Colouring a black and white image

[bazzah]

Colouring a black and white image

Before	Layers used	After

	1. The Skin Obviously everyone's skin has unique shades, so it is up to you to choose the exact shades of skin tone you would like to use. The chart to the left shows three shades for different skin types, that you can use as a reference. For the example above, I used Pallor-Caucasian from the chart to the left. Create a new layer above your black and white image, and set the layer style to 'Soft Light'. Set your brush to 100% opacity, 0% hardness, and set the size accordingly. The colouring in on this step does not need to be precise. Just make sure you overlap the outside edges of the skin areas, so you can tidy up with a layer mask. Now colour in the skin using the darker colour from the skin colour charts left column. Now choose the middle colour from the chart, and colour in the slightly shaded areas, and then finish off the 3rd column colour on the highlighted areas. Create a layer mask, and remove any colouring outside the skin (including the eyes, lips hair etc)
	2. The lips Create a new layer above your skin layer, setting the layer style to Soft Light, and the Opacity to 73%. Using a small brush with 0% hardness, colour in the lips. I used colour cc3333. Again create a layer mask to remove any overlapped colouring.
	3. The Hair Using the same method as above, but with the layer style set to Colour (Don't forget to create a new layer). I used colour 271306.
	4. Eye Whiteness (and teeth) If you would like to make the eyes (and/or teeth) stand out some more, colour in the eyes white, and set the layer style to Overlay (Don't forget to create a new layer). Reduce the layers opacity to about 50% and mask as required.
	5. Eye Colour Using the same methods as the first steps, create a new layer, but set the style to Colour. I used colour 785637 for the eyes.
	6. Clothing I would suggest you create a separate layer for each colour of clothing, so you can easily adjust later on if required. For the clothing set the new layer(s) to Soft Light. I used colours 3a417a and 546153

Advanced tips Layer Masks. For more information on creating layer masks, please see the layer mask tutorial. Creating a better edge to your colour. When masking the edges of your colours, use the smudge tool to blend in the edges. Zoom in to about 200%, and using the smudge tool set to about 75% strength, smooth in the edges of the layer mask. Fine tuning the colour Select the layer you would like to adjust the colour of, and press Ctrl+U to bring up the Hue/Saturation dialogue box. Select 'Colorize' and adjust as necessary.

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[voetzoeker]

Great tutorial Baz, thanks for sharing it with us

[Paris]

Great tips

[invisigoth]

TX...!

[JollyRoger]

Looks good, Bazz

Just wish the late Mr. Jackson knew this when picking his make up!

[chefjoe]

damned, been wrong all thistime. hehe u da mannnnnnnnnnnn! Thanks Baz

[user name]

Love seeing tutorials here.....nice one Baz

[Kelv]

Great tips Baz, Cheers

[Bunny Dojo]

Great job! I was writing something similar up a couple of weeks ago but had a computer problem and gave up. You're far more thorough than I could be anyway, so it's all for the best.

One suggestion I have for anyone serious about learning this is to try it once on a color image first. So, take a color image, turn it to grayscale, then do your manual coloring. After you finish, compare your version to the real version to gauge how far you are from having natural looking colors. If that process seems like a waste of time, I'd say find a picture whose colors you like, and use that as a guide through your coloring process. As awesome as that chart Bazzah posted may be, having an actual picture for comparison can be a big help too.

[jcdesign]

Perfect with such a guide here. Will try it when I have time. Thanks!