Adding a single color to black and white images
This was originally requested for help in adding color to black and white line art. I will be going over 2 ways: one using Multiply and another using Hue/Saturation.
Objective
Original
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Finished Result
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Tutorial #1: Using Multiply
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Copy and paste the image of your choice onto a new canvas. This is to make sure the image is on a separate layer from the Background. Also, make sure you are using RGB Color (Image >> Mode >> RGB Color).
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Using the Paint Bucket tool
, fill the Background layer with the color of your choice.
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Select the layer your image is on. Now change the Blending Mode from Normal to Multiply.
The Background color should now show through the image. Although this tutorial teaches with just one color, you can always add more to the Background.
Tutorial #2: Using Hue/Saturation
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Copy and paste the image of your choice onto a new canvas. Also, make sure you are using RGB Color (Image >> Mode >> RGB Color).
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To open up the Hue/Saturation window, go to Image >> Adjust >> Hue/Saturation. Be sure to check the Colorize and Preview options.
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Start by adjusting the Lightness. We want to make it darker, so that we can actually color the white areas.
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Now, adjust the Hue. This determines the color you will be using.
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Lastly, play around with the Saturation. The lower it is, the more grey the color is. The higher it is, the more saturated the color will be.
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For last fine tune adjustments, you can adjust the Brightness/Contrast. To bring this window up, go to Image >> Adjust >> Brightness/Contrast.
Brightness is how light or dark the image is. Contrast increases or decreases the difference between light and dark colors.
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And that's it! Unlike the previous tutorial, this is fairly limited to a single color. However, the two adjustment options, Hue/Saturation and Brightness/Contrast, are useful in adjusting color quality on an image.
Image credit: Hikaru no Go © Yumi Hotta & Takeshi Obata, Scanned by Cat

