Selective Color

Selective color is something that has probably lost its popularity but it is still something that I enjoy using occasionally.  I think with the right photograph, selective color can make an regular picture into a piece of art.  For those of you not sure what selective color is-well you have all seen those pictures that are black and white but some aspect of the photo is in color-that is selective color.  I am going to post some steps to creating a selective color photo in Photoshop Elements that I found on the internet and gave a try-it works good.  There are numerous ways to create photos with selective color and this is just one.


1.Once the photo you want to use is open, go to Layer>Duplicate Layer. 2. Make sure that the background copy is selected. It will be highlighted in your layers palette on the right-hand side.  Go to Enhance at the top tool bar and select Convert to black and white.  You could also hold down Ctrl+Alt+B and get the same effect.
3. Decide which part of your photograph you want to be in color. It could be something as small as one leaf or flower or you could make a person color while their background is black and white or simply a logo you would like left in color to stand out.
4. To select what you want to be in color, you can use whatever tool is easiest for you: the lasso, the marquee tool, the selection brush, or the magic wand. Try your best to get the exact outline of the object. It may help to zoom in a couple times.  I used the quick selection tool.
5. Also, if the objects you want to select are not near each other, you can hold down “shift” in order to let go of the mouse, move to the new area of the photo, and continue selecting.  This will allow you to have more than one area of your photo in color.
6. Once you’ve got the objects selected, press “delete” on your keyboard. You now have a black and white photo with color seeping through from the other layer.
7. Go to Select on the top tool bar and choose Deselect (or Ctrl+D) to get rid of the “marching ants.”
8. You can now flatten and save your photo as you desire.

Here is an example that I did with this method: