Tutorials > Photoshop > Controlled Recoloring
Change the color of objects in photographs.
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1. Start out with any image which contains an object you would like to recolor. I'm using the new Hummer H2. Clothing in photographs work well for this too.
2. Now you will need to make a color swatch using the rectanglular marquee tool. Make it where there is consistent color, like on the side of the door. Now click the Create New Fill/Adjustment Layer button and click Solid Color. Now select the new color you would like to use and write it down.
3. Next comes the most time consuming part, selecting the element. Magnify your image to about 800% for the best result. Start out with the freehand lasso tool to select the area to recolor. (Tip: In order to switch from the different lasso tools, hold the alt key, then click(for Polygon) or drag(for freehand) to switch. You can hold the alt key while you move the mouse so you can see the rest of the enlarged image to continue selecting the area you would like recolored.)
4. Now create a new fill/adjustment layer like in step 2, except this time, hold down the alt key while doing so. A new layer window will come up. Change the mode to Hue and click ok. Then select the same color you used to make the color swatch.
5. Depending on how your recoloring turned out, you may be done. If your color is too bright, you may change the level. To do this, Ctrl+click on the thumbnail of the mask then select the background layer and click the fill/adjustment layer again and select the levels or hue/saturation. Tweak with the setting till you find something you like.
In my image below, I saved the image after disabling the color swatch layer and repeated steps 1-4 to make the rear light red again, expect I used lighten instead of hue.
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