Adjustments — Desaturate. That will then make the top image Black & White, while your bottom image is color. From there you take the erase tool and erase all the areas that you want the color from the bottom layer to show through. After you have erased every area that you want color to show through, flatten your image. I made a few more adjustments to this photo using the levels to brighten it up & the burn tool on the chalk to keep the color strong after I had brightened the rest of the photo. Here is the result:

Tagged as: photography, tiny tips