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Highlighting colors in a B&W image

W

Wingnut330

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 16, 2008
530
0
Central Ohio - USA
Hey folks,

I'd like to take a picture of my son that is color, convert it to B&W and then highlight pieces of that same picture in color - like his eyes etc.

I only have iPhoto, so if I can use that great, but if not, what do you folks recommend?
 
I wonder, can you "cut" parts of the photo? If so, can you layer a BW on top of a color and cut the eyes out? Maybe that's complicating things.
PS Elements...yeah what he said!
 
As a self-proclaimed Photoshop know nothing, it's so easy in PS.

But in iPhoto, I don't know of a way you can do that.

If you know anyone with Photoshop though, they'd be able to do it in minutes.

If you really want to do it and don't know anyone, PM and I'll do it for you.

Cheers.
 
Well, it kind of leads me to the real crux of the issue. I like iPhoto, but the whole reason I switched from Windows to Mac was because I'm hoping to become a more advanced photographer/editor. I'm a 100% newbie, but want to learn to do more. I plan to buy a DSLR soon, but in the meantime want to have some fun with my existing pictures.

I have to admit that Photoshop sounds great, but the interface seems intimidating, especially to a beginner, but I also don't want to buy something that I will grow out of.

I've been looking at the Adobe site but can't find a great comparison between Elements and CS3.

So, I'm stuck. The good news is that I can get an educational discount, so whatever I decide to buy will be slightly cheaper.

Any thoughts?
 
I would go with Elements, as it's only around $90, compared to the much more pricey CS3. Also, I wouldn't be worried about growing out of it for a long time, as Elements has all the features any 'normal' user would need. By the time you actually need some of the features provided by CS3 (If ever), you will have become quite proficient at using Photoshop and should be able to make the switch easily.
 
You need to remember though that there is a lot more to digital photography and the tools photographers use than just manipulating images.

Personally, I would use Aperture for the more camera-related image tweaks and for cataloguing your pictures and would use Photoshop for major alterations and effects.

Of course those two tools come at quite a high sticker price.

The lower-end price point of those two types of tools are iPhoto and Elements. Will you grow out of them? Depends on how serious you're going to get. I have thousands of photos in iPhoto and it manages them just great, it allows me to make adjustments that most people would be very happy with.

For the type of adjustment you mentioned at the beginning of your post, you need image manipulation and creation software.

I use Aperture on my MacBook Pro and iPhoto on my iMac and Photoshop on both. My wife uses iPhoto and would not like Aperture, it's just got too many features.

There are many good books on Photoshop and although the interface looks intimidating (and remember my disclaimer on being a Photoshop idiot), it's really not that difficult to get good at a couple of things. I have a friend that draws in PS and his drawings are spectacular, I wouldn't even attempt to do that stuff, so I just don't use those features.

Try and get your hands on a free trial of Photoshop and go pick up a book. For the $75 investment (in the book) you might find that you can get used to it and find your way around like I do.

Come on in, the water's lovely.

Cheers.
 
If you can get the student discount & you plan on advancing in the hobby/profession, I would consider getting Photoshop CS3.
Playing Guitar is intimidating also but that doesn't keep me from learning to play, & like photoshop the more you play with it the more you learn.
Bad analogy i guess, But I really enjoy playing Guitar & Photoshop RULES!
 
Wingnut330 said:
Well, it kind of leads me to the real crux of the issue. I like iPhoto, but the whole reason I switched from Windows to Mac was because I'm hoping to become a more advanced photographer/editor. I'm a 100% newbie, but want to learn to do more. I plan to buy a DSLR soon, but in the meantime want to have some fun with my existing pictures.

I have to admit that Photoshop sounds great, but the interface seems intimidating, especially to a beginner, but I also don't want to buy something that I will grow out of.

I've been looking at the Adobe site but can't find a great comparison between Elements and CS3.

So, I'm stuck. The good news is that I can get an educational discount, so whatever I decide to buy will be slightly cheaper.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Get Elements. Adobe will give you $100 off CS3 anytime you want to upgrade. In fact, they often do offers for Elements owners to upgrade for $299.
 
thats a good question. i have elements. how can i do this? do i convert the whole pic to B&W first, then what?

Edit: Never mind, just figured it out, very easy!
 
basesloaded190 said:
thats a good question. i have elements. how can i do this? do i convert the whole pic to B&W first, then what?

Edit: Never mind, just figured it out, very easy!
Click to expand...

so.. how did you do it? would be interested to know how..

also, i dont have PS or PS Elements, but do have Pixelmator.. I am assuming this similar effect can be re-created in that software package?
 
i converted the whole picture to B&W and then with elements used the quick selection tool to select what i wanted to change. once i had my selection, i just messed around with the hue and temp of that selection until i got it to the color i wanted.
 
I would be very interested in some sort of step by step instructions or something close to it. Some hints maybe. I have photoshop elements.
 
i don't know if what i did is what you wanted or what you were looking for, if someone else has a better way to go about doing this tell us all because i don't know any other way than what i found last night
 
HomeingPigeon said:
I cant even find the quick selection tool.

Scratch that. Found it.
Click to expand...

if you want to keep part of the picture the same color but leave the rest in black and white: use the quick selection tool to choose the area you want to keep in color. go to select:inverse. that will take the inverse of what you just selected, then go and change the picture to B&W. the picture will change except for the area that you selected. works easier than the other way i tried.
 
FYI- if you're looking for the "easy" way to convert just certain objects to color in PS, you should make the whole picture B&W, and then use the history brush to paint the areas you want in color. For a more flexible image you can also layer a B&W over a color image, and then mask the areas you want in color.
 
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