Hello CK readers, I’m Patty Debowski! I’m the founder of TheDigitalScrapbookTeacher.com, an expert Photoshop Elements instructor, and a member of the Photoshop Elements Prerelease Beta Team. I’m not a techie but rather a self-taught digital scrapbooker!
I’m here today to share with you one of the most requested techniques I’m asked about in my classes. In my example, I am using Adobe Photoshop Elements 9. If you don’t have this program, you may download the free 30 day trial version.
While there are several techniques that can be used to change a color photo to black and white with a little bit of color peeking through, I think this one is among the easiest for beginners to use.
Start Photoshop Elements by clicking on the icon on your desktop. From the Welcome screen choose Edit.
From the Menu bar, choose File>Open and open your photo.
From the Toolbar, select the Detail Smart Brush tool (arrow). This tool is nested with the Smart Brush tool. To display both tools, click and hold on the black triangle on the bottom right corner of the tool icon. Once both tools are displayed, click on the Detail Smart Brush Tool to select it.
On the Options bar click on the Preset box and choose Reverse-black and white from the Reverse Effect menu.
The default setting for the brush is 13 px which is pretty small. Click on the Size drop down list to increase the size or tap your right Bracket key on your keyboard. Your brush size will depend on the area you will be working on. In my example I increased my brush size to 35 px.
Your cursor will be a circle with a + inside it. Click and drag over the area you want to remain in color (in my example the tricycle).
Once you click on the photo the area under the cursor will remain in color while the rest of the photo will change to black and white. Continue to click and drag over all areas you want to be in color.
Notice in the Layers panel that an Adjustment layer has been added above the Background layer. A tiny menu of brushes, and a color pin have also been added to your screen.
Use the Zoom tool (magnifying glass icon) to zoom in close to see if you are missing any areas, or, as I have done painted away too much of the black and white area to reveal the green tutu.
To paint away the green area, click on the brush with the – (minus sign) next to it (on the image or on the Options bar as shown by the arrows in the preceding example). Notice that the brush now has a – (minus sign) inside it (shown circled in the example). Reduce the size of the brush and paint over the green areas to change them back to black and white.
To expose more of the color areas, click on the brush with the + (plus) and continue dragging/painting on those areas.
From the Menu bar choose File>Save As. Save your photo with a different name so that you don’t save over the original photo in error.
We’d love to hear what you think after you try this on your own photos! Leave a comment on this blog post for your chance to be the lucky winner of a copy of Photoshop Elements – Basics & Beyond or one of the two winners of a set of 12″ x 12″ digital scrapbooking templates!
Patty Debowski
P.S. It’s Free Font Friday! Download the CK Road Trip font for free!
Thank you for the info – it’s hard for me to find pictures that look good when I do this kind of edit so I am still waiting to find the right picture
i think this is a good technique to e.g. show a beautiful flower with a b/w backgroung
Thank you for the easy to follow technique! I have been wondering how to do this. I have been trying to teach myself Photoshop Elements, so I am always looking for great tips and tricks! Thank you for sharing…would love to see more posts from you!
I love this look! I’ll be downloading the trial version and trying this out as soon as I can. Thanks for the lesson.
Awesome! This looks easier than what I have been doing… I’ll have to give it a try! (Hope it works in PSE8, too)…
Thanks!
Love this—definately want to try this!
This is great! I tried it on an easy picture. Can’t wait to use it on some others. Thanks for the Tip!!
I am a newbie to digital scrapbooking so any and all tips are appreciated. Thanks!
I love this effect on photos…I’m just too lazy with my old Adobe photoshop version 2…it’s so time consuming…thanks for sharing your tips!
i love this effect!
Love this technique! It sounds simple and easy. Can’t wait to go home and try it this weekend.
Amazing technique…the effect is so cool! Thanks for the step-by-step!
Thank you for breaking this down into simple steps. I’m going to be ordering your new book when it becomes available!
Wow! This is so cool! I have always wondered how to do this. Thanks for sharing!
I just bought PSE 9 and have been looking for some new ideas to use it with. Thanks for the tutorial!
I was just trying to learn more about my PSE, so this came at a fabulous time! Thank you!! It would be icing on the cake to win something.
The technique I learned before was time consuming and I can’t remember all the steps. This is fabulous! I’m doing my nieces wedding album and have a whole bunch of new ideas. I just bought PSE9 and am a little overwhelmed. Thanks for the easy tip. I would love to have a copy of the book. Thanks for the chance to win.
This would be great if only my PSE7 would stop freezing upon start up
I’ve tried this in regular PS with a different method…this looks much easier. I love the effect of it.
This is so much easier than how I have tried to do it! Thank you for sharing.
I love to get tips on using Elements.Thanks for this and for the chance to win these great prizes.
Thank you for the tips and I hope to take one of your classes someday if you ever have them in Portland
I just purchased the Elements 9 program and am still learning. Thanks so much for the tutorial and your website!
Thanks for the info. I have version 8 and like it but really need to get more learning done on it! This will be way easier than the way I tried before!
I have PSE 6. I hope I have all the same features so I can go try this out! Your photo looks awesome!
You did a great job breaking this into steps that I can follow and understand. Thank you. I will be using this technique.
I am new to photoshop and finding it hard to figure out what to do. What a great resource this book would be!
Thanks! I’ve been wanting to try this for quite awhile.
What a fun technique! Would love a chance to win!
This is way too advance for mebut maybe if I win this book I can figure it out
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what a wonderful technique. thanks for the chance to win.
Thank you so much for the simple step by step very easy to understand instructions!!
I just tried it with with a bride photo I found online to show just her flowers in color. Wow it was fast and super easy. I can’t wait to try it on one of my family shots. I’m a life long PSP user and just now changing over to PSE 9. I love it so far.
I’m counting the days till your new book comes out. Barnes says March 15 and that’s my 50th Birthday so I’ll be checking the site again in the morning to see if it’s released.
Great post
Thank you for posting this informative content .. I am looking forward to see more interesting and informative like this 
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Photo Tech Photos and Photographers
I took your awesome class today and have been already practicing as promised. You made things seem easy and totally do-able. I can’t wait to take another one of your classes this Saturday! I’ll see you at the show!
Love this… I don’t own PSE but I think I am gonna have to check into purchasing it… this is such a cool effect! Would truly love to win this! Thanks for a chance!
Love this effect. Your instructions were so simple. Thanks!!
Easy to understand directions. Can’t wait to try it!
Love, love, LOVE it! I have always wanted to try this but never knew how. Thanks so much!
Is there a tool for this in PSE 6? It doesn’t do me much good to try a 30 day trial of PSE 9, because I can’t afford to buy it right now.
Thank You for this. This may be easier than using a masking layer, which is good. I like easy. LOL
I’ve always wanted to try this. Thanks for the tutorial.