Replace Color Command in Photoshop by Mama Shan

Hi! This is Mama Shan with the tutorial to show you how to use the Image Adjust Replace Color Command in Photoshop. And the objective of using this is to get parts of the model’s accessory, and clothing to match the product color. This is after we have used Replace Color; I will show you the original image right here. So we want to get the color on the t-shirt to match the bottle label, and we are also going to get the shoes to do that as well.

And this is the image pretty much out of the camera. It is cropped a little bit but that is about it. So, how we are going to begin this is to get our Layers Pallet out, and I like to leave that detached from the side area so I can see what is going on. And we need to click on the Eyedropper Tool here. And set your sample size to a five by five average or three by three average, if you are working on a six to 10 mega pixel image. And there are some other averages in here but I am using five by five in this case because we will be using the dropper to sample colors once we get into the Replace Color Dialogue Box.

Now I am going to duplicate the Background Layer and you can press Ctrl J on the PC or command J on the Macintosh. Or you can just grab the background state and drag it down to the new layer icon and it will also make a copy. I am doing this just so we can show a before and after and also a backup in case we need to mask something.

So on the background copy layer; we are going to go to the Image, Adjustments, and to the Replace Color Command. Now, I am going to show you how it will work directly and then I am going to show you the procedure we are going to need to use to get that color in those two different areas.

If I were to go to Replace Color right now and this is how this dialogue box works is you can click the Eyedropper Tool. Let us take the fuzziness down a bit. I like to just take that down maybe about nine to start off with. And use your spacebar Ctrl key of spacebar command key on the Mac to toggle the Zoom Tool, because we want to make sure we click on this blue color that the tip of the Eyedropper is clicking on that and once you do that, you get a little amount here. Now if you want to add colors to that selection because that is basically what we are using this Eyedropper for, is to select the particular value here. So, I can click here and it selects a little bit more and adds to it. So it is just adding to the selection. You can also increase the fuzziness amount and then you start to see how bright this area is but we are also getting some gray areas in this Preview Window which means that those pixels are partially selected.

So, if we were to change the hue right now to replace it, and let me move this slider over, you can see that it is changing the hue here but let me increase the saturation as well. You can also see and I am holding down my spacebar so I can pan this a little bit that it is changing the colors on the very object that we are trying to match. So while this tool is used to select a specific color, it is selecting all pixels that have an amount of that color in it to some degree.

So I am going to cancel out of this and show you how to use this more efficiently. And that is to make a rough selection of the area that you want to change. And for that, I am going to start of with the polygonal Lasso Tool which is right underneath the Rectangular Marquee Tool, and just select that. To use this tool, it is kind of sticky. Once you click and drag, you will see this rubber band type of effect. And if ever you want to start over, and get rid of it because it seems like you cannot, just hit the Esc on your keyboard. And that will release it.

So the procedure for using this, and I am going to make a rough selection, is to click once, and then drag, and then click another point if you want to change directions and then click another point. I am just going to come down here like this, I am being careful around that edge. But on the black we do not have to be too careful because that is a high contrast in re