Changing the Color of an Object » By Scott Kelby

There are a number of different techniques for changing the color of an object, but this particular version gives you the most flexibility because it uses an adjustment layer. This way, if you decide you want to change the color again, it just takes a few seconds—just double-click on the adjustment layer in the Layers palette and pick a new shade. Check it out!

STEP 1
Open the image that has an object whose color you want to change. In this case, we’re building a spread inside a brochure, and our fictitious client wants the guitar to be blue, instead of its current cream color.

STEP 2
Choose Hue/Saturation from the Create New Adjustment Layer pop-up menu at the bottom of the Layers palette. When the Hue/Saturation dialog appears (shown here), click the Colorize checkbox. Move the Hue slider to find the color you want (in this case, slide the Hue slider to 215 to set a nice blue hue over the entire image and increase the Saturation to around 33). Click OK.

STEP 3
In the Layers palette you’ll see the adjustment layer appear above your Background layer, and it will have a white layer mask thumbnail to the right of it. Click once directly on this layer mask thumbnail to select it. Press “x” until your Foreground color toggles to black. Then press Option-Delete (PC: Alt-Backspace) to fill this mask with black. When you do this, the blue tint is hidden (masked) from view.

STEP 4
Press “x” again to toggle your Foreground color to white. Press “b” to access the Brush tool. Click on the icon next to the word “Brush” in the Options Bar to bring up the Brush Picker, and choose a medium-sized, hard-edged brush. Begin painting over the body of the guitar, and as you paint, a blue version will be revealed. If you make a mistake—no sweat—just toggle your Foreground color back to black by pressing “x” again and paint over the mistake; the original color will return in that area. That’s part of the beauty of using an adjustment layer.

STEP 5
While you’re painting, you’ll have to shrink the brush size when you come to tight areas. You can shrink the brush by pressing the Left Bracket key ([) on the keyboard. Continue painting until the entire guitar body is blue. If your client suddenly decides that he wants the guitar to be a different color, simply double-click on the Hue/Saturation thumbnail in the Layers palette to bring up the Hue/Saturation dialog. Move the Hue slider until you get the color you want.

STEP 6
Now we’re going to use the image in a brochure layout, but first we have to flatten the image, so go to the Layers palette’s flyout menu and choose Flatten Image. Click the Background color swatch in the Toolbox and pick a light gray in the Color Picker. The photo is 8 inches wide, so go under the Image menu and choose Canvas Size. In the dialog, turn on the Relative checkbox, then enter 8 inches for Width. In the Anchor grid, click the left-center square, so the extra canvas area will be added to the right of your image. In the Canvas Extension Color pop-up menu choose Background, then click OK. Now go under the Window menu and choose Character palette. Press the letter “t” to switch to the Type tool and add your type (we selected Helvetica Regular and Helvetica Bold using the Character palette).