Digital Focus: Special Effects With Color

Use an image editing program to add slick color effects.

Dave Johnson

Feature: A Splash of Color

I'm a sucker for the soda (that's "pop," to those of you in the Midwest) commercial that places a bright red can in the hands of a character in a black-and-white movie. Actually, let me be more clear: I am not a big fan of the commercial; it's the color effect I really like.

That effect is amazingly easy to do. All you need is a digital photo and an image editing program like Paint Shop Pro or PhotoShop Elements--any program that supports layers. I was inspired to feature this technique when I saw the charming Hot Pic of the Week from Alan Smith.

Want to give this effect a shot? Let's make a color flower in a black-and-white field, using a sample photo.

Make a Copy

Start by opening the sample photo in your image editor. I'll assume we're using Paint Shop Pro, but if you have a different program, the steps will be similar. Before we do anything else, make a copy of the photo and store it in the clipboard--just choose Edit, Copy from the menu.

Go Black and White

Now that you safely have a copy of the original image in the computer's clipboard, it's time to convert the image into black and white. Select Colors, Gray Scale. Unfortunately, converting the image into black and white also converts it from a 16-million-color image into a 256-color file. We still need it to be a full 16-million colors, so select Colors, Increase Color Depth, 16 Million Colors.

Layer It

Now we're ready for the real magic. Let's paste the copy we've been saving into the image, on top of the gray-scale version. Choose Edit, Paste, As New Layer. You should immediately see the picture snap back to color. The black-and-white version is still there; it's just under the color layer.

Lasso the Flower

By now, you probably know a million and one uses for the Freehand selection tool. Here's another: We're going to eliminate everything in the top layer except the central flower by selecting the flower, then deleting everything around it. When we delete the area around the flower, you'll see its pretty violet hues surrounded by a gray-scale forest.

To get started, click the Freehand tool (it looks like a lasso) and make sure Smart Edge is selected in the Tool Options dialog box. While you're there, set the Feather to 2 pixels. The Tool Options box is where you make changes to the currently selected tool. If it's not visible, right-click the toolbar and choose Tool Options.

With Smart Edge enabled, you should be able to easily trace the outline of the flower. Start anywhere you like and left-click in small steps, lassoing sections of the flower's outline, until you work all the way around to your starting point. Then either double-click or right-click to close the selection around the flower.

Abracadabra

It's almost show time. Since we want to delete everything except the flower, we need to invert the selection. Choose Selections, Invert. You should see the outline change, and now everything in the picture except the flower is selected. Finally, press the Delete key. Your image will probably look similar to mine.

Dave's Favorites: How a Digital Camera Works

Were you the sort of kid who used to disassemble the family TV, vacuum cleaner, and transistor radio? I know I was. I was always fascinated by how stuff worked, and so I love Web sites like the aptly named HowStuffWorks. This encyclopedic site is filled with cool information about the technology behind all sorts of everyday items.

Visit HowStuffWorks and you'll find a huge collection of information about digital cameras. You'll find out what makes them tick (well, they don't actually tick); how they're similar to, and different from, film cameras; frequently asked questions; and explanations of common digital photography terms.

Q&A: How Do I Resize My Pictures?

Can you tell me how to shrink a photo to 640 by 480? I have Paint Shop Pro but can't figure it out.

--Rick Orocco, Madison, Wisconsin

This question pops up pretty often, so I guess it's something a lot of folks want to know. Resizing pictures is a common image editing trick that helps you make pictures easier to send via e-mail or post on the Web.

I usually use Paint Shop Pro, but many programs have a resizing feature. In Paint Shop Pro, load your photo and then choose Image, Resize from the menu. In the Pixel Size section of the dialog box, enter the dimensions you want--like 640 for the width. If the Maintain Aspect Ratio check box is selected, the program will fill in the appropriate height for you. Then click OK and save the resized image with a different file name; you'll want to keep the hi-res original.

Hot Pic of the Week

Get published, get famous! Each week, we select our favorite reader-submitted photo based on creativity, originality, and technique. Every month, the best of the weekly winners gets a prize valued at between $10 and $100.

A gentle reminder, folks: We disqualify some really wonderful pictures every week because the submissions don't follow the rules. Be sure to include everything we ask for in your e-mail message, including a description of your picture and your complete contact information, or your entry is wasted!

Here's how to enter: Send us your photograph in JPEG format at a resolution no higher than 640 by 480 pixels. Entries at higher resolutions will be immediately disqualified. If necessary, use an image editing program to reduce the file size of your image before e-mailing it to us. Include the title of your photo along with a short description and how you photographed it. Don't forget to send your name, e-mail address, and postal address. Before entering please read the full description of the contest rules and regs.

This week's Hot Pic: "Abbigail's Bath," by Alan Smith, Allen, Texas

Alan combined a cute shot of his daughter with a little PhotoShop prowess to make this excellent Hot Pic of the Week. He says: "I took this photo of my ten-month old daughter using only the light in the bathroom. I took this photo with a 50mm lens on my Canon D60. In order to get an acceptable shutter speed, I had to set the ISO to 400. While the original photo was pleasing, converting it to B&W and putting the duck in color made it much more interesting."

Alan says that he created a mask to cover the duck, then converted the rest of the image to black and white. For details on how to get this effect, check out this week's feature.

We want your feedback! Send your comments, questions, and suggestions about the newsletter itself to comments@bydavejohnson.com. If you have a question that you'd like to see answered in the weekly Q&A, send it to question@bydavejohnson.com.

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