Need a Mask for Colorizing B & W

[SonicMax]

Crew...

Putting together a band group photo for CD promotional purposes (my CD is about to be released!)...each band member having their own set of layers. One of the members' photo image is in B & W...so I wanted to add a flesh tone to make him look real (& be uniform in appearance w/ the other members...whose photo images are all in color.)

I'm on a transparent background...so I need to make the fill color layer obviously the same shape & size as his head, so it doesn't bleed out into the transparent background. His two layers consist of his head & his shirt. On the shirt layer...I've already painstakingly traced the outline with the lasso tool, inverted it; & deleted everything but that color filled selection in a layer behind his shirt...reduced the transparency of his B & W shirt layer 'till it looked real; & all was fine.

But that's a pain in the butt !!!

Is there some way (Photoshop 6) to create a selection based on the exact shape & size of his head (on that layer); & transfer it to a color layer for the above type of processing?

The head (& the shirt) were traced & cut from original photos...so they're only the perfect shape/size of the subject, w/ no background.

Is there an easier way to do this?

Thanks,

Sonic Max

 

[apepp]

...here is a good link to follow...

...hue and saturation is the way to go in my view...

http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2004/08/06/colorize-black-and-white-photos/

andrew

 

[apepp]

...another good one...

http://www.7des.com/tut_ps_color.php

Andrew

 

[apepp]

...another method, probably the one i would do...

http://www.tuthq.com/colorize-photo-photoshop-tutorial.php

andrew

 

[apepp]

...selections are the key to photoshop in combination with layer masks, adjustment layers and blending modes...

andrew

 

[SonicMax]

Thanks,

So...

There's no way to isolate a section on a different layer except using the lasso?

Sonic Max

 

[elf21]

If you're more comfortable using the paintbrush tool, you can "paint" a selection in Quick Mask mode.

 

[apepp]

...no there are many ways to create a selection, some are better than others depending on your subject that needs selecting...

...if your image is on a transparent backgound, hold down the apple key or control key on a pc and then click on your layers icon, this will select around the object...

...you can also make selections from colour channels...

http://av.adobe.com/russellbrown/AdvancedMasking.mov

andrew