Selective Color - a basic guide

[Paul Hansen]

Here's a very basic guide of changing the color of a car. I won't go into masking and multiple layers at the moment - those take a bit more time than I have right now - but this is a basic primer for changing the color of a vehicle. There are various uses for this technique, from simply getting a color just right, to the common purpose of it, creating different vehicle colors for catalogues without having to get several different vehicles shot in exactly the right position.

We will start with a primary color car, once again for convenience. The Art Factory Civic will do, plus the graphics on the side illustrate just how selective Selective Color is.
http://www.sevenphotos.com/dev/color/cc_001.jpg

Next, go to Image -> Adjustments - > Selective Color.
http://www.sevenphotos.com/dev/color/cc_002.jpg

Select Yellows, in this case, and start moving the color sliders till you reach the desired color tone. This part can be tricky, as sometimes you may have to change it to another primary color, then switch to that color for final editing.
http://www.sevenphotos.com/dev/color/cc_003.jpg

And there we are. Looks simple enough, right? But for many jobs, you will need to mask out various bits of the car first, so as to not effect them. And creating white or black from this process can be very difficult, simply due to the difference those two colors have from every other.
http://www.sevenphotos.com/dev/color/cc_004.jpg

And there you have it.

[Jeff Boerio]

Paul,

Absolutely dead-on article on how to do this. Like others who have mentioned that there are many ways to do this, I prefer to create a new Selective Color layer rather than attempting to adjust the existing layer. The reason behind that is because you don't modify the original image.

And in this case, you could create several selective color layers, turning them on and off when you need to in order to generate the "final" for each color car you're trying to produce.

For me, I can't tell people how many times I've had to "start over" because I destroyed my creation by modifying the existing layer and couldn't go back enough to undo my screwups.

- Jeff

[Austin Langley]

Paul,

Absolutely dead-on article on how to do this. Like others who have mentioned that there are many ways to do this, I prefer to create a new Selective Color layer rather than attempting to adjust the existing layer. The reason behind that is because you don't modify the original image.

And in this case, you could create several selective color layers, turning them on and off when you need to in order to generate the "final" for each color car you're trying to produce.

For me, I can't tell people how many times I've had to "start over" because I destroyed my creation by modifying the existing layer and couldn't go back enough to undo my screwups.

- Jeff

I hear ya on that one. I'm finished with destructive editing. All non-destructive from now on. Layer mask's and adjustment layers have become my best friends in PS.

[Paul Hansen]

Oh yes, I always edit within different layers. Some of the more extensive jobs I have had to do for MMC had up to 30 or 40 layers, and an equal amount of path outlines. Most catalogs you see with several color combinations of a car are created this way.

Well, that, and I cannot remember how many different accessories I've had to add or subtract from a car for a photo.

Cheers

[Todd Corzett]

Paul, great tutorial... I find selective color (and other "whole image" techniques) to leave something to be desired. Like you said, this is just a simple example... but without using a mask you changed the top part of the rear turn signal when you did the car. I guess what I'm trying to say, which echos the "Looks simple enough, right?" comment, is that it's never as simples as this. The key between a great Photoshop artist and someone who just hack is the details.

I cannot remember how many different accessories I've had to add or subtract from a car for a photo.
It could be kinda fun to post a before and after... kinda a "where's Waldo" sort of thing.

-Todd...

[Lyndon So]

wow.

thanks for the info.