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Simple steps to colour popping perfection

Techniques

11 September 2008 17:08

In this simple two-step technique we show you how to ‘colour pop’ your shots. This involves turning colour shots black & white, then bringing back some of the original colour to draw the viewers’ attention to specific parts of the image.

If you really want to improve your technique, check out the October 2008 issue of Practical Photography. Web Content Producer James Abbott will take you through some simple steps to achieve stylish portraits with an advanced colour popping twist.

1. Desaturate

First, open your image and go to the Layer Palette, click on the Adjustment Layer button (the half black, half white circle). Choose the method of black & white conversion you prefer. In Elements you have only Desaturate, but in Photoshop CS3 you also have Black & White and Channel Mixer adjustment layers. This leaves you with a black & white image and mask to work on.

2. Mask the adjustment layer

Make sure your foreground colour is set to black and Select the Brush tool with a large medium soft edge. As you paint the mask with black, the underlying colour will return to your image. You may find that when working at the edges of some objects a hard brush works best. If at any time you make a mistake, all you have to do is set white to the foreground colour and paint to erase any mistakes. Just don’t forget to set it back to black to paint the colour back in.