How To Change Color In Photoshop
How to change the color of an object in Photoshop! Learn this simple yet powerful technique for changing the color of anything in Photoshop!
To change the color of an object and get professional results you must learn to control all the three essential components of color: hue (the color), saturation (the intensity of the color), and brightness (the lightness and darkness of the color).
The techniques described in this tutorial will help you understand and manipulate each component to get the best color changes possible.
Time needed: 3 minutes
How To Change Color In Photoshop
- Select the Object with the Quick Selection Tool
Start by selecting the object whose color you want to change. You can enable the Quick Selection Tool from the Toolbar. Then drag over the object you would like to select. Remember that you can hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) as you drag to subtract from the selection.
- Create a Group
After you create your selection, go to the Layers Panel, click the Create New Group button to create a Layer Group.
- Apply the Selection as a Layer Mask to the Group
With the selection still active, click the Add Layer Mask button in the Layers Panel to create a mask in the shape of the selection around the object. Adding a Layer Mask to the group will allow you to use one mask to affect multiple adjustment layers in the following steps.
- Create a Solid Color Fill Layer
Click the Create New Fill or Adjustment Layer button in the Layers panel, and select Solid Color. This adds a Color fill layer inside the layer group. The mask on the layer group limits the solid color to the object.
Select the new color that you want to apply to the object and click OK. The object now appears to be filled with that solid color. - Change the Color Fill Layer Blending Mode To Color
With the Color fill layer still selected, open the Blending Mode dropdown menu in the Layers panel, and choose the Color Blending Mode. The Color Blending Mode applies the hue and saturation of the new color but retains the brightness of the original color of the object. This adjustment layer will control the first two components of a color. Hue and Saturation.
- Create a Levels Adjustment Layer
Click the Create New Adjustment Layer button in the Layers panel, and choose Levels. Use the five Input Levels sliders in the Properties panel to adjust the object’s brightness. These five sliders affect the third component of color—brightness—giving the object with its new color the appearance of texture and shading.
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