How To Add Color To A Black & White Image With A Layer Mask/Photoshop Layers Explained

A Beginner’s Tutorial On How To Use Photoshop Layers, Layer Masks, And Bring Back Color To A Black And White Image (All-In-One!) With Image/Screenshot Examples
*Note:  This article might look long/hard but it’s because it’s written assuming you know nothing about how to use Photoshop so it’s just very thorough.. this is VERY easy and fast to do!

Many years ago my husband got Photoshop for me.  I was super excited.. I opened it up and was so overwhelmed I didn’t open it up again for another year!!!!  WHen I did open it up a year later, it was because I had seen an image on Facebook and someone noted on it “Edited with auto color in Photoshop”.  “Auto edit????  I can do that!”.  And I excitedly opened it back up.  Once it was re-opened I started playing around with it more and learning new things about it.  I was still very confused about how you could add color to a black and white image and my husband explained it like this: Imagine you have 2 photographs.. a color photograph, and a black and white version of the exact same photograph.  Imagine you put the black and white photograph on top of the color photograph and then take an eraser and erase away parts of the black and white image to reveal the color beneath it.  ta-da!  Like magic, I now understood the concept of Photoshop layering! The very first thing I learned how to do with layers was add a pop of color to a black and white image.  You can do it as I stated above (layer a bw image on top of a color image and use the eraser tool to erase away the bw image to reveal color) but the issue with doing it that way is.. what if you make a mistake?  What if you erase away too much?  You cannot go back to add the black and white back.  For that reason I want to teach everyone how to use a layer mask.  With a layer mask (VERY easy to do!!!!) you can remove parts of the top layer AND bring them back again!  And you can use it for endless different projects beyond a selective coloring/color pop image! I’m a very visual learner so that’s how I like to explain things as well.

^STEP ONE:  Open The Image
We’ll start with what your image looks like when you open it in Photoshop:

^STEP 2:  Duplicate Layer
This is the step where you layer 2 images on top of one another.. do do this by going to the layers palette, right click on your layer, and select “duplicate layer”.  You can also simply go to your menu on top of the screen and click “Layer>New>Layer From Background”.

^STEP 3:  Turn The Top Layer Black And White
Make sure your top layer is highlighted in the layers palette and then turn your image black and white :).  You now have a black and white image on top, and a color image on bottom.

^STEP 4:  Add A Layer Mask
This is where you add the layer mask I was mentioning earlier.. this mask will allow you to remove parts of the black and white image as well as bring back parts of the black and white image.

^STEP 5:  Select A Black Paintbrush
Your layers palette should now look like this.. the white box next to your bw image is the layer mask.  You will use the black paintbrush to remove the black and white image, and the white paintbrush to bring back the black and white image.

^STEP 6:  Verify Your Layer Mask Is Selected
If you have anything other than the layer mask selected, this will not work and the paintbrush will work normally (adding a white or black streak on the image).

^STEP 7:  Paint Anywhere You’d Like To Add Color Take your paintbrush and paint anywhere you’d like to add color!  It’s that easy!  If you run over the lines, it’s okay.. you can turn it back to black and white which we address in the next step.

STEP 8:  Select The White Paintbrush To Bring Back The Black And White Image
Change the color of your paintbrush to white and paint over anywhere you did not want to bring the color back.  It helps to scroll in very close to the image, use a brush that isn’t 100% soft, and make the edges as clean as possible.  It looks very sloppy when the color runs outside the lines.

^The image after cleaning it up with the white paintbrush (again verify that your layer mask is clicked on!).

^STEP 9:  (Optional Step):  Reduce The Opacity/Strength Of The Colors
I always feel that bringing back the full strength of color in an image is just too intense/harsh.  For this reason I like to make it sort of a blend of half black and white/half color.. this tones down the coloring a lot and makes it look much more gentle and blends better.  (This is just my opinion and what you like may be different!  I compare a full strength color pop image to a partial strength color pop image here if you’d like to compare for yourself).

^This is the image with the coloring reduced by 50%.. it blends much better.

I’d like to make a quite note that the above images are not ones that I would choose to do.. They are only edited this way for the purposes of this article.  If I brought back color to anything I would choose the boots but for the purposes of this article I wanted to choose something that was easy to see and overall I just prefer this photo in color :).

I really hope this helps you all learn some more about how to use layers in Photoshop and how to add color to a black and white image!

-Christine Ann

Duluth MN Photographer

Understanding The Why of Why Your Photo Turned Out Well.

Random late-night thought.. A friend of mine implied that people who take nice photos have nice equipment. This is a common thought and yes nice equipment helps and yes most people who take nice photos are very invested into photography and therefore own nice equipment but when you have nice equipment you also need to understand how to use it! And we all have heard of the iphone fashion shoot, showing us you can still take nice photos with less nice equipment.
Anyways the whole point of this blog post is to explain something important: Anyone can and very likely will capture the occasional stunning image based on pure luck. A professional understands how to make the stunning image happen on purpose. I am truly amazed by all the consideration that goes into a photo before taking it if you are looking at it with a trained eye!
Some things to take into consideration before taking a photo: your camera settings, your background/location, the direction the person you are taking photos of is facing, where the light is coming from and where the light is landing on your person you are photographing, where the sun is at in the sky, how the person/people are posed, how cropped into the image you are/how close or far away you are from the people/the background-to-person ratio, the angle of your camera, how the image is composed, what the focal point is, keeping lines parallel, keeping open space even, if you are using a flash or not. etc.
You can still get nice photos by shooting wherever you want without taking these things into consideration but the question is: can you replicate the nice images you get on purpose? I was taking photos for many years before starting a business. I never knew when the right time to become a business was. In retrospect, I think the right time was when I finally understood the many many elements that go into a photo so that I knew exactly where to place people and how to make sure I wasn’t riding just on luck. It also took awhile (and lots and lots of practice) to train my eyes!
I remember the first time I learned the rule of composition concerning “parallels” (keep your lines parallel) I decided to practice and it was so awkward for me to try paying attention to parallel lines in the image! Now it’s just totally natural and instinctual. I also missed many details like an unbuttoned button or a collar not folded down nicely. Now I notice stuff like that pretty easily :).
So train your eyes to notice the details, start paying attention to your photos and take note of what you like about the image and do not like. Pay attention to how the light was hitting the person you photographed and what time of the day it was and what your settings were set to. This is all pretty awkward at first but it all comes with practice! It’s like when you first learned how to type.. super awkward and uncomfortable and now it’s just a natural instinct!

This photo could have gone horribly wrong had I positioned them at a different spot.. but because of the knowledge I have accumulated, I understand how to position people for the best results.

-Christine Ann
www.christineannphotos.com
www.facebook.com/christineannphotos
Duluth Minnesota/Superior Wisconsin Photographer