Question on Changing a Color

[Halfhyde]

I take pictures of my fountain pens and mechanical pencils using a light box and a digital camera. Naturally, the backround is white. I would like to be able to change this white color to something else on occasion but don't know how to go about it in Photoshop. I am NOT a power user.
I use Photoshop CS5 64 bit.
Keep in mind that sometimes there is also white in the pen in places and I do not want to change anything at all on the color of the pen.
Thank you

Halfhyde

[jerryb]

hi,
first of all be nice ifyou upload a sample image... there a lot of different ways you can do what you wan and there fairlysimple even i can doit..lol .... we sometimestimes, with the image, we experiment which one is the best meathod..

if youdon't have file share site toupload... this is simple free and no registration required.. http://www.pixentral.com/
just upload and copy the url and post here....

now a couple of ways...
1. just make a selection of the area and just paint
2. create a mask of a selection and then fill in...

if i had a image towork withicould get into alittlemore detail onthe steps..

[iDad]

As Jerry said there are plenty of ways
fastest way I think would be
select pen> inverse >fill selection with color of choice

[Halfhyde]

Well, I think my biggest issue is how to make the selection. Pens are irregular in shape and these images are close ups so the selection has to be very accurate.
I was also wondering if some kind of color replacement might work? The white background seems like it would lend itself to being easy to select for a color replacement.
So the big probelm is finding out how to select the background (white) or how to select the pen, an irregularly shaped object.
As I said I am no expert and the mechanics of how to accomplish these things are a mystery.

[jerryb]

hi,
there is so many ways to selct and replace color... and nothing is obviouslysimple unless one can look at the image......

these are just a few different ways to select....
1. you can use the magic wand or quick slection tool
2. you can use the the color range feature ... by selecting a particular color it will make a selection...
3. along with these selection you can then use the quick mask mode to clean upthe selection if required...

now once you have your selection you can the paint in or creat fill layer and delete the selected parts.

now this is just one work flow use color range to select the back ground white...
use quick mask to clean up any miss edges and such then go back to normal mode
and do a inverse selection (where the pen is now selected instead of the background white) and justcopythe pen to a new layer......
you'll notice the checkerboard patter,n on the background which mean it transparent...
and then put in yourfill layer below that pen layer you created ... if you don'tlike the color in the fill layer it very easy to change compared to other meathods.

[iDad]

did this for someone a year or 2 ago
I believe I used the polygonal lasso tool

[Halfhyde]

I don't think that polygonal lasso tool is going to work for me. I have played with it and it just isn't suited to getting a precise selection on an object so irregularly shaped....at least not in the time I have to spend on it.
I should have explained more about what I am doing. I take these pics and use them in my ebaY online auctions of pens and pencils. I may create 10 a day when I have new ones to list. Now I might get away with it if my items did not have clips and were as streamlined as iDad's example.
Since that light box color is white isn't there a color replacement tool that I can use just to select white in my image and change it to light blue or whatever? That would be quick. Most of my pens don't have any white. Or is there such a tool?

[iDad]

sounds like a 2minute job tops it should be very easy send me one use my link in signature I'll see .send the hardest one I will not share here only your email . no spam either promise