changing the color in a multi-hue image

[df234]

I am trying to change the color of an abstract photo (primarily different values of saturated blues) with white streaks in it.

but not sure how to change it universally to reflect Panton 561 (darkish green)

I am just not even coming close.

thx.

Doug

[Medley]

You're not going to change it universally, though you can change it so that portions of the image correspond to Pantone 561. All colors contain an element of lightness or darkness, and Pantone colors are no different. To change the entire image to one color would mean changing the image to two colors: black and white (think 'threshold command') and then changing the white to your desired color. I don't really think that's what you want.

That said, there are a number of ways to change the color so that it is based on Pantone 561, and no one way is right or wrong. Really, it comes down to personal preference.

So here are some options. First of all, here's my original image (some members may recognize it):


The first step is to convert the image to grayscale, removing the current color. I did this with a simple desaturate (Image> Adjustments> Desaturate) command:


Opening the color picker, choosing the Pantone library and looking up Pantone 561 tells me that the definition of the color is L:37 a:(-26) b:(-2). Lab colors are often used for definitons because there is only one Lab colorspace, and it is independant of things such as gamma. (Note: Pantone 561 is one of those colors that cannot be reproduced exactly on the web, so the examples I'm posting will be a bit off, but not much.)

Changing back to the color picker, and inserting the lab values gives me a foreground color the corresponds to Pantone 561: The basis for all following examples.



In this first example, I opened the greyscale image, created a new layer above it, filled the layer with color, and set the blend mode to "color". Not very useful by itself, but.....

Duplicating the background layer in the above example, merging the color layer with the duplicate layer, and setting the blend mode of that layer to "multiply" gives us one of the best variations:


Identifying the pixels that were 50% gray, and using a Curves adjustment in Lab to change them to Pantone 561 gave me:


And lastly, using Pantone 561 to create a duotone gives me:


If it were up to me, I'd probably go with the second choice, but it's really up to you, not me.

These may or may not be what you're looking for, but I hope I've given you some ideas anyway. Feel free to ask any questions, and good luck.

-Medley.