TTTT: Recoloring Part of an Element to Make it Pop

[Tee]

so I made my page for Valentines Day and soooo loved this element wordart, Feeling the LOVE...I pulled it over and everywhere in my layout was dark so the black text was not going to show up...this happened to me the day before using the oh so cool word art, VALENTINE on a page...I was putting it over a blackboard so the blacks did not show on there...I needed to make the black text white....and on that one it was in the element itself so I could not just marque loop the text part and then make a new layer and add a color overlay to it. If that made sense to you right there...that is an option for this particular word art that I am using to teach this with but follow along so you can learn this trick and then you will know the times you need to use it and this will work no matter how close your color is to other colors.

here is what I want to use...


here it is on my layout...see how you see love but not the feelin the and hearts part...


before you do anything...we are going to be changing all the black parts of this to white....well we want to keep these cute black dots so to do that...use your marquee tool and make a circle or a square around the O then do COMMAND J and copy that portion to a new layer...
I am turning off the main element layer just to show you what part I copied to save the black dots...

leave that layer alone now and go back to your main element layer and do this...

with your element layer picked go to IMAGE then ADJUSTMENTS and then REPLACE COLOR...


this comes up...the top color box is the color that you want to change...click in that box...


you get this Select target color box...the easiest thing to do is move over to your layout while that box is up and you will get a color dropper....touch that down and click on the color in your layout that you want to change...for me on this element I want to change the black...then hit OK


then we want to click in the replacement box...you will see your changes real time on your element as you pick what color you want to change it to...


and there...it is much easier to see now with white instead of black :)


Have fun trying this trick...ask any questions if you run into a challenge. See you next week with another tip, trick, tutorial :)

[Tee]

the tutorial is up :)

[lovedigi]

K...so am I right in thinking I can do this same tutorial when wanting to change the color on a "border it?"
Ex...if the border it is black I can change it to red, right?

[Tee]

yes...and the easiest way when you want to change all of a layer is to do LAYER then LAYER STYLE then COLOR OVERLAY and then pick what color you want :) this tut would work for that too but this is harder than you would need to do that :) try those commands and see if that makes sense for you changing the border :)

[annscraps]

Tee is my hero. She does everything so well - I'm going to be her when I grow up

[chengie]

Tee is my hero. She does everything so well - I'm going to be her when I grow up

what she said
Thanks for the tip Teresa!

[Veelana999]

What you can do too if you want to replace a color, but not all of it (you want to keep the black dots):

you can lock the layer so the transparent part stay clear, no matter what you do. Then, paint over the black writing with a white brush. works well if you're recoloring small parts of an element.

Thanks for the tutorial, I hope it's OK that I've included my trick :-)

[Tee]

i love that you added a trick...i am excited to try it...thank you

[Tee]

I can type with more than one finger trying to be silent now that the house is up :)

Ann and chengie...you two are sweethearts :)

there is so much inspiration and fun in this forum it makes it fun to do this project and the tuts to go with it :) (((hugs))) for starting my day at 4 a.m. with a

[Darline]

Thanks for the great tip. I like how you put it on the forum and we all can see the replys you make, it is great. Tee how do you get thos little faces in to this tex? I tryed copy, drag, can't get it.
Darline

[MichelleB]

There is no color overlay under layer, layer styles in my version of Photoshop (6 for the MAC).
MichelleB

[Tee]

let me see if someone else on the team that uses elements can share what you do for that version :) Jenny??? :)

[lighthouse]

This may not be the best way, but when I want to color a whole layer like a border, I just go to edit>fill layer and use the foreground color. As long as you have Preserve Transparency checked, it will only fill the colored parts. Obviously, this only works for layers that are a single color.

[Tee]

that would be a big help for most things that need recoloring Beth...thanks for adding that :)

[jleigh76]

I use PSE and do this a little differently because I do not have the color overlay feature....there are MANY differ ways to do this....this is just what I have found to be the easiest for me

IMPORTANT NOTE: I do this on the original element....not my layout. This way is just easier for me....but an important note is that you do NOT want to save any of the changes you make or you will lose the original element.

1. I take the Magic Wand Tool and click on the part I would like to recolor, which in this case is the black writing "so in love with". Becuase the saying is not all connected you need to make sure the the 2nd box "ADD TO SELECTION" is check in the upper left hand corner. This will allow you to select more than one item.


2. Marching ants should be around your desired selection now. Right click on your mouse now and choose "LAYER VIA CUT" from the choices. This will make your selection into a new layer.


3. Now I select the "RECTANGLE TOOL" and choose the color I desire the text to be. Now draw a rectangle across the section you would like recolored.


4. Now I hit CTRL-G so that the red is "clipped" to my selection which is the layer underneath.


5. Now I merge ALL layers so that it is one layer again; then drag onto my layout. IMPORTANT:::::::: do NOT save this element or you will loose the original color it was made with!!!!!!


HOPE THIS HELPS! Don't hesitate to ask if you have questions!