colour correcting semi transparent colours

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
December 11, 2020
7 replies
926 views

I'm trying to colour correct shutterstock images from purple to red and everything is fairly simple to change but there are semi transparent "flourishes" that refuse to work the same way. I can't just colour it with the right colour with the brush tool because it doesn't block out the outside frame like it would for a solid colour. so I end up carefully redrawing over the shape with the correct colour but there has to be an easier way to do this.

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Norman Sanders

Legend

Please follow cp’s recommendations. For example, I associate the term “flourishes” with music, oration and type so it is not much help here. There is nothing ornate in the image posted. However, perhaps the following will be helpful if you want to create a mask that isolates the purple and replace the purple with a specific red ( Profile: sRGB) while holding to the values in the current image.

Fig. 1 is your current image*. Duplicate the image and use one to create the mask

MASK file

Fig. 2 Add duplicate layers with their Blending Mode set to Multiply to arrive at the image shown. Then Cmd+Opt+Shift+E to make a composite. This is done to increase color intensity and local contrast and put the result on a single layer.

*If you were to change the Mode to Lab color (in the Info Panel) for a moment and read the data you would see that Sample A is Magenta/Blue and Sample B is neutral gray.

Fig. 3 Use the Magic Wand and Delete key to remove all non-purple areas.

Fig. 4 Lock the transparent area and Fill with Black. Then fill the transparent area with white. The Mask is complete.

IMAGE file

Fig. 5. Your starting image.

Fig. 6 Duplicate the image, apply the mask from the Mask file, change the Foreground Color Swatch to your chosen Red and Edit > Fill with the Blending Mode set to Color.

Good luck!

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

When one needs to edit an existing layer’s transparency it can be useful to change it to a Layer Mask (Layer > Layer Mask > From Transparency).

c.pfaffenbichler

Community Expert

Posting the image in question might have saved you some typing.

Norman Sanders

Legend

From your descripion the solution may lie with an appropriate mask, perhaps created from one of the ten channels available (RGB, CMYK, Lab). Please post the image (or a similar one) and specify the desired red RGB values and profile so that we have a better idea of what you are up against.