Using the Replace Color command (Photoshop)

The Replace Color command lets you create a mask around specific colors and then replace those colors in the image.You can set the hue, saturation, and lightness of the area identified by the mask. The mask is temporary.

To use the Replace Color command:

1Open the Replace Color dialog box. (See “Making color adjustments” on page 132.)

2Select a display option:

•Selection to display the mask in the preview box. Masked areas are black, and unmasked areas are white. Partially masked areas (areas covered with a semitransparent mask) appear as varying levels of gray according to their opacity. For more information, see “Using channel calculations to blend layers and channels (Photoshop)” on page 275.

•Image to display the image in the preview box. This option is useful when you are working with a magnified image or have limited screen space.

3Click in the image or in the preview box to select the areas exposed by the mask. Shiftclick or use the eyedropper + button to add areas; Alt-click (Windows), Option-click

(Mac OS), or use the eyedropper – button to remove areas.

4Adjust the tolerance of the mask by dragging the Fuzziness slider or entering a value. This controls the degree to which related colors are included in the selection.

5Drag the Hue, Saturation, and Lightness sliders (or enter values in the text boxes) to change the color of the selected areas.

Using the Selective Color command (Photoshop)

Selective color correction is a technique used by high-end scanners and separation programs to increase and decrease the amount of process colors in each of the additive and subtractive primary color components in an image. Even though Selective Color uses CMYK colors to correct an image, you can use it on RGB images as well as on images that will be printed.

Selective color correction is based on a table that shows the amount of each process ink used to create each primary color. By increasing and decreasing the amount of a process ink in relation to the other process inks, you can modify the amount of a process color in any primary color selectively—without affecting any other primary colors. For example, you can use selective color correction to dramatically decrease the cyan in the green component of an image while leaving the cyan in the blue component unaltered.

To use the Selective Color command:

1Make sure the composite channel is selected in the Channels palette. The Selective Color command is available only when you’re viewing the composite channel.

2Open the Selective Color dialog box. (See “Making color adjustments” on page 132.)

3Choose the color you want to adjust from the Colors menu at the top of the dialog box. Color sets consist of the primary additive and subtractive colors plus whites, neutrals, and blacks.