Selective Coloring is a great way to emphasize a certain part of your picture by toning down every other part in a mono-chromatic color- such as gray. I will be walking through the steps of selective coloring on this shot with a new feature in Picmonkey which I think might be a new twist on this effect. Details to follow...
To achieve this look, here are the steps to follow:
1) Upload your shot to 365.
2) Once uploaded, select "Edit in Picmonkey" from the options to the right of the picture. 365 will automatically bring your photo over to Picmonkey.
3) Adjust the sharpness, color and contrast to your satisfaction in the Basic Edits and apply to your picture as desired.
4) Select "Effects" from the icons on the left. Select "Ombre" from the effects. The ombre effect will automatically convert your photo to two colors (white and blue). You can change these colors by clicking on the color you'd like to change. In this shot I converted the two colors to a very pale yellow and a light gray. The Ombre effect takes these two colors and applies them to the photo. The first color will appear across the top half of the picture and the second color across the bottom. The colors will fade in to one another somewhere in the center. You can also adjust this on the "Direction" slider. You also have the option to "paint" in portions of the original photo by clicking on the paint brush and adjusting the brush to the desired amount, then "painting" over the parts of the photo you wish to return to the original. In this shot I chose to "paint" the little glass flowers back in. Press "apply" when you are done.
5) I also decided to have a little fun with this shot by adding the "bokeh" effect. Once you have applied Ombre effect, the full effects menu will appear and you can select "Bokeh" from there. When you have achieved the look you want, you also have the option to add a frame. When you are done, save the photo to your computer.
Although this is not selective coloring in its purest sense, I like the outcome. Ombre can be achieved in many different colors, but for the selective coloring style it works best with black and white or very pale tones.
No need to comment on this one- it's a tutorial for the February Book Club.
Thanks for the tutorial. i don't think I could have gone back through all those steps. You managed to make it sound easy. I might have to give up photoshop and try pic monkey.
Also, your photo is lovely.
Thanks Ann...for this information. & step by step instructions. It might be a silly question...But how do you make sure that you dont paint outside the lines as the flowers & leaves are so small in your pic.
Instant fav, and thanks for the tutorials. I was wondering how you do selective coloring. I think you have to be an ACE member to use Picmonkey though.
@leestevo Not a silly question at all- you can adjust the size of the brush, so I probably had it really tiny for this shot. You can also put the picture to full screen while you're processing so that it's a little easier to see too.
@skstein Yes, you do, but Ribbet is very similar to PIcmonkey and it's free; Ribbet.com All the steps will be exactly the same and I think you do not need their "premium" version to do this.
Also, your photo is lovely.
Thank you everyone! And thank you Carole and Henri for the favs! I'm always glad to share what I know (and the little that I know!!) with everyone.
@skstein Yes, you do, but Ribbet is very similar to PIcmonkey and it's free; Ribbet.com All the steps will be exactly the same and I think you do not need their "premium" version to do this.