New Challenge Oct 21-Nov 3 --Selective Color

[calr]

This challenge is going to be different than past challenges. In this exercise, you will be honing your skills in using your photo editor.

You've seen them in magazines, on TV, in newspapers and many other places -- a BW photo with just one element in color. It might be a single red rose in a bouquet, a single apple in a fruit basket, a single orange pumpkin in a patch (it is almost Halloween!), etc.

To create this special image you must follow some basic steps. The details of these steps depends on your editor. I use Paint Shop Pro X.

1. Use the selection tool to outline the object to be in color. Use manual mode or "auto edge" mode to follow the outline of the object as closely as possible.
2. Invert the selection. This option selects everything in image except the object previously selected.
3. Convert the selected image to BW. I use the channel mixer selecting monochrome for the output and default all controls. This converts all of the image to BW except the object originally selected.

At this point, you have accomplished the object of this challenge. Save the image (with a new name) at this point. If there are areas within the colored object that you don't in color, select the area to convert to bw and follow step 3 above. Do not invert the selection. Repeat for each area to remove color.

For those of you who are more experienced with your editor (that's you, Bynx!) you might want to try featuring two different colored objects in your image. The procedure above will not work for this. I think doing this will require the use of layers.

For this challenge, any photo, current or archive, of any subject, may be used. The limit on one archive shot per challenge is temporarily lifted for the duration of this challenge.

Here is an example. That red hood never looked brighter.


Enjoy,
Cal

[johnnymisadventures]

Hello,

I am pretty new to all this. I am using Gimp to do my edits....does anybody have any ideas how to do this using Gimp?

Thanks

[johnnymisadventures]

I am also up for suggestion of other free Mac programs to use....

[GregM]

Hi John,

Here's a good tutorial on how to do Selective Colorization in Gimp.

http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Selective_Color/

[johnnymisadventures]

Thanks for the link Greg!