Paint Shop Pro Tutorial
Colorizing Black and White Photos
How to change black & white photographs to color

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Paint Shop Pro Tutorial. Colorizing Photos

How to change black & white photographs to color.

Here is an effective and easy way to turn those old Black & White Photographs into colorful works of art. Not only do you restore an old photo, you also give it a new lease of life.

(If you need a black & white photo to work on, feel free to copy this one. You can also make your own black & white photos by opening your favorite colored photo and selecting Colors || Greyscale.)

Because this tutorial is graphic intense with step by step screenshots, we have split the tutorial into 2 parts to facilitate page loading times.

STEP 1

Open up your black and white photo.

Make your photo 16 Million Colors

Colors || Increase Color Depth || 16 Million

STEP 2

Add a New Layer

Layers || New Raster Layer

Name the layer "Hair"

STEP 3

Select the Freehand Lasso Tool and click on the Toggle Tool Options Window .

Apply the following settings:
Selection Type = Point to Point
Feather = 1
Antialias = Checked

STEP 4

Carefully draw around the hair by right clicking at a starting point and clicking as you trace around the shape. Zooming in to your work will help outline in more detail. When you are almost back to the starting point, right clicking your mouse button will join the lines.


You should now have "marching ants" all around the hair line.

STEP 5

Select the Flood Fill Tool and set the background color;

RGB Red = 230 Green = 180 Blue = 100 or #E6B464

You can play with the coloring to suit your photo. Different people will need different hair colors etc.
(See Skin Coloring for handy tip.)

Click the Toggle Tool Options and apply the settings.
Blend Mode = Normal
Match Mode = None
Opacity = 100
Sample Merged = Checked

STEP 6

Flood Fill the "Hair" Layer.

STEP 7

Click on the Toggle Layer Palette Window and set the Layer Mode from Normal to Color.

Adjust the Layers Opacity to suit.

Now that's better! Let's color the skin.

Click here for part 2