Sweet Lilac Studio

A note.  For this tutorial I refer to settings using Photoshop CS.  In time I hope to offer tutorials for those using Photoshop Elements as well.  I believe this tutorial *will* work for those using Photoshop Elements!  Anyway.. on to the tutorial!

I’m sure you’ve all heard how easy it is to recolor an element.  And in truth it is.  The simple way is a one step hue change: colorize.  I know when I first started out digi-scrapping I used the “colorize” button liberally.  When i started to design I did the same thing!  It was *so* easy to colorize a single element into 5 different colors!

Sometimes it works out just fine!  Other times an element looks awkward.. especially when there is more than one color present in said element!  Here is an example:

You’ll note how colorizing totally takes away everything save for the darkness or lightness of each hue.  It’s all the same color just different saturation and dark/light of that one color.  That’s no fun!  In this tutorial we are going to look at a more advanced method of recoloring.  Actually.. I will assure you it isn’t nearly as hard as you might think.. and I doubt you’ll ever go about recoloring the same way again!

Let’s look at that same element again… and the *advanced* method of recoloring.

I know what you are thinking.  ”Holy flippin cow she just extracted each layer and recolored it.. or maybe she put a layer above that and recolored those.. that will take FOR-EVER!”    You’d be wrong!  It’s nothing so difficult!  All this requires is a little thought about the colors of the element and the color you are wanting to shoot for.  Meet your new best friend : Adjustments > Hue/Saturation

Now normally when we recolor we head *straight* to that nice little “colorize” checkbox.  You are now FORBIDDEN to do that. *slaps hand*  Note something in the upper left-hand corner.  There is a drop down.  By default it is on “Master”  Using this when playing with your hue/saturation will give you a nicer effect than the “colorize”–that is your first tip… but it doesn’t have to end there!  Click that drop down box and what do we see?!

What is this?!  It’s a list of the colors!  Seriously though, this little drop down allows you to recolor *just* the corresponding color-set.  So some basic logic will tell us that that original ribbon is going to use Cyans, Greens, Magentas and a little Reds.  This is where the fun really starts!  Start with the most noticeable color.  (That is how I start) and choose that.  Then below slide your hue to where you want it.. de-saturate it.. lighten it, darken it.. play around and keep an eye on your element.  I personally go through each and every color on the list until I have obtained the colors that I want.

Initially you may get frustrated.  Some colors do correspond to others. (If you have green more than likely it will have used yellow as well.  Blue/Cyan often effect the same color.  Red/magenta as well) Eventually you will get a feel for it, and before long you will be recoloring a single element to match a variety of kits!  Here are some examples!

As  you can see playing with your hue/saturation settings by color can really broaden not only the kits you use but also your abilies as a scrapper.. for example check out this picture where I conviced myf amily I had dyed my hair pink!

How did I manage that?  Simple.. my hair is blonde.  Blonde = yellow.  I played with the yellow slider until I came up with that awesome pink hair!!! (I eventually did put in pink highlights) Anyway.. it was fun to scare everyone! I hope you enjoy recoloring as much as I do.  Let me know how it goes!