coloring questions

[Holly Golightly]

Hi Everyone,

I hope it's okay I post here. I have been learning how to do some photo restoration and am just getting into colouring and I haven't really found a good tutorial yet. So I wondered if the amazing people that do them on here could give me any tips or let me know how they do it?

Thanks in advance,
Holly

[Treetotal]

Hi Holly...what software are using?...Usually if you google "How to Colour old photos in Elements 9"....or whatever software package you are using then there is usually  Youtube videos showing you how.
Hope this helps.
Carol

[jim1]

Less is more.
It's better to under colour rather than overdo it as you can alter the colours, tone, brightness etc. afterwards. It's easier to add than take away.
Don't touch eyes unless it's a very good image as they look like zombies.
Keep going back to the original as you can easily alter facial features without knowing & you don't want it to look like someone else.

[Holly Golightly]

Thank you both. I have searched tutorials and have found the different methods and tools to use. I just haven't found anything that gives you tips eg. on color palettes and other tips like Jim just mentioned. It will be very helpful and I think I need to just keep practicing.

Thanks again.

[Niksmum]

Due to all the different tones in a photo every one is different when it comes to adding color..when a color works on one it may not work on another so saying use a hue of 9 a saturation of 25 and lightness 0. will not work on every photo  Applying each color in separate layers will give you some control of saturation, brightness and even let you change a color without destroying what you have already done. Another tip is always convert to b/w before adding color.

Irene

[jim1]

Skin toning is the hardest so I'd give that a go first. Once you've got that right the rest's easy.

[Treetotal]

Hi Holly...Try practising by bringing a black & white photo into the editor and also a sepia or black & white one...using the eye dropper tool...colour pick from your coloured photo and paint the same area on your black and white one...save any colours that you like to favourites to use on other photos....you can also expand on you colour palette by getting paint charts from DIY stores.
Just keep practising and you will gain confidence...the biggest mistake that learners make is that the colours are often  too bold...click on the background/foreground button if it is too bold and go lighter until you get the desired effect....but remember that the colours will often look stronger in your software....There are so many ways to achieve the same effect and this is just a simple one to get you going.
Hope this helps....Skin tone palette included to give you an idea.
Carol

[Dom1]

I think it might be worth adding that no 2 computers are the same when it comes to reproducing colour. Over the years I have colourised many photographs and compared them on different computers. Sometimes the variable is subtle - an increase in tone or contrast values but elsewhere I have seen both earth colours and flesh tones appear blue.

[sarah]

Nice Skin Tones Palette Carol

Sarah