"Colorizing" an image

... using the Hue/Saturation adjustment

While this method works equally well on a color image converted to Black & White, it is also ideally suited for colorizing or adding color to Black & White images where you don't have the luxury of first selecting the "color" subject to isolate. (The fourth block of our header above.)
      This one is actually a lot of fun. While it will work just as well using an adjustment layer, this time we're going to make the modifications directly to the black and white image. In a new image, or starting from scratch, you would still have to go through the selection process as we outlined on page one.

Make a B&W work layer

Since we already have our selection saved, I'm going to just pull a copy of the image by dragging it to the "New Layer" button on the Layers Palette, and then run the Desaturation adjustment on the whole image to convert it to B&W.
      Open our layers menu and see the new black and white layer now hiding the original color layer. (We turned the original off by clicking the "Eye" icon.) Above you'll see the Adjustment layer from the previous exercise -- it too is turned off.

Load and Colorize

Choose Menu: Select > Load Selection
      Select the Channels Tab in the Layers palette and then Command/Click (Control/Click) the channel to load the selection -- and then click back to Layers in the Layers Palette. You should see the racing ants around your selection over the black and white image.
      This time we will NOT invert the selection since we want to 'colorize' the apple itself.
 

Choose Menu: Image > Adjust > Hue/Saturation...
The familiar Hue/Saturation dialog pops up, and this time we'll be making modifications to the "Hue" slider first.
 

Open the Hue/Saturation dialog now.
 

First, click the "Colorize" button in the lower right-hand corner.

Now slide the "Hue" slider to the desired color. (We had to go all the way over to the right in order to get a good 'red' for our apple.)
      Notice that while you increase and change the colorization of the selected image, the intensity also increases. You'll usually need to 'desaturate' the color in order to make it more realistic. Go ahead and experiment with that slider until the image is pleasing.
      Considering that's a Black plus one color image, it looks pretty good. If you were running a two color job you could now save the file out as two-color separations and print a beautiful finished product. (Or, see our Duo-Tone seminar elsewhere in the Photoshop department.)

Painting to enhance the effect

Now, let's take this process one step further.

I didn't really like the brutal red of the newly 'colorized' apple. I guess I was remembering the original image too much to let it go. So with the apple still selected I decided to do some enhancement.
 

Open the "Painting" screen now
 

What was missing was Yellow. So, with the selection still active (to limit the paint just to the apple,) I grabbed the paint brush to give the image some punch.
      I selected a bright yellow color from the Swatches palette, and, using the 'Edit Brushes' button in the options bar (arrow pull-out next to the sample) I selected a relatively large (45 pixel) soft edged brush, and set the Brush opacity to 30% in the opacity window. (To the right in the options bar.)
      All the painting in Yellow was done on a new layer with blending mode set to "Multiply." This mixes the paint with the pigment from the layer(s) below giving a natural look to the image. Experiment with the Opacity settings of the brush -- you may want more or less intense color depending on the subject matter in your picture.

Finishing this method

If the image satisfies you the next step is to save the file. I would normally use File > Save As... and give the file a new name, saving as a Photoshop native PSD file. (In case I need to return to it later!) And then flatten and image the file to its next destination.
 

With the lessons we've learned today you can get some nice images. There are lots and lots of modifications and options you can try once you start with these basic steps.
 

Hope you've enjoyed this little trek,
      until next time
      go forth and be creative!
      Fred

Further reading and cross references

1. Colorizing Black & White adds more to this article
2. Duotones are a logical next step
3. Harmonizing Color works with this article in case you're using multiple images in the same spread.

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