How do I REVERSE colors, not Invert in photoshop

[jaym54156493]

I have a bunch of logos that have a blue background with white detail. The white detail, because it's anti-aliased, has some of it as a gray scale.  What I need is blue detail, with a white background. I'd like the blue detail to also include the tone or brightness of the way the white detail was. 

In searching, everything I've found has been using "invert", which turns the white into black, and the blue into orange. I've found nothing that shows how to reverse colors. 

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

Hi @jaym54156493 there is no automated way to swap (not reverse) colors. What you'll need to do is deconstruct and apply the blue and white to the elements you want. Without  screenshot of what you are working with the only advice I can give is to use the selection tools, to select and separate each element into different layers. You can then fill as needed with blue or white. 

[jaym54156493]

Hey Kevin, 
Thanks, good point on not seeing. Here's one of them. I'm looking to get a blue gear, with white background. 

I have dozens of similar icons as I go with a rainbo of colors, but always white on color background. Since they're going inline with text in a topic, I'll be less jarring, but just as recognizable to reverse them. I've taken them to black and white, but would like to go color on the current project. 

-Jay 

[Jeff Arola]

You could try an Invert Adjustment Layer and then change the Layer Blending Mode to Color

[jaym54156493]

Thanks Jeff, I'll give it a try. 

[oscarv65304662]

Thanks, Jeff. It worked for me! 

[davescm]

A gradient map adjustment layer might do what you want. It maps luminosity values to a colour gradient so selecting the colours you want to map to should achieve that change.

Dave

[jaym54156493]

Thanks Dave, I'll have to look that up, but I'll give it a try. 

[davescm]

The gradient map adjustment layer looks like this, you can see the original on the bottom layer and the gradient I used in Properties. Double click the gradient to adjust it :

Dave

[Warren Heaton]

If you've converted the logos to grayscale (or black and white), then @davescm's suggestion of using Gradient Map will do the trick.

[jaym54156493]

That would work if I invertedd the B&W first. I'll give that a try. 

[davescm]

No need to convert to B&W or invert. A single Gradient Map adjustment layer will do all the adjustments you need (see screenshot above which shows white on blue converted to blue on white in one step)

Dave

[Warren Heaton]

Yes, Gradient Map will change the colors, but if specific bin hex values need to be used (like #1b4e0d for the green and #edfc4b for yellow) then then black and white are needed.

[Karthik balaji]

Hi,

One way to achieve the desired effect is to use a combination of layer blending modes and adjustment layers in Photoshop or a similar image editing software. Here's a step-by-step guide:

1.Open your logo image in Photoshop.

2.Duplicate the layer by pressing Ctrl+J (Windows) or Command+J (Mac).

3.Change the blending mode of the duplicate layer to "Screen". This will lighten the image and make the blue background more prominent.

4.Add a new adjustment layer by clicking on the "Create new fill or adjustment layer" button at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose "Invert". This will invert the colors of the entire image, including the blue and white areas.

5.Clip the adjustment layer to the duplicate layer by holding down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) and clicking between the adjustment layer and the duplicate layer in the Layers panel. This will apply the adjustment layer only to the duplicate layer and not affect the original.

6.Add another adjustment layer, this time choosing "Levels". Use the sliders to adjust the brightness and contrast of the image until the blue detail matches the tone and brightness of the original white detail.

7.Finally, add a new layer at the bottom of the layer stack and fill it with white using the Paint Bucket tool. This will create a white background for the logo.

8.Save the image as a new file to preserve the original.

These steps should result in a version of your logo with blue detail and a white background that matches the tone and brightness of the original white detail.

Hope you find this helpfull .

Karthik

[jaym54156493]

wow, sounds like once I get it down, I'll need to create an action to dupelicate it over multiple icons. 

Thanks.