All B&W, Subject in Colour - Selective Desaturation

[Peisqo]

Hi guys, i'm interested in learning this technique ... been looking but can't find ... i'm trying to create this "effect" ... the whole pic black and white ... but only the subject be in colour ... i guess this can be done in PS right ? Some1 mind teaching me ? hehe ... for example i wanna edit this pic:

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/9708/dsc1296lh9.jpg

I want the whole pic to be B&W ... only the can see the yellow colour .. do-able ? :)

[ShaolinTiger]

Like this hor?

5335

[Peisqo]

exactly !! teach teach :P step by step prefered haha thnx

off topic: I've always wondered, aren't you a westerner? How come u have that ****ty malaysian accent lol

[ShaolinTiger]

exactly !! teach teach :P step by step prefered haha thnx

off topic: I've always wondered, aren't you a westerner? How come u have that ****ty malaysian accent lol

Yeah, I'm honourary Malaysian!

Anyway this time I used Magnetic lasso, but you can use any selection method you are comfortable with, magic wand works if you set the tolerance high enough.

Once you selected the whole flower carefully, press CTRL+I to invert the selection, then desaturate using your chosen method.

I use channel mixer - monochrome for this one, then adjusted the overall curves on the picture.

You can also duplicate the image, turn the whole thing black and white, then use background eraser to bring the colour version through.

Or do the same thing with a layer mask - hide all.

[acidict]

I think u more like mid-westerner :P ... only half way west... anyway thanksfor sharing the knowledge ... always wanted to know how its done too .. thanks to peisqo too for asking :D

[Peisqo]

Yeah, I'm honourary Malaysian!

Anyway this time I used Magnetic lasso, but you can use any selection method you are comfortable with, magic wand works if you set the tolerance high enough.

Once you selected the whole flower carefully, press CTRL+I to invert the selection, then desaturate using your chosen method.

I use channel mixer - monochrome for this one, then adjusted the overall curves on the picture.

You can also duplicate the image, turn the whole thing black and white, then use background eraser to bring the colour version through.

Or do the same thing with a layer mask - hide all.

Boss .. how to turn whole thing to black and white ? Is it desaturate ? Looks abit retarded leh :P

And how to use background eraser to bring the colour version ? can i juz copy the selected area .. then paste back to the same place ? lol

And also can you "undo-last-point" when using the magnetic lasso tool ? Like sometimes it sticks to a wrong point .. can we juz cancel 1 point backwards .. or have to do the whole thing again =.="

I think u more like mid-westerner :P ... only half way west... anyway thanksfor sharing the knowledge ... always wanted to know how its done too .. thanks to peisqo too for asking :D

No worries :) I was searching and can't find this thread .. i think this is pretty common and useful hehe

[ShaolinTiger]

Boss .. how to turn whole thing to black and white ? Is it desaturate ? Looks abit retarded leh :P


Can, I used channel mixer, there's a lot of ways to create black and white images.


And how to use background eraser to bring the colour version ? can i juz copy the selected area .. then paste back to the same place ? lol


Just select all (CTRL+A) then paste (CTRL+V) it will appear as a new layer in the layers pallet, then make the top layer black and white using whatever method.

Then use the eraser to show the yellow flower through from the lower layer.


And also can you "undo-last-point" when using the magnetic lasso tool ? Like sometimes it sticks to a wrong point .. can we juz cancel 1 point backwards .. or have to do the whole thing again =.="


Unfortunately not, you have to rather careful.

If you select the wrong bit by mistake, just ignore it and carry on, then later when you've finished, just re-select that small area and make it to b&w.