HOW TO USE Adobe® Photoshop® CS2 [Electronic resources]

Task 3 How to Correct a Range of Colors

At times, you might want to change a range of colors within an object or area. You might want to make a red ball yellow, for example, or a blue car green. This involves changing more than just one color shade because numerous values represent the highlights and shadows across the form. At the same time, you don't want to change any areas outside the desired object. Photoshop offers the perfect set of tools for making these types of changes: the Select Color Range and the Hue Saturation controls. This task shows you how to specify a range of colors and globally change them to another color.

1. Open the File

Select File, Open and select the image file you want to modify.

2. Select Color Range

Select Select, Color Range to launch the Color Range dialog box. From the Select drop-down list box, select Sampled Colors so you can select the colors in the image that you want to change.

[View full size image]

3. Sample the Color Range

The Eyedropper icon should be selected by default. If it's not, click it in the dialog box and then click in the thumbnail or main image to select a color. Select White Matte from the Selection Preview pop-up menu to preview the colors selected against a white background within the main image window. The selected color is shown in the main image window against a white background so you can see exactly what is included in the sampling. If necessary, switch to the Add to Sample tool and click other areas to include them in your sample. Drag the Fuzziness slider to increase or decrease the range of colors selected. Click OK to create a selection of the color range as shown.

[View full size image]

4. Change the Hue

Select Image, Adjustments, Hue/Saturation to launch the Hue/Saturation dialog box. Drag the Hue slider to shift the color range as desired. Here, I changed the blue butterfly to an orange one.

[View full size image]

5. Check the Brightness

If the color range selected is very dark or very light, moving the Hue slider might not change anything. In this case, drag the Lightness slider and then modify the Hue slider as needed to achieve the desired effect.

[View full size image]