hello everyone this is Chris from spoon
graphics back with another video
tutorial for Adobe Photoshop I spent
some time the other day experimenting
with colorizing a black and white
photograph so I thought I'd use that
topic for today's tutorial the thing is
there's a really a step-by-step guide to
explain how to do it exactly since the
color choices will differ for every
picture I thought it'd still be worth
using the topic for a video to share
some general tips and tricks the image I
worked on is a photo of my granddad from
World War 2 the originals that washed
out sepia look to it as you would expect
from a snapshot from the 1940s but after
the scanning and processing it in
Photoshop is brought to life in full
color a much better contrast which
really helps you imagine the scene for
real so find yourself an old
black-and-white photograph to practice
this colorization technique with
yourself it could be an old family photo
or a picture of a famous figure from
generations past no doubt an old photo
scan will have some damage or just
speckles right-click on the layer to
make it a smart object then use the
filter noise distant scratches filter to
remove any speckles from the scan a
value of 1 to 2 pixels and a threshold
of around 30 to 40 works pretty well to
get rid of the specks without
interfering with the photo contents add
a black and white adjustment layer to
neutralize the photograph then add a
levels adjustment layer to fix the
contrast you probably need to darken the
shadows quite a lot converting the
document to CMYK is an important next
step go to image mode in CMYK the merge
the layers were asked if you compare the
addition of color to an RGB document in
a CMYK document you'll notice that the
tones of the image show through much
more in RGB than they do in CMYK where
instead they tend to colorize darker
areas much better to begin adding color
to your image at the solid color
adjustment layer select the hue that
roughly represents the area of the image
you're working on change the blending
mode to soft light to allow the color to
interact with the existing tones of the
black and white photograph alternatively
could try the color blending mode which
retains much more vibrancy within your
hue selections
select the layer mask that is added
alongside the adjustment layer filly
we'd like to clear the color overlay
from the entire image switch to the
brush tool and adjust the tip to around
10% hardness and the size to suit the
area working on make sure the foreground
color selection is set to white which
will restore the color from the mask
then begin painting over the areas which
require this particular color switch the
brush color back over to black within
the toolbar or hit the X key as a
shortcut painting with black below raise
the colour again so use it to remove the
color from unwanted areas or to clean up
any mistakes then we'll click the solid
color to edit the colour selection it's
easier to match the hue when you can see
the live preview you can always adjust
the opacity of the layer to tone down
the impact of the cleave chosen paint
over the image everywhere else where
this color selection is required
I found that overlaying some extra
colors over the face helps boost the
realism a little pink around the eyes
and on the cheeks yellow and the
forehead and blue around the shaved
beard area all made almost invisible
with sub 20% opacity z' just helps add
some sort of variation in colour when
using the brush tool to paint over the
photo like this a pen tablet makes the
job much easier it's still possible to
use this technique with a mouse but if
you're having some trouble you might
instead want to try making selections
with the pen tool to do this trace
around the outline of each portion of
the photo that needs colorizing then
right-click and choose make selection
and a one pixel feathering to avoid any
hard edges and fill the selection with
white to instantly apply the color to
this area
once you've finished colorizing your
photo with a range of solid color
adjustment layers there's a couple of
final tweaks that I found made a huge
difference the first was a hue and
saturation adjustment layer right at the
top of the layer stack bumping up the
saturation helps improve the vibrancy
and compensates for any color selections
that were too dull a color balance
adjustment layer also helps you correct
the overall tone of the photo making
warm up or cool down the shadows
mid-tones and highlights by balancing
between yellows and blues
the final image is a complete
transformation compared to the original
photo scan the addition of color really
brings the shot to life and makes the
scene much more relatable so these tips
give you some inspiration to colorize
some old black-and-white photos you
might own if you enjoyed the video or
learnt it in new thumbs up would be
really appreciated otherwise thank you
very much for watching and I'll see you
in the next one