Colorizing Black and White Photos (Paint Shop Pro X)

Here are two methods that give the same final result: Method A has fewer steps, but Method B is more versatile because it allows you to quickly change the colors of each section. Method C is only for coloring black-and-white line drawings (like in a coloring book).

Method A. The Manual Painting method

1. Open a black-and-white photo that you want to colorize (for example, 1Photo.jpg in the "Photos to colorize" folder). 

2. Go to Image => Increase Color Depth => RGB - 8 bits/channel. (If that menu item is grayed out, the image is OK as-is).

3. If desired, adjust the contrast and brightness of the image (Adjust => Smart Photo Fix).

4. Go to Layers => New Raster Layer.... From the Blend Mode pop-up menu, select Color (Legacy), set the transparency to about 50%, and click OK.  (If Color is not on the menu, you did not do step 2).

5. Select the Paint Brush tool  (10th tool group) and open the Tool Options palette.  (If  the Tool Options palette is not visible, see Note 1 below). Adjust the Size of the tool as desired.  

6. Right-click on the white patch in the lower right corner of the Materials palette.  (If the Materials palette is not visible, see Note 1 below). 

7. Click on the color you want to paint with in the big multi-color patch in the Materials palette. 

8. Now use the Paint Brush tool to paint those parts of the image that you want to have that color. Zoom in and out (use the mouse wheel or click on ) so that you can work more precisely.  Change the size of the tool if desired. If you color too much, you can "un-color" by painting with the right mouse button. 

9. Click on another color in the Materials palette and continue painting.  If you mess up, use the undo command .

10. Once you are happy with the result, select File => Save As..., click in the "Save as type..." pop-up menu and select "PSPIMAGE".  Saving in this format will preserve the separate layers, so you can modify the colors at a later time. On the other hand, if you want to send the image via email or put it on a Web page, you must save it in "JPG JPEG" format instead.  JPEG format is compatable with email and the Web but does not preserve the separate layers.

Method B. The Outline-and-Fill method

1. Open an image that you want to colorize (for example, 1Photo.jpg in the "Photos to colorize" folder). 

2. Go to Image => Increase Color Depth => RGB - 8 bits/channel. (If that menu item is grayed out, the image is OK as-is).

3. If desired, adjust the contrast and brightness of the image (Adjust => Smart Photo Fix).

4. Select the  tool (3th tool group) and set to the "Point-to-Point" selection mode in the Tool Options palette and use the little up and down arrows to set Feather to 0.  (If  the Tool Options palette is not visible, see Note 1 below). 

5.  Trace carefully by clicking all around the edges of the portion of the image that you want to color. Be careful not to double-click. When you get back to your starting point, right-click to end the trace. Zoom in and out (use the mouse wheel or left- or click on ) so that you can work more precisely.

6. Go to Selections => Promote Selection to Layer.

7. Select Layers => Properties. From the Blend Mode pop-up menu, select Color (Legacy) from the Blend Mode pop-up menu. Type in the name of the outlined object in place of "Promoted Selection" (for example, "face", "eyes", or whatever). Click OK.
8. Select the Flood Fill tool , open the Tool Options palette, and make sure the "Blend mode" is set to Normal and the "Match mode" to Opacity.   (If  the Tool Options palette is not visible, see Note 1 below). 

 9. Click on the Materials Palette to pick up a color and then click in the outlined region of the image to apply the color.  (If the Materials palette is not visible, see Note 1 below). Don't worry if the color is too strong; double-click on that layer in the Layers Palette and adjust the Opacity slider from 0% to 100% to get the desired effect.

10. Go to Selections => Select None. Repeat steps 4 - 9 for each colored region, giving each layer an appropriate name. 

11. Note: If you want to change one of the colors completely, select that layer in the Layers palette (to display the Layers palette, right-click anywhere on the tool bar and select Palettes => Layers), then repeat steps 8 and 9.  You can add more layers, delete layers, change the colors, or adjust the opacity of each layer at any time. You can also use the Paint Brush tool  to paint additional color directly onto any of the layers or the Eraser tool  to erase unwanted bits from any layer.

12. Once you are happy with the result, select File => Save As..., click in the "Save as type..." pop-up menu and select "PSPIMAGE".  Saving in this format will preserve the separate layers, so you can modify the colors at a later time. On the other hand, if you want to send the image via email or put it on a Web page, you must save it in "JPG JPEG" format instead.  JPEG format is compatable with email and the Web but does not preserve the separate layers.

Method C. Coloring Black-and-White Line Drawings

Black-and-white line drawings, such as those in the the "FreeClipArt" folder, can be colored like a coloring book, using the Flood Fill tool to color enclosed regions of the drawing.

1. Open a drawing that you want to color (for example, BOY.TIF in the "FreeClipArt" folder). 

2. Use the Paint Brush tool  to draw over any gaps in the lines between the regions that will have different colors. Zoom in and out (use the mouse wheel or click on ) so that you can work more precisely. 

3. Go to Image => Increase Color Depth => RGB - 8 bits/channel. 

4. Select the Flood Fill tool , and set the "Blend mode" to Normal and the "Match mode" to RGB Value.  (If  the Tool Options palette is not visible, see Note 1 below). 

5. Click on the Materials Palette to pick up a color and then in an enclosed white region in the drawing to fill that region with color.  Repeat for each colored region. To remove a color, fill it with white. If the color leaks out to other regions, click the undo button , use the Paint Brush tool  to draw over the gaps in that region, then try again. .

7. Save completed pictures in "GIF" or "TIF" formats.

Note 1: Palettes are displayed on the right-hand side of the Paint Shop Pro window. If you can't find the palette that you need, look carefully at the extreme right edge window. It may be that the palette is in "auto-hide" mode and shows only as a small tab or label on the extreme right.  If so, just mouse over the tab to display the palette.  If the desired palette does not show up at all, click View => Palettes and select the desired palette from the menu.

 (c) Tom O'Haver (toh@umd.edu), February 2006