Color Replacement Assistance Please!

SM
Posted By
Stuart_M._Robinson
Jul 18, 2004
Views
144
Replies
3
Status
Closed
Folks,

We’ve a client that has selected a portrait image (head/shoulders) for their website, but it was shot with a saturated blue background and reflectors, so the entire image, supplied as a JPEG, has a blue hue. The skin tones are manageable, but the hair, which in reality is strawberry blond, actually appears grey/blue as a result.

We’re having a devil of a time correcting this, the hair has highlight streaks so running a color replace with a single color looks very strange and anything overlaid starts to appear blue because of the underlying colors, unless the hair area is completely desaturated and then that makes everything appear flat and lifeless.

There are alternative images, shot in natural light, which correctly capture the hair colors, so I’m wondering if anyone knows of a magic way to use the accurate hair color(s) and add them to the chosen image. Short of taking the hair out of one image and attempting to paste it into another, we’re struggling.

Some assistance or pointers to a tutorial would really be appreciated! Thanks!
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George_Austin
Jul 18, 2004
Stuart,

I would try this:

Select the hair. Put the selection on a separate layer via Ctrl + J. Fill the selection on that layer with the hue desired. Set the layer’s blend mode to Color. Adjust the layer’s opacity.

Color blend mode preserves the color of the layer and the luminosity of the substrate, so all the tonal variations in the hair are retained.

Before fussing with the selection, which is always a bit tedious, run a test to see if this approach will be satisfactory. Put a layer on top of the image and fill it uniformly with the hair color you want. Change the layer’s blend mode to Color and adjust its opacity to suit as you look at its effect just on the hair without worrying about excluding non-hair portions of the image. If you like it, cancel the operation and repeat it using a selection.

You might also just try removing the color cast by any of the many methods PS provides.

George
ND
Nick_Decker
Jul 18, 2004
Stuart,

You don’t mention which version of PS you’re using. If it’s PS CS, you might have a look at the new Match Color command. It’s something that I’ve only played with a couple of times, but it might do what you need.

Nick
SM
Stuart_M._Robinson
Jul 24, 2004
George and Nick,

Many thanks to both of you for your help. A combination of these suggestions seems to work best, using the "Neutralize" option of the Match Color command (I am using CS) and then overlaying a colour onto the hair.

I’m having a tough time getting a handle on matching colours from one image to another though, the results look very odd indeed, I end up with photographs that are really brown/green.

If only the photographer had shot RAW (JPEG on a Canon D60, I ask you) and knew how to use a grey card…

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