Banger Car

[Paranormalist]

Had a play with a photo I took over a month ago on my backup P&S camera the F20. I just got Photoshop Elements 5 on Sunday and I've tried selective colouring. I have to say that being a new user to Photoshop Elements & image editing software in general I'm struggling a bit with it to say the least. As you can see there's a bit of a fringe around the car...
Oh yeah, I upped the contrast and saturation of the car to make the colours stand out even more.

C&C welcome

 

[Liquid101]

I just got Photoshop Elements 5 on Sunday and I've tried selective colouring. I have to say that being a new user to Photoshop Elements & image editing software in general I'm struggling a bit with it to say the least.

Looks like you're doing OK to me.

Selective colouring isn't my bag - but you've done a pretty good job considering you're new to it.

Why not try a purely mono version, with a deeper sky?

 

[Paranormalist]

Looks like you're doing OK to me.

Selective colouring isn't my bag - but you've done a pretty good job considering you're new to it.

Why not try a purely mono version, with a deeper sky?

Cheers for the words of encouragement, Liquid. Now to figure out how exactly to deepen the sky... I'm sure I'll get there in the end.

 

[Liquid101]

Cheers for the words of encouragement, Liquid. Now to figure out how exactly to deepen the sky... I'm sure I'll get there in the end.

You've got a couple of ways of doing this. The way I would do it is this.

Create a copy of your image on a new layer. Do this by dragging the layer onto the little page with a turned up corner in the layers toolbar.

On your new layer, use the levels tool to fiddle with the tone of your sky. Ignore everythign else, just make the sky as you want it.

Then using the eraser tool, paint out all the bits you don't want. In this case everything but the sky. Use a nice large brush with a soft edge to give you a smooth transition and blend. You'll always have your background layer untouched shodul you wish to start again.

There are other ways using layer masks which give you more sophisticated options, but this way is quick and simple and ideal for a beginner.

 

[onefivenine]

Looks good I think it just needs to take up more of the frame to have a better impact.

 

[Paranormalist]

You've got a couple of ways of doing this. The way I would do it is this.

Create a copy of your image on a new layer. Do this by dragging the layer onto the little page with a turned up corner in the layers toolbar.

On your new layer, use the levels tool to fiddle with the tone of your sky. Ignore everythign else, just make the sky as you want it.

Then using the eraser tool, paint out all the bits you don't want. In this case everything but the sky. Use a nice large brush with a soft edge to give you a smooth transition and blend. You'll always have your background layer untouched shodul you wish to start again.

There are other ways using layer masks which give you more sophisticated options, but this way is quick and simple and ideal for a beginner.

Looks good I think it just needs to take up more of the frame to have a better impact.

Thanks again for the great advice, Liquid.
onefivenine, cheers for that.

 

[Paranormalist]

I've darkened the sky using Liquid's method but kept the selective colouring and then cropped it. Definitely a better job all round.

 

[AceAceBaby]

It's a cool technique, but like Liquid, I think it would look great as a straight B&W image.

 

[Paranormalist]

It's a cool technique, but like Liquid, I think it would look great as a straight B&W image.

Because selective colouring appeals to me I have to say that I personally prefer the one with it. Although the B+W photo ain't half bad!

 

[onefivenine]

The first cropped one is a great improvement. I prefer it over the B&W.