1 post tagged “tutorial”
I wrote this tutorial for the technique group on Flickr about four years ago and it started a bit of a 'masking' craze. I haven't used Paint Shop Pro since then. I'm fully converted to Photoshop now. I also rarely convert an image to partial black and white these days. That ship has sailed for me it seems.
End Result
This can be accomplished in Photoshop and Paintshop Pro (and surely other software as well) but I chose to write my tutorial based on the method I used in Paint Shop Pro, since there are many tutorials out there on how to accomplish this in Photoshop but I had never seen one on Paint Shop Pro using my method.
Many of you probably already have Photoshop and not Paint Shop Pro.. but PSP is easy to come by. You can download a free trial at jasc.com. It's much cheaper than Photoshop, so those of you who are currently without a good digital image editor, you might want to think about getting yourself a copy. I used PSP 6, so while some things have probably changed in the newer versions, I am sure they left the options named the same.
First let me just say that it's my opinion that a good masking job never ruins a photo.. but merely adds to it, whereas an awful masking job obviously turns a photo into an eyesore. Practice the method until it doesn't fall into the later category or I will gouge my own eyes out upon viewing your photo.
Deciding which image would look better partial black and white (and for what reasons) is up to you. Decide on an image.. and which parts you want turned black and white and which left in color and then open it in PSP. If you want to edit it any other way (contrast.. color balance) then do it BEFORE you convert it to partial black and white. It's best to start with an image that will be easier to edit. Don't pick an image that's too busy for your first try. Pick an image where the part (or parts) that will remain in color don't have too many twists and turns. Tricky edges are a bitch.
To the right is my before image. I wanted to turn everything but the Sexy BC Rich Warlock black and white.
Once your image is opened..click on the 'retouch' tool and an option window will pop up. In my version it's a little hand icon. (Noted in the 'at work" screencap below) From the retouch option window.. click the middle tab (might be positioned differently in your version) and select saturation down from the retouch mode. Then go back to the first tab, and make sure that your paintbrush is set for round and that opacity is set at 100%. You should set the size of the brush higher to start and go lower the closer you get to the parts of the image you want left in color.
Conversion in Process
You will need to look at the larger version to make out the toolbars.
Essentially what you will be doing is drawing out the color. Every part of the photo that you want converted to black and white, you need to draw on. Zoom in and out if need be. Just make sure you cover every pixel that is suppose to be B&W. I normally start by drawing out the color further away from the parts of the image I want left in color.. then I work my way in.. decreasing the size of the brush (and zooming into the photo) the closer I get to parts that are to be left colororized. It gets tricky when you have to do the edges on what remains color and what is to be converted black and white. It's just like trying to stay between the lines in a coloring book, and i'm sure that's something you all can figure out.
The important thing is that you know the method used.. and you work with it. It's nothing more than using the retouch tool in Paint Shop Pro to 'color' the saturation out.
Here are some more examples. All done within PaintShop Pro (NOT Photoshop).
There is a Cutouts group on Flickr and they have links to tutorials on how this can be accomplished in Photoshop and other software.
